An assignment in Queer Politics

To uger er gået og man må sige, at studierne er kommet ordentligt i gang. Der er virkelig tryk på blusset og der er rigtig meget arbejde involveret i at gå på UNC både med hensyn til forberedelse, opgaver og deltagelse i undervisningen. Alle mine kurser er undergraduate/graduate niveau (jeg må ikke tage rent graduate niveau), hvilket betyder, at det ikke så meget er forelæsninger som klasseundervisning (vi er 15-25 i mine forskellige classes) jeg deltager i, og at niveauet er ret højt.
Alt dette gør, at det tegner til at blive et hårdt og krævende semester, men også et rigtig spændende og lærerigt et.

Jeg endte med at vælge faget Comparative Queer Politics frem for det om visuel kultur (tak for inputs, i øvrigt!). Og for at give et lille indblik i, hvad dette fag fx handler om og ikke mindst undervisningsstilen her ovre, så har jeg valgt at "poste" en opgave vi er blevet stillet ved siden af den alm. forberedelse. Jeg synes nemlig, at min underviser Karen Booth rigtig præcist og godt får forklaret, dels et interessant og centralt begreb, og dels får stillet spørgsmål, som det egentlig er lidt sundt og begrebsudvidende at tænke over.

"Privilege is NOT the same thing as a benefit; not all benefits are the result of privilege. Privilege is the systematic, institutionalized, and historically embedded UNEARNED access to material resources, freedoms, opportunities, and political and cultural influence by the members of one social group because of their membership in that social group and as a result of those members’ oppression of another social group.  Privilege is what oppressors have because they are members of an oppressing group.  Privilege is what the oppressed do not have because they are members of an oppressed group.  There is no oppression without privilege and no privilege without oppression.  Men have privilege on the basis of gender and because women are oppressed on the basis of gender.  White people have privilege on the basis of race because people of color are oppressed on the basis of race.  Heterosexual gender-normative people have privilege on the basis of sexuality because queer people are oppressed on the basis of sexuality.  Women do not have gender privilege.  People of color do not have race privilege.  Queer people do not have sexual privilege.  Privilege is often much harder to recognize than oppression.  In fact, one characteristic of privilege is its invisibility as an unearned advantage one has just because one is a man, a heterosexual, a white person, or a normatively gendered person.
(...)

The Assignment:

For TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, in addition to doing the regularly assigned reading and annotation for that day, you will use the definitions above and the readings from the wmst 101 review folder on Bb to prepare and turn in a list of your own concrete (specific and everyday things such as the availability of band-aids in colors that match “white” skin) examples of each privilege listed below. For each example you will also need to explain (briefly – one to three complete sentences max) how you know it is an example of the kind of privilege asked for. Do not copy examples from readings or each other. No late or emailed assignments will be accepted. Please type if possible. If I cannot read your handwriting, you will get no credit for the homework. Remember, privilege here is defined as an unearned advantage held by members of a social group because they are members of that social group. Remember to sign and staple your homework.

• Men’s privilege (give and explain two examples)
• Heterosexuals’ privilege (give and explain two examples)
• Whites’ privilege (give and explain two examples, not including the one given above)
• Normatively-gendered folks’ privilege (give and explain two examples)
• Middle/upper class privilege (give and explain one example -- you will need to extrapolate from the definitions above to figure this out)
• Able-bodied privilege (give and explain one example -- you will need to extrapolate from the definitions above to figure this out)"

(Booth 2009: "handout and assignment on oppression and privilege" for WMST 410, UNC Chapel Hill)

Jeg er meget interesseret i at høre eventuelle inputs, reaktioner, eksempler og refleksioner, I måtte have.