Meghan Daum's Error

In Meghan Daum’s article “Using privilege as a weapon”, she tactically begins with insults thrown at her before. She says these insults in a brief and concise way. Furthermore, she makes being “an ugly hobbit” or “whore” not have much importance. Daum’s sincere response lets her audience know that she experiences“not-so-nice” insults in the past. Even so, insults do not define her nor matter to her. Daum’s main point for resurrecting past insults are not for comedic value, but for a bigger issue. Her success is attributed to “privilege” or being in “ a wealthy family”, but she comes from a “hardscrabble” background. Despite Daum’s confidence, she begins to sound disturbed finding her attacker’s motive. She reveals facts about her past to reject being “privileged”. Daum’s argument which is usually sarcastic and unemotional becomes vulnerable. The accuser tries to discredit her reliability, which is an important piece to writing. Readers need to know Daum, and this criticism could unravel her credibility. Being Meghan Daum, she immediately attacks her opponent’s argument.
Thus, their claim becomes useless. She contradicts fact with false opinion. She tells readers she “didn’t grow up poor”, but is not “privileged”. She refutes the claim not only by providing evidence but discredits her opponent's thinking. She explains how any person can be anything, but that does not make a comment true. Daum realizes that the “ assertion” of her “privilege” is not to have merit. The assertion can corrupt her image. Additionally, the point of the accusation is to make her achievements pointless. She realizes the danger the opponent tries to put her in. Regardless, she further examines the issue by making the claim even more useless. She uses sarcasm to show how the opponent wants “ to hit me where it hurts” by making pointless accusations. She admits the reality of privilege being “ the deadliest weapon in his arsenal” and the word’s new attacking effect. Privilege is no longer exceptional, but a quality that makes a person detached from society.

Even though she addresses her experience on “privilege”, she mainly explains the epidemic crisis of privilege shaming today.
She uses a series of questions to prove how privilege matters in everyday society. Are you “heterosexual” then you’re privileged. Nope, are you “comfortable with the gender you are ?” Privileged ! If you are white, everyone already knows the answer. Daum shows how ridiculous the claims are becoming. Daum gains authenticity by showing people’s claims to the extreme. Privilege is normal in a regular sense, but now used as a “weapon waved”. Instead of privilege from a comparison view, it’s “weaponized” She shows how privilege revolves factors like race, status, and gender. Thus, anyone can be privileged. Privilege does not have to be a person’s assets , but reach anyone to some degree. Most humans have a brain that allows thinking. Are we not all privileged
?

Moreover, Daum broadens the idea of privilege to a universal scope. Privilege can associate with being “ class conscious”. Daum balances the ideas of being privileged by comparing it to each person’s social class. She uses this information to show that the effect of being privileged relates to each person. Despite a lack of connection, she perfectly intertwines both issues. She states how politicians have to be wary of being “out of touch”. To some people, politicians are important individuals who are able to live large. People who have decent jobs have to be “spoiled” and “lazy”. Daum presents an idea of success being with privilege. Especially, the irony of people who “ judge not just by their talent but also by the ease of difficulty which they put to use”. She shows how people appreciate and praise people who escape and succeed. Yet, an equally decent person brought up in a stable environment condemned for being supposedly privileged. Even though Daum presents a thorough argument, she presents readers with these questions. She fails to present why people believe a person with is a rough background is more appreciated than someone of a better background. She still points out how unfair the treatment of this perception is. Lastly, she makes her primary argument. Privilege shaming may seem more like an “ accusation rather than an observation” but ultimately presents a possibility that anyone can succeed. Daum refers to this thinking as flawed, and why privilege shaming is wrong. Some people have privilege, and others do not. It all depends on who you're born to be and the chances you get.