That is a fairly common criticism of privilege theory and one I find has merit. But many people in academia who adhere to social privilege theory have no problem seeing overt racism and linking it to white privilege.
I would grant though that in the Ted/Bernie comparison, one would have a point that people like them can afford to be themselves and play the “you do you” card knowing they’d be judged individually w/o worrying that they are somehow “representing”. That is a privilege.
That would have been a good lesson plan. Heck, you could have taken other attendees in the activity and noticed that neither Bernie’s nor Schumer’s style and demeanor are going to lead anyone to make assumptions on how society looks at their demographic. That this is an example of a form of “privilege” though the instance itself was victimless and trivial. And for the lesson to include that “but that does not mean he was doing anything wrong”.
I get the feeling that part of the problem is too many people assume “privilege” to necessarily mean someone is somehow themselves perpetrating an injustice, a wrong to be righted. So with something like this, a trifling instance that as far as we can tell harmed no one, someone calling it out must know they risk the “are you serious?” response.
I don’t think “it has nothing to do with privilege”, but rather think that the core privilege in this instance stems from being a very well known politician who has made a brand for himself of being a grumpy advocate for the working class. So wearing a parka and big mittens is completely on brand for him. It’s not something I feel like I could get away with because, although I’m a white dude, I personally don’t have the decades spent in government and the public eye to say “Fuck it, I don’t have anything to prove today”.
So, sure, there’s “privilege” involved but not any kind that’s worth harping over or making a big deal to your students. If I’m going to burn mental calories being mad about privilege, it’s not going to be “Bernie gets to wear mittens” privilege.
That is a long down coat. Much more formal and stylish than Sanders’s parka. If you zoom in, you can see it goes down to her mid- to lower leg. Along the lines of this coat:
And she completely misses the fact that Bernie’s parka and mittens, along with quite a lot of his wardrobe, were purchased from Vermont companies, which is him using his bit of limelight to help pull up his constituents into recognition and maybe steer some business their way. Which is one thing a Senator really SHOULD do, as a matter of course.
I bet it escaped her notice that when the Chairman Bernie sweatshirts and t-shirts were added to his website, they use ONLY shirts made in the USA by UNION workers, just like every other product on the site. Bernie believes in helping American union workers and he puts his money where his mouth is.
One way to be an ally to those with less privilege is to use whatever privilege YOU have as an umbrella to shelter others and to wield whatever power your privilege lends you to give a hand up to others who don’t have it. Bernie does this every day in every way he can and that’s why assholes hate him so much.
The only people giving him a hard time are the author of the article, who no one is agreeing with, and one poster who thinks his choices are disrespectful. Everyone else who is talking about his white privilege is saying, “Yep, that shows some white (and male) privilege, although he did nothing wrong. Lots of people who lack that privilege would be worried enough to not do it, or would be risking criticism or hassles.”
That’s it. No one on this side is upset by how Bernie Sanders dressed. No one is offended. No one has their underpants in a twist. We are simply saying, you can reject the OP article’s criticism of Sanders, but the way he is dressed does speak to privilege. But, again, nothing about that is saying he did anything wrong.
Yes, and he may we’ll have been doing that. Using his privilege to make it more acceptable to dress less formally. Using his privilege.
For anyone suggesting that it’s the only way to dress for the cold, and formal attire is not warm enough: It was in the 40s. I’ve lived in Norway. There is plenty of clothing that is both formal and very warm.
I think the only privilege Bernie uses on the regular is his Bernie privilege. He is who he is and has been rock hard consistent in being Bernie his whole life and he does not weathervane for anything he does not feel is important. Show him empirically how something he believes is wrong and he’ll change his belief. What he won’t do is to change something based on no evidence and that right there is a giant underpinning of his popularity. Nobody trusts a weasel, and Bernie is pretty far from being a weasel. He’s Bernie, people love him and all those memes were a tribute from people who think of him like they would their own much loved grumpy grandpa. Tio Bernie, it’s a thing.
If people were really offended, wouldn’t they be posting negative memes?
No, there isn’t. There is a difference for being semi warm in the cold for a short period of time and being warm outside for long periods of time. There is no formal wear made for long periods of time or people would wear it. Instead they wear parkas. Show me some photos of people ice fishing or cross country skiing in formal wear. Or maybe a group of Eskimos or Inuit walking around in it.
And whoever claimed a puffy ski coat was formal - not enough rolleyes in the world.
Have to beat some sense into these people.
My God! This guy has a Chiefs hat on! Tase him!
Zounds! Three women right next to Biden! Off with their heads!
Who claimed that? If you are referring to the woman in the down coat that goes down to her lower leg, no way is that a ski garment.
Sorry, you said “more formal”, but it is not formal at all. It’s commonly worn in cold climes as daily wear.
Anytime I’ve lived in a cold weather area the coats that are puffy and have the visible stitching that makes you look like the Michelin Man are known as ski jackets. What Bernie was wearing is a parka.
Bernie Sanders was not ice fishing for the day in subzero temperatures. He was sitting in 40s temperatures for a few hours. But again, I’m not saying he did anything wrong. I just think some of the arguments people are making are ridiculous.
There are very heavy coats, or more formal cuts of long weatherproof outer coats with down zip-in liners. But they are heavy, and no doubt less comfortable than a down snowboarding coat. Of course they aren’t suitable for ice fishing or downhill skiing. (Heavy parkas aren’t usually suitable at all for cross-country skiing. You need many thinner layers for that.).
I for one sort of claim it, in that an overcoat can be worn over a regular winter jacket, which I do occasionally when it gets very cold outside. Normally it’s one or the other. But I wouldn’t call it very formal, since while an overcoat is a valid formal addition to a suit, having a winter jacket under it isn’t formal.
And I don’t think the event was cold enough to warrant mittens instead of gloves. On the other hand, I’m not aware of hats that are formal in general American Culture* yet warm.
*Meaning sure, maybe the 14th Siberian Mountain Goat division has formalware including a bearskin hat but it would look weird with a business suit.
Bernie is like a hundred years old. In case you hadn’t heard, old people are colder than younger people even at temperatures in the 60s.
Yes, and he dressed the way he wanted to to be comfortable.
Agreed. That’s why I think the white privilege is a bunch of crap. He is an old man and he wore appropriate clothing for the situation.
Yep; my father will be 92 this year and he gets cold at about 70.
Same for my mom. My dad, in his 80s, was cold when the temp was lower than 75. I don’t think he even owned a short sleeved shirt for the last 20 years.
Do you think anyone is arguing that he wasn’t actually dressing how he wanted to?
What do you think the point of the white privilege argument is?
I’m not sure. I always thought the point of a white privilege argument was to explain how one group is benefiting from something often at the expense of another group. But there’s no evidence that Bernie is receiving a benefit not available to others. Even when evidence exists of others wearing similar clothing at past inaugurations, including what I think was a black woman, with no evidence of backlash for them people still claim white privilege is at work here. So you tell me, what is the point?