Breaking Down Privilege Layers

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Why This Matters to You

What if I told you that privilege isn’t what you think it is?

You might already have an opinion. Maybe you’ve been told you have it. Maybe you’ve felt like you don’t.

But here’s something we rarely acknowledge:
Privilege isn’t about blame—it’s about possibility.

💡 The Question:
👉 What if the privilege wasn’t something to reject or feel guilty about but something to wield for real change?

That’s precisely what we’re going to break down today.

Last week, we explored the Privilege Pyramid and met Fitz, the embodiment of unearned advantage, and Amara, the architect of change.

This week, we’re going deeper. Because awareness isn’t enough—understanding is what creates transformation.

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The Privilege Equation: A Race with Unequal Tracks

🏃 Imagine two runners on a track.

One starts on smooth terrain, their path clear, every step designed for efficiency.
The other starts on rocky ground, with hurdles they didn’t place, dodging obstacles before they can even find their pace.

Neither runner is "better" than the other.
Neither worked harder to deserve their starting point.
But their experience of the race will be vastly different.

💡 That’s how privilege operates—it’s invisible when you have it, but impossible to ignore when you don’t.

🔹 It’s not something you asked for.
🔹 It’s not something you earned.
🔹 But it’s something that affects how easily you move through the world.

This is where most people go wrong in conversations about privilege.
They assume it’s black and white—that you either have it, or you don’t.

But the truth is far more complex.

Mapping Privilege: What Most People Overlook

Most of us are familiar with some aspects of privilege:

✔ White privilege
✔ Male privilege
✔ Wealth privilege

But what about the layers we rarely discuss?

🛠 Hidden Layers of Privilege:

• Language Privilege → Do people naturally assume you’re competent because of your accent?

• Neurotypical Privilege → Is the workplace designed for the way your brain functions?

• Body Size Privilege → Are clothes, seats, and public spaces designed with your body in mind?

• Cisgender Privilege → Has your identity ever been debated in courtrooms?

• Geographic Privilege → Do you have access to global networks, funding, and safety?

💡 Here’s Where It Gets Interesting:
🗣 "But I worked for everything I have!"
🗣 "I grew up poor—so I don’t have privilege!"
🗣 "I’ve struggled too—so how can I be privileged?"

💡 Answer: Privilege isn’t absolute. It’s situational, dynamic, and intersectional.
We all hold some privilege while facing barriers in other areas.

That means privilege isn’t something you should feel guilty about—it’s something you should use.

The Power of Contrast: Fitz vs. Amara

Fitz doesn’t just have privilege—he is privilege.

💰 Born into wealth—his first financial struggle was choosing between trust funds.
🎓 Educated at elite institutions—not because of merit, but because his surname was already engraved on a campus building.
🤝 Connected through robust networks—his “hard work” started with a handshake at his dad’s golf club.

Fitz never has to wonder if he belongs—he’s been assured of it since birth.
He never has to “work twice as hard” to prove himself—his mere presence is proof enough.
The world isn’t just designed for Fitz—it was practically gift-wrapped for him.

💼 He never wonders if he belongs in the boardroom.
🎙 He never has to prove his intelligence before he speaks.
⚖️ He never questions if his rights, safety, or dignity are up for debate.

Fitz isn’t bad.
He isn’t evil.
But his privilege is invisible—to him.

Now, meet Amara.

• She doesn’t move through the world with ease. She moves through it with force.

• She doesn’t wait for doors to open—she builds new ones.

• She innovates because she has to.

• She builds community because isolation isn’t an option.

• She leads movements because survival demands more than resilience—it demands revolution.

🔥 She is a creator—designing solutions where none exist.
🔥 She is a survivor—refusing to be erased.
🔥 She is a disruptor—dismantling systems from the inside out.

"When you are excluded from power, you learn how to create it yourself."

But the truth is—she shouldn’t have to.

Privilege isn’t just an individual experience—it’s a systemic structure.

The Privilege Audit: Applying Influence with Small, Powerful Shifts

📝 Try This Quick Organisational Audit:

✅ Who holds leadership positions? Do they represent diverse lived experiences?
✅ Do hiring practices favor privilege? (e.g., requiring unpaid internships, elite university degrees)
✅ Who dominates meeting spaces? Who is interrupted most frequently?
✅ Do policies accommodate a wide range of identities? (e.g., flexible work for neurodivergent employees, gender-neutral parental leave)
✅ How does promotion culture operate? Is it based on networks over merit?

💡 What this means: Most workplaces reproduce privilege because they don’t question who the system was built for.

But now that you know this—you can change it.

Building Bridges Instead of Walls

Let me ask you something:

🤔 What if privilege isn’t something to defend against, but something to wield for good?

If you knew you had the ability to open doors for others—doors they couldn’t open alone—wouldn’t you want to use it?

That’s how we shift from awareness to impact.

That’s how we leverage privilege to drive change.

And that’s where we go next.

Time to Reflect: What’s Your Privilege Story?

Privilege isn’t just about wealth or race—it’s about the invisible advantages that shape our lives in ways we don’t always see.

It’s not good or bad—it just is.
You didn’t ask for it, but it still impacts how easily you move through the world.

So, let’s put it to the test.

If you had to choose just one area where you’ve experienced the most privilege, what would it be?

Cast your vote below and see how your experience compares.

Your answer might surprise you.

