What Advantages & Disadvantages Do You Experience?

[Revoltingest]

Here you go, Mystic. Inspired by the endless shrill whining about one's awful lot in life (most of it by me), I thought we
should have a survey of what people experience. No arguing about who has it worse....just what do you find advantageous
or disadvantageous because of your race, religion, gender, orientation, marital status, age, or other characteristic?

I'll start with some major things which come to mind:
- Nearly had to leave USA in 1970s cuz military draft would call me up to go kill
commies in Viet Nam. (Fortunately, Nixon cancelled it just in time.)
- Was turned down for job as nuclear reactor operator by U of M cuz I'm a white male.
(University policy was to hire only women & minorities for new jobs in 1970s.)
- My father worked at Ford, & during the 1970s was prohibited from hiring white males for a while.
- Surprisingly, being an atheist was never an issue at work or socially.
(Although it removed the option of getting conscientious objector status to avoid the draft.)

 

[TommyDar]

I guess for me it is being able to be considered a local, native person of my country and being from relatively mainstream society. In the past, there was discrimination against both people of Chinese descent in Indonesia, as well as rural people.

For those who don't know, Chinese people came to Indonesia and are now basically a part of the society here, in the similar way to Irish or Italian people in the United States. In the past, it was difficult for them to attend public universities, or to become civil servants because there was some institutionalized discrimination. So in this respect, some native Indonesians, especially from that generation, have advantages as being considered "sons of the country". (However on the other hand many Chinese-Indonesian people are quite wealthy, so in some ways they also have advantages since social connections tend to be within family groups)

As for the rural people, especially those who come from some tribes in an isolated region, are looked down as being ignorant and uncivilized, in some cases. I had a friend in university who was such a person, and though he was a diligent and smart person, because of his accent and looks, people thought him to be incompetent in our field (electrical engineering).

 

[Wherenextcolumbus]

Here you go, Mystic. Inspired by the endless shrill whining about one's awful lot in life (most of it by me), I thought we
should have a survey of what people experience. No arguing about who has it worse....just what do you find advantageous
or disadvantageous because of your race, religion, gender, orientation, marital status, age, or other characteristic?

I'll start with some major things which come to mind:
- Nearly had to leave USA in 1970s cuz military draft would call me up to go kill
commies in Viet Nam. (Fortunately, Nixon cancelled it just in time.)
- Was turned down for job as nuclear reactor operator by U of M cuz I'm a white male.
(University policy was to hire only women & minorities for new jobs in 1970s.)
- My father worked at Ford, & during the 1970s was prohibited from hiring white males for a while.
- Surprisingly, being an atheist was never an issue at work or socially.
(Although it removed the option of getting conscientious objector status to avoid the draft.)

What about your advantages?

 

[Revoltingest]

What about your advantages?

I was thinking about that....& couldn't think of any which I could say I experienced.
It's not that I didn't have any, but I just don't see'm.

 

[Mr Spinkles]

Self-described middle-class white male:

Advantages:
- Raised by full-time mom and a well-paid dad, both college educated
- Went to good public schools
- Some scholarships restricted to U.S. citizens like me
- Native English speaker
- Was able to visit/experience other countries

Disadvantages:
- Dad wasn't able to be around as much as we would have liked
- Born with a bleeding disorder, restricted various activities, career and life paths (health insurance)
- Some scholarships only available to ethnic/gender minorities

When I take stock of it all I feel truly fortunate; I feel regret that others are not as lucky; I feel a great burden to retroactively earn the advantages I was born with, and a feeling that I will never be able to do so.

 

[Alceste]

Advantages: reasonably intelligent and attractive, quite good at a lot of different things, born to a middle class white Canadian family during a period of rapid economic growth, good mental and physical health. Got to travel all over the world while it was still fashionable. Was born female, but not until my grandmother's generation sorted out that business about not being allowed to vote or be economically independent.

Disadvantages: didn't get on the property ladder before the bubble, so now it is not possible for us to own a home in the foreseeable future. Have a travel bug, a problem with authority and a philosophical streak that make it impossible for me to stay in a job for more than a year or two without quitting, and difficult to stay in any city for more than five years without moving. Not very fond of human beings in general. Missed the era when university cost nothing and meant something. Problem skin.

 

[Gjallarhorn]

Advantages:
-Healthy, moderately attractive Caucasian male
-Fluent English speaker
-Intelligent
-Independent learner
-Bisexual (Porque no los dos?)
-Parents promoted argument/debate

Disadvantages
-Stuck in the dissolving middle class
-Religion or lack thereof leading to conflict with others
-Bisexual (either I'm a selfish whore or I'm a confused straight/gay man)
-Anger issues

 

[9Westy9]

Advantages: none

Disadvantages: everything else

 

[bobhikes]

Advantages Family, Friends and strength of mind

Disadvantages, Health.

