The world is riddled with privileges. As much as there has been a considerate amount of effort to curb them, privileges still exist. Privileges are the results of loop holes in existing laws and products of human bias.
There are four global dominant privileges - white privilege, male privilege, money privilege and pretty privilege.
White privilege is the result of centuries of Europeans invading, destroying and looting other countries, even of their inhabitants, which they used as slaves. They later reinforced this dominion with laws and religions that were aimed at making sure that this social and political structure dominated the world and all the countries they occupied. Europeans robbed other civilisations of 500 years of their history and their growth.
Male privilege is the result of a systematic oppression of female humans by male humans. For centuries women were denied access to education, jobs, relevant positions in the society because men had succeded in propagateling falsities such as "women are less smart than men. Or women are too mentally weak and frail to make important decisions". Aristle even said that women are half human beings. Christianity reduced women to one single rib, made out of a full fledge man. Islam clearly says that women are worth half of what a man is worth.
Money privilege is the result of the fear people feel towards those who have access to resources that they don't. A rich person is more likely to be able to influence the creation of laws that will favour him or her, manipulate situations and buy people's support.
Pretty Privilege is the result of human bias and nothing more. Beauty is associated with all that is good and innocent. In fact, people generally sympathise with good looking people, more than they do with those who are not. Because white people dominate the world, the global epitome of beauty is man or a woman with eurocentric features. Which means that people with prominent features and coarse hair are at the bottom of the beauty chain, usually people of African descent.
Nigeria is nation of black people, so white privilege is not systematically enforced, and we are still able to admire a beautiful African person even though his or her nose is not pointed and their lips are not thin.
What privileges dominate the Nigerian society?
In Nigeria, pretty privilege works for women, male privilege works for men, while money privilege works for both men and women. Male and money privilege are systematic. Pretty privilege is whimsical.
In my last post, I said that women are brought up to be obedient and subservient wives to their future husbands. But that men are not brought up to be diligent and loving husbands to their wives. To buttress this point, I used the analogy of a master and a dog.
Dogs are the ones who are trained and shaped to respect their masters' wishes and commands. All a master needs is the amount of money required to purchase one. A master's ability to keep a dog is never questioned. Nobody asks a person who wants to buy a dog if they can love it and treat it right. But the dog on its part is judged for how it barks, how it responds to orders and how it wiggles its tail.
How is a dog's worth calculated?
Sinple: on its beauty and pedigree. Breeding has been in vogue for centuries and its sole purpose is to create the most beautiful and unique dogs, which will later be sold at ridiculous prices.
The most expensive dog in the world is the Samoyed, which goes from $4,000 to $11,000.
How does this apply to women?
Simple: the more beautiful a woman is, the more she's likely to trade this beauty for a man's money.
Every woman is expected to be domesticated. That's our basic training. A woman who can't perform domestic chores or who acts unruly towards a figure of authority is considered an anomaly. Beauty is supposed to be a plus.
However, even in the absence of this basic training, beautiful women still manage to end up with rich men, and are still the object of desire of poor or average men.
That is pretty privilege.
Remember: the highest a dog will ever sit is on its master's laps. However in order to get there, it has to stand out from the pack, naturally.
There are four global dominant privileges - white privilege, male privilege, money privilege and pretty privilege.
White privilege is the result of centuries of Europeans invading, destroying and looting other countries, even of their inhabitants, which they used as slaves. They later reinforced this dominion with laws and religions that were aimed at making sure that this social and political structure dominated the world and all the countries they occupied. Europeans robbed other civilisations of 500 years of their history and their growth.
Male privilege is the result of a systematic oppression of female humans by male humans. For centuries women were denied access to education, jobs, relevant positions in the society because men had succeded in propagateling falsities such as "women are less smart than men. Or women are too mentally weak and frail to make important decisions". Aristle even said that women are half human beings. Christianity reduced women to one single rib, made out of a full fledge man. Islam clearly says that women are worth half of what a man is worth.
Money privilege is the result of the fear people feel towards those who have access to resources that they don't. A rich person is more likely to be able to influence the creation of laws that will favour him or her, manipulate situations and buy people's support.
Pretty Privilege is the result of human bias and nothing more. Beauty is associated with all that is good and innocent. In fact, people generally sympathise with good looking people, more than they do with those who are not. Because white people dominate the world, the global epitome of beauty is man or a woman with eurocentric features. Which means that people with prominent features and coarse hair are at the bottom of the beauty chain, usually people of African descent.
Nigeria is nation of black people, so white privilege is not systematically enforced, and we are still able to admire a beautiful African person even though his or her nose is not pointed and their lips are not thin.
What privileges dominate the Nigerian society?
In Nigeria, pretty privilege works for women, male privilege works for men, while money privilege works for both men and women. Male and money privilege are systematic. Pretty privilege is whimsical.
In my last post, I said that women are brought up to be obedient and subservient wives to their future husbands. But that men are not brought up to be diligent and loving husbands to their wives. To buttress this point, I used the analogy of a master and a dog.
Dogs are the ones who are trained and shaped to respect their masters' wishes and commands. All a master needs is the amount of money required to purchase one. A master's ability to keep a dog is never questioned. Nobody asks a person who wants to buy a dog if they can love it and treat it right. But the dog on its part is judged for how it barks, how it responds to orders and how it wiggles its tail.
How is a dog's worth calculated?
Sinple: on its beauty and pedigree. Breeding has been in vogue for centuries and its sole purpose is to create the most beautiful and unique dogs, which will later be sold at ridiculous prices.
The most expensive dog in the world is the Samoyed, which goes from $4,000 to $11,000.
How does this apply to women?
Simple: the more beautiful a woman is, the more she's likely to trade this beauty for a man's money.
Every woman is expected to be domesticated. That's our basic training. A woman who can't perform domestic chores or who acts unruly towards a figure of authority is considered an anomaly. Beauty is supposed to be a plus.
However, even in the absence of this basic training, beautiful women still manage to end up with rich men, and are still the object of desire of poor or average men.
That is pretty privilege.
Remember: the highest a dog will ever sit is on its master's laps. However in order to get there, it has to stand out from the pack, naturally.
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