Want a heavy dose of Privilege? Go to the gym!

I recently got a membership to 24-hour fitness. I was excited! Now that I'm paying for it, I have no excuse not to go the gym and get back into the shape that I envision for myself. And I have gone every single day since. Why didn't I do this earlier?!? Oh yea, the rampant misogyny and coupled with that to a lesser extent, homophobia.

I think the most difficult aspect of going to this particular gym for me is how often I have to check myself. I can't believe how ingrained my reactions are when I see a woman that I find attractive. It's instantaneous. My eyes snap from face to butt before I have a chance to think about it. I beat myself up every time that happens but it's pretty out of control.

Is it possible for me to appreciate how physically attractive a stranger is without any sort of objectification?

No.

Staring is a form of objectification. "Appreciating" someone's physical appearance is a form of objectification because there is no way to know that person beyond their outward, physical appearance.

There was a guy who walked up to two women and said "you know, every time I see you two lift, you always have really good form!" My lifting partner and I looked at each other like "Did that really happen? What a fuckin creeper!" But when I started to break it down, I realized that he was being sincere and probably really meant it as a compliment. But at the same time, he doesn't realize the impact of what he's saying. The two women were visibly uncomfortable and quickly moved to a different exercise. What if they were in the middle of a set and this guy confronting them caused them to shorten their work out? That's not fair. I felt like it was the perfect manifestation of Intent vs. Impact and how much privilege can affect that because that guy had no clue what the impact of his compliment was.

Then I started to feel conflicted. I wanted to say something. But at the same time, being a male, I didn't want to come off as "saving" these women as if they can't take care of themselves. Even if my intention was that I personally wanted to make the space safer by telling this guy that what he said was inappropriate, it could be perceived in any number of ways. I guess my question is, if I make that guy more aware of the impact of his words, despite his intent, does it really matter if I come off as a savior? Is there a right way and a wrong way to create safer spaces?

One thing I have to remember is my privileged perspective. I didn't immediately think that when a woman goes to the gym, they have to contend with all of those eyes, and who knows what's going through the minds of the men blatantly staring at a woman's ass. I can't imagine the cumulative effect of negotiating those thoughts every single trip to the gym. I can do my part by not contributing to that.

The friend I went to the gym with identifies as a gay Chinese man. We are extremely good friends and we talk about our identities all the time and the effects of privilege and the different perspectives we come across. Usually, we're both very open about talking about queer issues, but I hold back a lot of our identity talk at the gym. I feel unsafe revealing his identity (and mine to some extent) because of my perception of the people who use this gym. I have heard of more attacks in my town on queer folk than I have about racially charged attacks. So the fear of being ourselves is very prevalent in my consciousness while we're lifting at this particular gym. That's bullshit. I should be able to talk about whatever the hell I want without the fear of getting jumped in the locker room or the parking lot. But the reality of our situation is very different.

Perhaps that is a measuring stick for how far we've come. The gym seems like the final frontier for conquering privilege in many forms.

What's in It for White People?

One of the most important questions for social justice advocates is "what's in it for White People"? Why would white people want to level the playing field? Why give up these privileges that this country worked centuries to give?

I have a very good friend, and for the sake of this post, I'm gonna name him Ecirb. He self identifies as a white heterosexual male who is in his upper 30's. How he grew up is very important to who he is and his current situation, but that doesn't matter in the context of this discussion because he looks like a white guy. He is an Ethnic Studies Major and I am proud to say that he is a social justice advocate, not that I'm the end all to determining who is and isn't an advocate.

Him and I talk about many things, but recently our discussion has been centered around the perception of white people in general social justice spaces. Just a warning, this is a very multi-layered, complex, and difficult situation to deconstruct, but I am going to try. In addition, I'm not saying that Ecirb's situation applies to all white hetero males in social justice but I think there are very important lessons to be drawn from his experience.

These are a small sampling of some of his experiences as best as I can recall them, and I will try to be as objective as possible since these are "facts" according to Ecrib. These experiences are very important in deconstructing the role of white hetero men in social justice:

• There is a lobby area for Ethnic Studies students that contains a couch and computers. It is a wonderful space to congregate and talk about social justice issues and class since it is a relatively small department. Ecirb tells me that when he is alone with one of his friends (in this case it happens to be a woman of color (WoC), she is open and very interested in what he has to say and very involved in the conversation. But when other's walk in, she becomes aloof, almost as if she doesn't know him.

• One time, he walked into the room with a friend of his who appears to be a black hetero male and there was the buzz of conversation. When he walks in, the room goes quiet and Ecrib's friend says "He's cool" and points to Ecrib.

• He feels ignored in class. Or most of his comments are met with resistance. Or people quickly dismiss his comment.

• He is very up-front with his opinions. If you are being a bigot, he will say it to your face because that's how he deals with it.

There is one thing that I make clear to him every time this conversation comes up. No matter WHO he is, the fact that he APPEARS to be a white male makes it very difficult to operate within a social justice environment. I constantly tell him that his phenotype conjures up for most people of color (PoC) an ENTIRE LIFETIME of negative experiences and that is something he cannot help and must overcome. I think he gets that, but it is also easy to forget such a privilege to be able to walk around and not have to worry about how your very physical appearance is enough to incite painful experiences.

The consequence of this is that he must prove himself. He has to work harder to be legit or make friends in this department. He has no issue with the fact that he has to work harder, and neither do I. This is the consequence of centuries of oppression: that excellent people such as Ecirb must work hard to become basic friends with excellent people such as the PoC in the Ethnic Studies Department. It becomes extremely problematic for me when some of the PoC and some white women (WW) DON'T GIVE HIM A CHANCE to prove himself. I understand that it's safer to assume the worst with white people. It's a safety mechanism. I do it too. But to shut out people like Ecirb and to suppress/ignore what he has to say is detrimental to everyone.

In fact, not giving Ecrib a chance GOES AGAINST WHAT WE'RE FIGHTING FOR. Ending the isms will take every individual, and it is counter-productive and ignorant to exclude anyone on the basis of what they look like. Take the hint people! He's majoring in Ethnic Studies in his late 30's. Maybe he knows more about bigotry then you do just from how much longer he's been alive? Maybe so, maybe not, but he said he was used to getting treated this way and it wasn't until recently that the full weight of what he's facing really hit him.

This is a very careful balance though. I took me a long time to realize that I HAVE to give white people a chance to prove themselves, but white people have to understand that it is an uphill battle to prove themselves. And just like some white people aren't worth talking to because they're SO STUPID AND RACIST, some PoC and WW are the same way. You do not have to prove yourself to these people because there is nothing you could say or do to change their mind.

One other criticism I have is that I don't feel like any PoC's have his back. Like there's a social consequence to defending a white guy. How about you defend your FRIEND??

I don't do this enough, but I need to remind Ecirb that he needs to stay humble. No one is asking him to lead us out to the promise land. In fact, he CAN'T be a predominant leader in a social justice movement because of his identity. This space is for PoC and to some small extent WW. He can support but he can't lead. That invokes the White Savior Complex. White male arrogance will get him thrown off the boat and ruin his credibility.

On the other hand, he needs to realize that the real work to be done isn't with a community of PoC, but his responsibility is in a community of white people in respect to race, men in respect to gender, and straight people in respect to sexual orientation. He has the advantage in those spaces. This is where his privilege of credibility can be used to his/our advantage. These are spaces where he can be a leader.

There is much work to be done in both groups. The social justice movement needs to get its shit together just as much as white people do. We all have room to learn and grow.

So what's in it for white people? I have my theories... But I want to hear yours.