My privileges are numerous and allow me to appreciate my life, to better understand what the lives of others may be like, and to put into perspective the few trials that I have encountered so far and the merit that I may think I have in overcoming them. The exercise of listing my privileges is delicate and imperfect. By doing so, I will forget things. I do not forbid myself from revising this list later.
Education and Training:
- I have pursued studies that corresponded to my desires.
- I have completed higher education that gives me access to desirable jobs.
- The costs related to my education have been covered by my parents and by the community, and from a young age, I have had access to extracurricular activities and all the support I needed.
- I can have a serious conversation with any English speaker.
- I work in a field that I enjoy.
Health and Well-being:
- The costs related to my health have been covered by my parents and by the community. I have access to a doctor and to the medications necessary for my health and that of my family.
- I have never been in depression. I have never been mentally incapacitated. I have never wanted to commit suicide.
- I have never had an addiction.
- I am always comfortable with my gender, which is my birth gender, and this has never been questioned by those around me.
- Society has never closed doors on me because of my physical abilities. I live without suffering from the negative gaze of society on my body.
- I have always been monitored and cared for, without fear of not being able to pay my out-of-pocket costs.
- I have always had access to healthy and varied food.
Safety and Freedom:
- No one has ever told me that I could not do something for reasons independent of my health or over which I had no control (my origins, my sex, my gender…).
- No one has even told me that it would be more difficult for me than for others, that I should be more careful than others for my own safety.
- I have never been attacked or aggressed because of my lack of religious beliefs.
- My identity has been checked 4 times since I became an adult.
- I walk in the street without fear or being bothered.
- I have almost never been reduced to a stereotype or a class and judged negatively solely based on this belonging.
- I have never been afraid that people would know my sexual preferences: neither my parents, nor people in the street. I am comfortable with my heterosexuality and with my gender expression, which seem logical and natural because their articulation corresponds to the norm, which allows me to be comfortable with public displays of affection with my wife or my children, without fear for her, them, or me.
- I am rarely reduced or brought back to my appearance. I have the leisure of not being conscious of my appearance for a large part of my day.
- I have never had to hide who I am or what I believe in. My survival or even my physical integrity has rarely been endangered in public space.
- I am free to express my political opinions without consequences to my health or safety. The impact of this expression on my professional environment is not zero, but it is not critical either.
- I am free to engage in the causes that are close to my heart, without fear of reprisals (but sometimes a little of repression)
Work and Finances:
- My profession is valued by society; it is well paid. Its arrangements are practical and allow for teleworking. Demand is strong; finding work is easier than in other fields.
- I have a permanent job, with a fixed gross salary that I can count on.
- As a man, I am statistically better paid than my female colleagues with equivalent skills, and I have more facilities to obtain better-paying jobs.
- I have always lived in a house with access to hot water. I have rarely been cold, and never because I could not pay for heating. I have never been afraid of not being able to pay the rent.
- I have benefited from social services to house me or to welcome my children at times when I did not have the means or skills to do so.
- I live in a country that maintains laws allowing me to regularly take paid vacations, to have free time, and to rest.
Relationships and Social Position:
- When I speak, people listen to me.
- When I speak, people believe me.
- I am not alone. People are there for me and have the means to help me if something serious happens to me, whether it is my family, my friends, or professional acquaintances.
- My parents, as well as those of my wife, are still alive. They support us and are present for our children.
- I was 6 years old the last time someone made comments about my accent.
- I am white, and in the environment in which I evolve, it is considered the norm. I am not noticed; I am not ostracized for my skin color. I am never the only one “like me” in a space.
- I have never felt declassed or useless.
- I live without suffering from the negative gaze of society on my body.
Travel and Culture:
- I have traveled to several countries and met several cultures. I have never been hindered in my movements because of who I am or where I come from.
- I was born in a country with a higher standard of living than others, which makes travel easier. I can spend 3 weeks of vacation in Cambodia; a Cambodian cannot easily spend 3 weeks of vacation in France.
- I have free and sometimes even free access to knowledge, culture, and sports facilities, whether it is libraries, shows financed or subsidized by the community. I have the means to obtain what the community does not provide.
- I have often lived in the city, which has allowed me to access many services with public transportation. I have also benefited from parks and green spaces maintained by the community.