The First Step When Thinking About Privilege...

...Is openly admitting to yourself what privileges you have. You can't have discussions about any sort of -ism until you realize which of those -isms you're protected from. Most people in America have at least one privilege, but the problem is that so many people who have plenty of privilege refuse to admit that they have them, and that those privileges will color their opinions and discussions. For example, while I'm at some disadvantages because of my bipolarity, gender, and sexuality, I know that I have a whole huge whopping bag of privileges. For example:

1.I'm white, with completely European heritage as far as my family can look back.

2.I'm cisgender.

3.I was born in America.

4.I'm middle class, and was born that way.

5.I'm able-bodied. (Vision does not   count.)

And these are only a few. So yes, I know that I'm privileged, and thus it may sound like I'm whining sometimes when the little white kid is talking about ageism instead of racism. But that's because I want to operate on fields that are most personal to me - ageism is rarely talked about, because adults don't realize that they are  automatically part of a somewhat privileged group, and people simply forget about it when they exit their teens. (Unlike race or sexuality, which is a lifelong thing.)

I feel like I should take this time to address something: I don't want anyone to think that I'm saying that ageism is more serious than, or more rampant than, racism, sexism, ableism, or any other form of discrimination. But people need  to pay attention to it, and I'm going to try to help that.

But anyway, yes, I am privileged in many ways. And that's what people need to do first when they're tackling issues: Simply confess their privileges, to themselves or anyone they'll be talking to. This goes for white people talking about racism, adults talking about ageism, men talking about sexism, straight people talking about homophobia, and anything else.

(Although, I've never seen a religious person stick up for an atheist/agnostic/non-worshipper. Have you?)