The Scale of Things
Is it possible to have a metric
a way to rate privilege
one that does not reference
gender, economic status, race?
Can the moral high ground be assigned?
Is a child loved by a parent
not more privileged
than one that is not?
This is in response to Anmol’s challenge over at dVerse which begins with the quote :
To be white, or straight, or male, or middle class is to be simultaneously ubiquitious and invisible. You’re everywhere you look, you’re the standard against which everyone else is measured….Michael S. Kimmel
Stopdraggingthepanda 
If you find that metric, let me know.
I think having a high moral ground is about perspective.
Yes, a child loved is more privileged. I have not thought about this one.
Thanks for shedding the light on “privilege”.
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I think finding that metric would involve objectivity, a rare commodity! Thanks for dropping by…JIM
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We should expect that children will be loved by their parents but times make it a “privilege” now…especially if the child is preborn/newborn.
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Indeed!
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This is an interesting angle to privilege. I do not think that there can be a metric to measure it since it is based on a subjective experience (mired in certain social realities for sure) and its perception.
The question in the third stanza is so powerful and raises more questions as to why some children are not loved. Thanks for sharing this thoughtful verse!
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I agree. A parents love (or denial of such) lends a perspective to character that will color a child’s attitudes well into life.
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Yes….and that impact is valid, regardless of gender, race and class
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and thanks for putting the challenge out there, Anmol…complex questions..
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Pertinent questions, Jim, but I don’t think privilege can be measured, as it depends on time, place and culture. But I do think that loving and being loved is a right not a privilege.
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Thanks Kim…..any discussion based on assumptions about gender, race and class is a mine field that I usually stay out of! 😊 I like the approach you took in your poem!
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😊
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Thought provoking. All children should be loved, but certainly aren’t. Is love a privilege? Is being a child a privilege? Is it a privilege to be a human rather than some other species?
I don’t agree with the concept of a moral high ground, but there certainly could be moral abysses.
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Yes, the moral abyss is always in plain sight!
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I do love that last question so much… maybe that is the one that really really matters.
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Yes, Bjorn…in the end I think it is!
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So many sides to privilege — economic, social, emotional. You’ve illustrated that well.
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Thank you Beverly!
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the human heart is a devious thing – your final stanza makes me think that, even parents have favourites it seems
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Yes, that is probably true…..but as long as they don’t make it obvious, it’s survivable!😊
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agreed!
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A metric to measure privilege……….a conundrum for sure. So many many different aspects of that word………
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yes, to have privilege, to claim privilege, to abuse privilege etc…
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