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Comment by acdha | Hacker News Reader

It’s true whether or not acknowledging it makes you uncomfortable.

Ageism is real. Sexism is real. Racism is real. Homophobia has become less common but is still real and if you’re trans I can imagine it’s like what I heard from gay friends in the 90s. In all of those cases, I’ve heard many stories about people being asked to prove themselves in ways I’ve never been challenged, or low-balled on offers and getting serious pushback on negotiation. A common rule of thumb was that it takes one degree to cancel out each one of those things you are not, and while I’ve heard some fellow white guys question that I’ve never heard anyone else I know disagree.

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It’s true whether or not acknowledging it makes you uncomfortable.

It was puerile nonsense. It doesn't have the property of being true of false.

As is the "Gosh, looks like these heavy truths we're laying down are making you uncomfortable" insinuation you're making.

Maybe if people focused on their own privileges instead of coming up with an ever-more-adjectived punching bag for all of society’s ills it would go over better.

Isn’t that what we’re seeing? Nobody is saying it’s bad to be a straight white male, only that people like us are playing on easy mode. The goal is for everyone to be able to enjoy that.

There are plenty of people in those 'privileged' categories who are not playing on easy mode. A given person fitting that description isn't necessarily represented by the average

It’s okay for privilege to be intersectional. A straight white cis male can still suffer from ableism and classism. But it’s also okay to acknowledge that even in circumstances like being disabled, being perceived as a white cis straight male will have benefits compared to a black trans woman in the same situation, even if that situation sucks for both parties.

It's also okay to not assume that certain categories of people are sheltered and naive, based solely on their gender status and inferred ancestral composition. And in need of a public calling-out and talking-to, based solely on those observed properties.

Which is what started this whole sub-thread, after all.

If people were focused on their own privileges you’d see concrete examples. The parts of the article talking about green cards is a good example of this. Straight white male (and now add cis, able bodied, etc, etc, etc) used as a talismanic phrase is not focusing on your own privileges. It’s just creating a scapegoat and letting everyone that doesn’t match every last adjective off the hook.

The goal is for everyone to be able to enjoy that.

That may be the "goal". Whether public drag-outs as displayed in the OP serve to achieve that is another matter entirely.

> It’s true whether or not acknowledging it makes you uncomfortable.

I judge most people's competence long before I am aware of their cis or straight status, and often age as well.

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