Can I discuss diversity if I come from a privileged place? //Let’s talk!

/ Eva | Brilliantly Bookish

Let me just start right of the bat by being honest with you, I haven’t written a discussion post until now, because I was scared. I would love to write discussions about feminism and diversity, but I feel like my opinion might not be valid enough. That leads me into the topic of this discussion; Can you really discuss diversity if you come from a privileged, non- marginalized place? Let’s discuss!

If someone would ask me this question my immediate answer would be yes. Yes, you can. Diversity and feminism are very important topics to talk about and the more people talking the better. So why is it that I don’t dare to post a discussion about it?

I feel like #OwnVoices matter most. People that really face the problems on a daily basis. How can I really talk about racism if I don’t experience it? Is my opinion valid enough if I only repeat what others have said about their experiences with it? I’m growing up in a very good place. I don’t experience racism or discrimination. I don’t get judged based on just my skin colour, my beliefs or even the fact that I am a woman and I know I’m lucky. They are countless other people who do, so isn’t their opinion more valid?

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Asking myself these questions over and over again has resulted in me not writing any discussion posts, although I’d love to. I would love to spread the word about good diverse books and how much diversity and feminism matter. So today I’m asking you What do you think? I would love to discuss it in the comments!

See you next time! Love,
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23 thoughts on “Can I discuss diversity if I come from a privileged place? //Let’s talk!”

  1. I’ve struggled with this a lot in recent months. I think the most important thing to do is to remember that being an ally is really important, its important to remember to listen, not to shout over the crowd of people experiencing prejudice but to ask questions and listen to the answer. Make sure you’re fighting for what people need, not just what you in your place of privilege perceive they want. Whatever the movement is, Black Lives Matter, LGBTQ Rights, Feminism, sometimes you will be a part of it, other times you’re needed as an ally.

    I know the battle for equality from both sides, wanting to support people’s community and rights that I am not a part and having experienced prejudice myself.

    Feminism is a big one for me, probably because often people don’t understand it. Feminism is not a fight between men and women, but a fight of people of all genders against the patriarchy that condemns us all. The patriarchy forces people of all genders into roles that often they don’t fit, men are forced not to express emotion and this leads to shockingly high suicide rates, women are told they are overly emotional and are exaggerating when they report abuse and rape, non-binary people are told they are wrong and they have to pick a gender. These are only a few of the problems that people face.

    Its also important to remember that you will make mistakes and that’s okay because we’re all human! Something I’ve said here I may disagree with in the future but thats fine because we need to make errors to become better.

    If anything I’ve said here is wrong please correct me! We NEED to keep conversations like this open because by talking to each other and sharing our experiences is the only way we can overcome them.

    I know this is getting long now so in closing I’ll just say that we all need to have hope. People who say that there’s no reason to fight for equality because we will always have inequality are WRONG. We need to fight for equality, because how else will we ever grow as a society? The fight is ongoing but it’s a fight worth having, yes we have come far, but we still have a long way to go.

    ❤ to everyone, stay safe and reach out for help if you are struggling.

    xoxo

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  3. Absolutely! If you want to write those discussion posts, you should go for it 😊 Solidarity within marginalised groups is all well and good, but if we want to see real societal change and better levels of equality and acceptance, we need allies to stand up and join in the conversation to show others that prejudice is not okay.

    I totally agree that giving a platform to ‘own voices’ is crucial, but you shouldn’t underestimate the power of empathy from others as well. As long as someone’s opinions, questions and so on are coming from a place of good intentions then the more people joining the fight for equality the better, I say. 😊

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  4. Oh my God this is so weird; I’ve literally talked about almost the same exact thing in the last post I published! I made a mistake of talking about suicide (it really wasn’t meant to be a discussion) and some people’s comments were so eye opening and truthful that I came to the conclusion that, no; I really know nothing about the issue I’m discussing. And the society you come from plays a huge role; I’ve never been told about the severity of this subject, and it happens so infrequently where I come from that almost no one gives it a thought.
    But I agree with you, I personally come from a privileged place, where I share my life with people from different religions, different beliefs and different backgrounds, I have since I opened my eyes to this world, it has become so natural that I can’t even imagine a place where someone would bully another based on these differences, but the truth is that, yes it definitely happens and that’s something I’m beginning to grasp at the moment.
    And I believe now that the priority is for the ones who come from un-privileged places. These are the people whose opinion matter the most because they’re the ones experiencing *the thing we’re discussing about*.
    Great post!

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  5. This is a great post. I can really relate to it because I struggle with the same thoughts. I want to write about feminism, diversity, mental health, etc. but a lot of the times I feel really inadequate. It’s almost as if I feel I don’t have the right to talk about these issues because I haven’t personally experienced them. But I really like the idea of being an ally.

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  8. Love this post! I think yes, you do can! However, I know how you feel. I’ve experienced racism and discrimination, but in different way you know? And there are things that I just couldn’t discuss because it will create an even bigger shitstorm. Also I feel like bookish community has become very scary right now, one mistake in opinion and views and the whole community is against you… But again, to answer your question, the answer is yes. #ownvoices opinion matters more because they experience the discrimination first-hand, but that doesn’t mean your opinion is invalid! ❤

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    • Thanks for your answer! I hope you might be able to talk about the problems you face. I do think that sometimes happens in the book community, but I’ve seen a lot of people apologize after they say something wrong and they do get forgiven. But maybe I have the wrong perspective because I’m not on Twitter and that’s were those things usually happen. I think. Thanks again!

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