Eastin Ashby
Claudia Castaneda
Power and Privilege
27 October 2014
Heterosexual Privilege
I live in a heterosexual society, in a world where people who are straight benefit from numerous invisible privileges. Just as man who benefits from male privilege, he rarely thinks about being mugged and raped walking home at night alone in Boston unlike females, many of my straight friends never thought about the possibility of being assaulted when they were in public on a date because of their sexuality. It is probably important here that I stop and emphasize the definition of heterosexual privilege: everyday experiences that straight people benefit from with no effort on their part, and often involuntarily.
The vast majority of us grew up thinking and often being told that we would grow up to be like Mommy or Daddy: heterosexual parents that raised our own families corresponding to our assigned gender-roles; and so from an early age we are thought to think in such plain ways.
Clearly that does not always happen; however, our society still continues to only spread the idea that heterosexual is the fate that awaits us all.
I decided for this paper to create my own list short list of heterosexual privileges that I witness and experience in my everyday life. Initially the list was rather short; however, I circulated it through my group of friends, peers, and parents, and the list grew. Eventually the list grew to many separate and distinct examples of heterosexual privilege so I decided to keep it short. These are examples of heterosexual privilege in my own life: 1. I feel comfortable holding hands with my partner in public. 2. As a child growing up I was shown characters of my orientation, in cartoons, children's book, and family movies. 3. As a child it is...