Sunday, May 24, 2015
It's often argued that success isn't about who you are, but how hard you work. While those coming from financially sound families do have an upper-leg, the less fortunate ones have the opportunity to reach this same level through hard work and a good education. After all, we aren't solely defined by our home life, and the differences it allows to our character is relatively small. The problem is, as this comic argues, "...over the years all these little differences, they start to add up, to build into something bigger."
"On a Plate" accurately and profoundly expresses the implications of privilege. Closing these disparities isn't a matter of socialism, it's a matter of rectifying the fact that "equal opportunity" doesn't exist in this society.
Check out the whole comic here.
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I think this article and comic do an excellent job at explaining what privilege is. Saying that someone benefits from economic privilege is not saying that everything comes to them easy. As we can see in the comic, the character Richard still had to work hard to achieve his success, however the obstacles he faced were nowhere near the obstacles that Paula had to face. Paula had an extra set of obstacles solely there because of her economic status.
ReplyDeleteHopefully, the people who read this understand why there is still such a large wage gap between whites and people of color. The gap is still there because white privilege is making it easier for whites to achieve a greater success, while people of color, no matter how hard they try and work, will have specific halting obstacles solely based on their racial or economic status.
This comic accurately describes how privilege can make life less difficult. From the time Richard was born, he was fortunate enough that his parents could afford to provide him with a comfortable lifestyle. Toby Morris uses words such as warm and dry to describe Richard's home to giving the reader a sense of comfort. Meanwhile, Paula's house is portrayed negatively using the words damp and noisy. Just reading these words is enough to make a reader feel disgusted. This pattern of privilege versus poverty continues throughout their lives. Paula's life has more obstacles because she oppressed by her family's low income and her gender.Despite Paula's dedication and hard work, she still is serving Richard his food on a platter. (literally and metaphorically speaking)
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