Intersectionality - Privilege and Oppression

Originally, the concept of intersectionality confused me. I didn't grasp the idea of it for a while, and maybe I still don't. I know I have some idea now, whether it is a concrete comparison to the actual meaning or not, I do know it is at least similar.

My privileges and oppressions conflict with each other on a constant basis. Sometimes they cancel one another out, while other times I am having to deal with both at the same time. I don't think people realize just how long both lists are, until they sit down multiple times and just think. There are some I've come up with throughout the weekend that I didn't even consider last Wednesday.

As I'm going through the list of things I identify as, it only got more and more complicated as some I considered both a privilege and oppression. Many ended up being controversial. Also, some that may be seen as a positive identity to others is what makes it an oppression in some ways.

I am White, a Man, Gay, Lower Class, Agnostic, A Red Head, Cisgender, a feminist, Bipolar, from New York City, a College Student, from the United States and a Liberal Democrat who tries to avoid politics.

Those are only a small few of identities. There are also qualities and personality/behavioral traits that I identify with such as adaptable, sensitive and empathetic that can create the same social constructs of intersectionality as the identities above.

My privileges, such as being White, a Man, Cisgender and a college student have all helped me be where I am with what I've accomplished. I am not naive in pretending that I don't have these privileges, and often times wish I didn't have them at all. It ends up becoming this self-inflicting curse of hating myself because of what I identify as that happen to make me privileged.

Then there are some oppressions like Lower Class, Gay, Agnostic, and Bipolar. What is weird is that I don't consider any of these three identities as an oppression. But what I do to myself because of my privilege, is what others do to me for my oppressions. I'll constantly be asked questions as if it is wrong, or be coerced to feel otherwise about the identities I am.

Some things that don't seem like it should be anything, can easily become both. I am a Red-Head, and it is always something people have to mention to me, as if it's the coolest thing ever, or to make a stupid joke like "so do you have a soul?" It is also something people have to mention right away as a fetish as well. As if because I'm a red head and they are into red heads, I now must sleep with them to fulfill their fantasies.

Me being in a lower socioeconomic class didn't stop me from going to college. My mom managed to make sure me and my brother were fed, had clothes, went to school, etc. So does that really make my being a lower class that much of an oppression, just because society compares it to those who are more well off than I was throughout life? Does my being Gay make my "manness" any less so? I can ask these questions for all aspects of my identity and make a bunch of comparisons. But I think the main point I am trying to me (whether I'm doing a good job at it or not), is that I don't think a privilege is just a privilege, or an oppression is just an oppression. We have learned throughout the semester so far that things are more complicated than one or the other, and I truly think this applies to this as well. My privileges can also be my oppressions, and my oppressions can be my privileges. It is all complicated and situational.