Today in my multiculturalism in the media class, we talked about a very present topic in our society which is the idea of white privilege and power. When talking about something as prevalent and under reported as white privilege it can be difficult at times to put the petty arguments aside and analyze the argument critically. It can also be extremely difficult to talk about white privilege when the majority of people in positions of power are white. It does not make the argument impossible it just makes it more difficult because people do not like to hear negative things about themselves. Because of this people in power often do not like hearing things about inequality because they have no concept of it, because they have always been “equal”.
While reading through a news outlets webpage I came across something that is happening right now in Australia and illustrates this topic very well. Currently in Australia same sex couples can enter into a domestic partnership or a civil union which are considered de facto unions in Australia. A marriage equality bill has been introduced multiple times to Australia’s parliament but has been shot down every single time. Currently there is a same sex marriage bill being considered that is to be voted on in February. Legislatures of parliament and ad companies are going to run ad campaigns for both sides of the issue to keep things as fair as possible. What is not fair is a loophole in Australia that applies only to political advertising. According to the article; “If the campaigns were to be classed as political advertising, there would be no legal requirement for content of the ads to be factually correct.” Awful things can and probably will be said about the LGBT community designed to inspire hate, and a greater sense of inequality. Meaning that anything and everything offense or not can be said about same sex marriage and the LGBT community and there is nothing anyone can do about it.
This is something that does not sit well with me because it goes back to that idea of white privilege. I can guarantee that majority of the people in parliament weighing in on this decision are heterosexual men and women. Meaning that they have no idea what is like to be a homosexual person living in a world that is dominated by and catered to heterosexual people. The people in power making these huge life decisions for a select group of the population that don't have a strong voice in the community is unsettling to me. The people making decisions lack some insight into what it feels like to be an oppressed population based on who you love. Once the ad campaigns begin the LGBT community and particularly the youth of the Australian LGBT community could be subject to intense scrutiny, hate, and many other terrible things for being different. I think I can speak for a lot of people when I say that it is hard enough to fit in and feel normal in everyday life, I cannot imagine what it would be like if there was a negative smear campaign airing in my community making me feel like even more of an outsider.
All I can hope for is that different voices and opinions can be brought into this discussion. I also hope that at the end of the day everyone can realize that we are talking about love.
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