 

[Reverend Rick]

Advantages:

Tall and good looking white guy
Decent IQ
Excellent work ethic
Networking skills
Born to middle class parents
Had stay at home MOM
Religious background
Sink or Swim attitude


Disavantages:

Got drafted
Have battled three kinds of Cancer
Uninsurable
Have been told not hiring white guys in the 70's
Had to travel the world to make a decent living while taking many risks
Missed out on a bunch of home life because I am a workaholic
Have to deal with class envy

 

[BSM1]

Disadvantages:
Father died when I was eleven, Mother went crazy. Had to raise myself and younger brother.
Short of stature with bright red hair.
Wise enough to be a ********, but not smart enough to be rich.

Advantages:
Same list.

BTW Rev, I tried the atheist dodge in boot camp and was immediately informed that I had been promoted to Protestant. I never argued.

 

[Wherenextcolumbus]

To the people who are saying they have been told "not hiring white guys" it's probably because the company already had a lot of white guys which is why they could only hire women and people of colour at that time.
Being a white man is not a disadvantage.

 

[Revoltingest]

To the people who are saying they have been told "not hiring white guys" it's probably because the company already had a lot of white guys which is why they could only hire women and people of colour at that time.
Being a white man is not a disadvantage.

Are you saying that if it's generally not a disadvantage, then it's OK to discriminate against them in hiring?
Or are civil rights to be measured only by how a group fares, & it doesn't matter what happens to an individual?

 

[Wherenextcolumbus]

Are you saying that if it's generally not a disadvantage, then it's OK to discriminate against them in hiring?
Or are civil rights to be measured only by how a group fares, & it doesn't matter what happens to an individual?

I'm not saying its acceptable or unacceptable, I'm saying they probably discriminated because most of their staff were white men so they had to meet equal opportunity legalities and so discriminated against you at that time. I'm saying being a white man is not a disadvantage.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Disadvantages: Started out in highly-stressful, impoverished, abusive, neglectful environment with nothing to count on but myself, my natural talents, and whatever psychological fortitude I developed.

Advantages: Started out in highly-stressful, impoverished, abusive, neglectful environment with nothing to count on but myself, my natural talents, and whatever psychological fortitude I developed.

 

[Reverend Rick]

Disadvantages: Started out in highly-stressful, impoverished, abusive, neglectful environment with nothing to count on but myself, my natural talents, and whatever psychological fortitude I developed.

Advantages: Started out in highly-stressful, impoverished, abusive, neglectful environment with nothing to count on but myself, my natural talents, and whatever psychological fortitude I developed.

What does not kill us makes us stronger.

 

[Caladan]

I consider myself and my generation to be infinitely more privileged than our grandparents and many of our parents. My grandfather lost almost all his family, was exiled to Siberia, marched out of Siberia, and fought the Nazis in a Polish fighting force under the command of the British 8th army. My father arrived as a poor child immigrant from North Africa to the new State of Israel. They lived and fought through several wars, and their existence was never taken for granted, let alone academic education, despite the fact that my grandfather excelled as a student and even received a personal official letter from the Polish president giving him access to the Polish academy in a time in which Jews were barred from Polish universities.

I had to go through some of the things other people listed as disadvantages, only I consider them as advantages.
For example, I had to study English but I consider it a privilege, since I am now multilingual.
I was drafted to the army, but I also consider it as an advantage, as I had quite a service with great people in a volunteering basis combat unit, which was considered elite.
I am of mixed European and Mid Eastern descent, which I also consider an advantage as it gives me a realistic and diverse approach to life.

Some clear advantages:

I am now working on my postgraduate education in the field of my choice in a British university.
I work in a governmental archaeological organization.
I live in my dream apartment, styled and designed by myself and my wife. And since unlike some other people I know we still wanted to retain our comfortable lifestyle, of dining, drinking and traveling, we bought an older apartment, not too big, but big enough for our comfort. So not only do we live in our dream apartment, but we are also literally mortgage free. A big thing in Israel today for new couples, where housing prices are soaring.
Some physical advantages: I'm in good shape, good looking and never had a problem getting attention from the opposite sex. While today I'm a faithful and happy husband, I met various women from various parts of the world while traveling, and knew how to live my younger days (I'm still in my prime!).
Another thing that I appreciate about my lifestyle and means is that I get to travel. I traveled the far east, the pacific, the middle east, Europe, the Caribbean and I still plan on plenty of traveling. Some of my trips were long and interesting, like backpacking Europe for 6 months by myself and seeing great sites like Stonehenge and chilling in Amsterdam.

In short, as a person in his early thirties, I got to experience and see a lot, my life is stable and secure now, and still plenty ahead of me.