✅ Did your answer surprise you? Reply with your thoughts or join the conversation using #IntersectionalMajority.

💡 Want to take this reflection even deeper? Download the Privilege Mapping Worksheet to explore how privilege and marginalization intersect in your life—and how you can use your influence to drive change.

Turning Privilege Into Power: The Intersectional Majority’s Role in Change

The mistake people make is assuming privilege is about power over others.

But real power isn’t about dominance—it’s about choice.

The choice to:
✅ Use your access to create space for others.
✅ Challenge exclusion, even when it benefits you.
✅ Recognise that amplifying someone else doesn’t diminish your own influence.

This is where The Intersectional Majority—the 99.5% of us who exist outside of Fitz’s world—holds the real power.

💡 Power doesn’t belong to Fitz alone. It belongs to the people who refuse to stay invisible.

For too long, we’ve been led to believe that privilege is fixed—that it belongs to a small elite, and the rest of us have to fight for scraps.

But what if we flipped the narrative?

What if we used collective influence to build something better?

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5 Small Shifts That Create Big Change

If privilege is a tool, how do we use it for systemic change?

Here’s where small, intentional shifts can have an outsized impact.

1️. Reframe Privilege as a Responsibility, Not a Burden

🔹 Instead of thinking, “Privilege means I didn’t work hard,” think, “Privilege means I have access others don’t. How can I use it?”
✅ Example: A male leader advocates for equal parental leave policies because he recognises how gendered expectations shape career trajectories.

2️.Turn Gatekeeping into Gateway Building

🔹 Most systems were built for certain people to succeed while making others fight for entry.
✅ Example: A hiring manager removes unnecessary degree requirements that filter out talented professionals from non-traditional backgrounds.

3️. Build Intersectional Coalitions

🔹 The most effective movements happen when marginalised communities work together instead of fighting separate battles.
✅ Example: Climate justice activists partnering with disability advocates to ensure sustainability policies include accessibility considerations.

4️. Amplify Without Overshadowing

🔹 If you hold privilege in a particular space, your job isn’t to speak for marginalised groups—it’s to create platforms where their voices are heard.
✅ Example: Instead of leading every diversity initiative, invite someone with lived experience to shape the conversation.

5️. Challenge Systemic Inequities in Tangible Ways

🔹 Individual actions matter, but systemic change is essential.
✅ Example: Advocating for salary transparency, anti-discrimination policies, and accessible public spaces.

💡 The Smallest Actions Have the Greatest Influence.

The Privilege Pivot: A Story of Impact

Let me tell you about Michael.

Michael never thought of himself as privileged.

✅ He grew up working-class.
✅ He didn’t have generational wealth.
✅ He had to hustle to get where he is today.

But Michael is also:
✔ White
✔ Male
✔ Cisgender
✔ Straight

For years, he resisted conversations about privilege.
🗣 “I worked for everything I have.”
🗣 “I didn’t have it easy, either.”

Then, one day, something shifted.

A colleague—a Black woman—confided in him about her experiences at work.

She was:
❌ Routinely overlooked for promotions.
❌ Interrupted in meetings.
❌ Spoken over when she shared ideas.

Michael started noticing things he hadn’t done before.

The moment of transformation?

One day, he saw it happen in a leadership meeting in real-time.

She presented an idea.
She was ignored.

Five minutes later, a white male colleague suggested the same idea.
Everyone praised him.

That’s when Michael realised privilege isn’t about what you’ve been through—it’s about what you haven’t had to go through.

Instead of feeling guilty, he took action.
🔹 He used his credibility to advocate for equitable promotion policies.
🔹 He ensured his company adopted structured speaking time to prevent interruptions.
🔹 He became intentional about mentoring professionals from underrepresented backgrounds.

This is the privilege pivot—when someone moves from defensiveness to action.

The world didn’t need Michael to apologise for his privilege.

It needed him to use it.

The Future of Privilege: What If We Did Things Differently?

Imagine a world where:

✅ Privilege isn’t hoarded but shared.
✅ Power isn’t a gatekeeper but a gateway.
✅ Equity isn’t an afterthought—it’s the foundation of progress.

What if the privilege wasn’t a barrier but a bridge?
What if power wasn’t about exclusion but about expansion?

Here’s an Example:

In 1955, Jonas Salk developed the polio vaccine—a discovery that could have made him billions.

Pharmaceutical companies lined up, ready to patent it.

But when asked who owned the patent, Salk responded:

"There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?"

Instead of profiting, he ensured free global access to the vaccine, eradicating polio in much of the world.

His privilege—his education, research funding, and scientific access—wasn’t used to hoard power.
It was used to distribute it.

Now, imagine if we applied that same logic to education, healthcare, wealth, and leadership.

What if privilege wasn’t about keeping power for a few, but making power work for everyone?

That’s the world we have the power to build.

Your Next Move

📢 So, what do we do now?

This isn’t just an article—it’s a movement.

1️. Take the Privilege Mapping Assessment → [Insert Link]
2️. Share your reflections using #IntersectionalMajority
3️. Forward this to someone who needs this conversation

And most importantly—ask yourself:

📌 Where do I have privilege?
📌 How can I use it more intentionally?
📌 What’s one slight shift I can make today?

Because privilege is only wasted when we pretend it doesn’t exist.

Until next time, keep building, challenging, and disrupting for equity.

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