Taking The Buzzfeed Privilege Test -- With Surprising Results!

 

Greetings and Salutations, Y'all!

If I had a quarter for how many times over the last few years some internet troll has told me I should "check my privilege" then I would never have to worry about financial debts ever again.

Okay, I exaggerate just a bit, but at the very least it would have paid my household bills for the next month or two.

No kidding, especially when dealing with people on the internet who disagree with my on just about everything imaginable, the fallback line is often Why don't you check your privilege! Sometimes some ethnic and sexist epitaphs are thrown in for good measure.

Whenever I am confronted with this sort of behavior, I often times I ask myself "What 'privilege' they are referring to? I certainly don't feel privileged, or entitled to anything. I've certainly never had anything just handed to me, even as a child. I sure as hell don't have anything given to me now as a pseudo-adult.

So, like most denizens of the internet, I went to the source of all knowledge and opinion online -- Buzzfeed -- and found the Check Your Privilege Test.

This test is pretty straight-forward, answer all the questions that apply to you and then check the results. So I too the advise of all those over the years who challenged me to "check my (white/male/other) privilege" and the results....well, the results were pretty funny.

The following are the questions on the test, with the ones I answered that applied to me highlighted in red.

1. Check off all the statements that apply to you.

    I am white.

    I have never been discriminated against because of my skin color.

    I have never been the only person of my race in a room.

    I have never been mocked for my accent.

    I have never been told I am attractive "for my race."

    I have never been a victim of violence because of my race.

    I have never been called a racial slur.

    I have never been told I "sound white."

    A stranger has never asked to touch my hair, or asked if it is real.

    I am heterosexual.

    I have never lied about my sexuality

    I never had to "come out."

    I never doubted my parents’ acceptance of my sexuality.

    I have never been called "f*g."

    I have never been called "d*ke."

    I have never been called a "f**ry," or any other derogatory slur for homosexuals.

    I have never tried to hide my sexuality.

    I am always comfortable with P.D.A. with my partner in public.

    I have never pretended to be "just friends" with my significant other.

    I have never been ostracized by my religion for my sexual orientation.

    I have never been told I would "burn in hell" for my sexual orientation.

    I have never been told that my sexuality is "just a phase."

    I have never been violently threatened because of my sexuality.

    I am a man.

    I feel comfortable in the gender I was born as.

    I still identify as the gender I was born in.

    I have never tried to change my gender.

    I have never been denied an opportunity because of my gender.

    I make more money than my professional counterparts of a different gender.

    I have never felt unsafe because of my gender.

    I have never been catcalled.

    I have never been sexually harassed or assaulted.

    I have never been raped.

    I work in a salaried job.

    My family and I have never lived below the poverty line.

    I don’t have any student loans.

    I have never gone to bed hungry.

    I have never been homeless.

    My parents pay some of my bills.

    My parents pay all of my bills.

    I don’t rely on public transportation.

    I buy new clothes at least once a month.

    I have never done my taxes myself.

    I have never felt poor.

    I have never had to worry about making rent.

    I have never worked as a waiter, barista, bartender, or salesperson.

    I have had an unpaid internship.

    I have had multiple unpaid internships.

    I went to summer camp.

    I went to private school.

    I graduated high school.

    I went to an elite college.

    I graduated college.

    My parents paid (at least some of) my tuition.

    I had a car in high school.

    I’ve never had a roommate.

    I've always had cable.

    I have traveled internationally.

    I travel internationally at least once a year.

    I studied abroad.

    I’ve never skipped a meal to save money.

    I don’t know what “Sallie Mae” is.

    I spent Spring Breaks abroad.

    I have frequent flier miles.

    My parents are heterosexual.

    My parents are both alive.

    My parents are still married.

    I do not have any physical disabilities.

    I do not have any social disabilities.

    I do not have any learning disabilities.

    I have never had an eating disorder.

    I have never been depressed.

    I have never considered suicide.

    I have never attempted suicide.

    I have never taken medication for my mental health.

    I can afford medication if/when I need it.

    I have never been told I’m overweight or "too skinny."

    I have never felt overweight or underweight or "too skinny."

    I have never been shamed for my body type.

    I consider myself to be physically attractive.

    I can afford a therapist.

    I’ve used prescription drugs recreationally.

    I have never had an addiction.

    I have never been shamed for my religious beliefs.

    I have never been violently threatened for my religious beliefs.

    I have never been violently attacked for my religious beliefs.

    There is a place of worship for my religion in my town.

    I have never lied about my ethnicity as self-defense.

    I have never lied about my religion as self-defense.

    All my jobs have been accommodating of my religious practices.

    I am not nervous in airport security lines.

    I have never heard this statement: "You have been randomly selected for secondary passport control."

    I have never been called a terrorist.

    Nobody has ever tried to "save" me for my religious beliefs.

    I have never been cyber-bullied for any of my identities.

    I was not bullied as a child for any of my identities.

    I have never tried to distance myself from any of my identities.

    I have never been self-conscious about any of my identities.

    I have never questioned any of my identities.

    I feel privileged because of the identities I was born with.

And here are the official results of my Buzzfeed Privilege Test:

Well there y'all have it, I "checked me privilege" and found out that, at least according to Buzzfeed, I have no privilege at all. Very interesting indeed.

So next time someone asks you to "check your privilege" you tell them to take this test and challenge them to find out how privileged they are themselves. The results might be just as surprising.

Let me know what y'all think in the comments below, and if y'all take the test too, leave the results there as well. As always have a wonderful Dixie Day, and y'all come back now, ya hear!