# Check Your Privilege

> Check Your Privilege is a 2006 online social justice catchphrase that calls on people to recognize their unearned advantages based on identity traits like race, gender, sexuality, and class.

"Check Your Privilege" is an online expression used in social justice circles to tell someone they should recognize the unearned advantages their identity (race, gender, class, sexuality) gives them before weighing in on issues affecting less privileged groups. The phrase entered internet discourse through activist blogs around 2006, building on Peggy McIntosh's foundational 1989 essay on white privilege[2]. It became one of the most recognizable and polarizing catchphrases of the 2010s culture wars, exploding on Tumblr, sparking mainstream media coverage, generating waves of parody content, and resurfacing as a viral TikTok challenge during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests[10].

## Origin
The intellectual foundation for "Check Your Privilege" traces back to Peggy McIntosh's 1989 essay "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack," first published in *Peace and Freedom Magazine*[2]. McIntosh listed 26 daily advantages that white people enjoy, framing privilege not as individual meanness but as invisible systems conferring dominance on certain groups[2]. The essay became a staple of women's studies curricula and was widely discussed on the WMST-L academic listserv throughout the 1990s and 2000s[17].

Inspired by McIntosh's work, numerous privilege checklists appeared online. In September 2006, the social justice blog Alas! A Blog compiled fifteen such lists, covering able-bodied privilege, heterosexual privilege, class privilege, American privilege, and more[14]. Earlham College students adapted McIntosh's framework into a "straight privilege" checklist examining daily effects of heterosexual advantage[7].

The specific phrase "Check Your Privilege" appeared as early as March 2006 on the social justice blog Shrub.com, in an article explaining how to accept one's inherent privilege and better understand the experiences of non-privileged groups[1]. The author wrote in response to frustration from a man "who felt that he was always told what *not* to do, but never enlightened on strategies for what *to* do," creating something intended as both an activist resource and a bridge to well-meaning people who didn't understand why marginalized groups got angry at them[1].

- **Platform:** Shrub.com (earliest documented blog use), Tumblr (viral spread)
- **Creator:** Peggy McIntosh (foundational concept), Unknown (internet phrase)
- **Date:** 2006 (internet usage); underlying concept from 1989

## Overview
"Check Your Privilege" is a directive telling someone to recognize the social advantages they carry based on identity markers like race, gender, sexuality, class, or physical ability. In online arguments, it gets deployed when someone from a more privileged background makes a complaint or claim that others view as tone-deaf. The phrase works as both a sincere call for self-awareness and a conversation-ending shutdown, depending on who's using it and how.

The expression draws from academic privilege theory, specifically the idea that members of dominant groups move through life unaware of advantages that marginalized people notice daily[2]. Peggy McIntosh described white privilege as "an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools and blank checks"[2]. On the internet, "check your privilege" became shorthand for this entire framework: that personal experiences are shaped by structural inequalities, and failing to account for those inequalities makes your perspective incomplete.

Over time, the phrase became a lightning rod. Supporters saw it as a necessary corrective to blind spots in public discourse. Critics, including some progressives, argued it had devolved into a rhetorical weapon used to silence disagreement rather than foster genuine dialogue[6].

## How It Spread
In 2007, the phrase spread across feminist blogs. A post on Feministe described entering women-only spaces with the feeling of "check your male privilege at the door, you can collect it when you leave"[3]. The Geek Side blog promoted the concept alongside the memorable definition: "Privilege is starting a race with the best car and not even knowing it"[4]. By 2008 and 2009, it had appeared on The F-Word[5], FeministCritics[15], and The Angry Black Woman[7].

The phrase hit Tumblr in January 2011 when user feyboy posted about straight, white, cisgender women complaining about parental allowances, writing "I don't ever want to hear another straight, white, cis woman complain about her parents not giving her enough money ever again"[9]. Throughout 2011, "check your privilege" became a popular tag on Tumblr alongside related phrases like "white cis male" and "die cis scum" as social justice blogging surged on the platform[7].

By October 2012, YouTube had over 2,300 results for "check your privilege," spanning both earnest vlogs and satirical videos[7]. That same month, The Guardian published an influential piece by publisher Ariel Meadow Stallings arguing the phrase had become "a new form of online performance art" where progressive commenters made "public sport of flagging potentially problematic language"[6]. Stallings compared the tactics to religious protesters, writing that while "the political sentiments are exactly opposite, the motivations are remarkably similar: I WOULD LIKE TO DERAIL THIS CONVERSATION AND HAVE AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE WITNESS HOW RIGHT I AM"[6].

In August 2012, the parody Tumblr blog "Children Who Need To Check Their Privilege" launched, posting satirical commentaries on images of babies and small animals as mockery of the social justice blogging community[8]. One post described "explaining" white privilege to a six-year-old cousin in increasingly absurd terms, parodying the most extreme rhetorical tendencies of privilege discourse[8]. That same month, the webcomic Homestuck introduced Kankri, a character parodying stereotypical Tumblr social justice bloggers who mentions "checking his piety privilege"[7].

## How to Use
"Check your privilege" typically gets used in one of three ways:

**As a sincere request:** When someone makes a complaint or argument that ignores advantages they have. For example, a wealthy person complaining about minor inconveniences to someone struggling financially might be told to check their privilege as a genuine invitation to consider their relative position.

**As a debate tactic:** Deployed in online arguments to signal that someone's perspective is limited by their social position. This usage is common on social media platforms when discussions about race, gender, or class get heated.

**As ironic commentary:** Used sarcastically or in meme format to mock both the phrase itself and the discourse around it. Parody accounts and satirical content often exaggerate the concept to absurd extremes[8].

The phrase also works as a TikTok challenge format: hold up ten fingers, lower one for each experience of discrimination you've faced, and compare results with others to visualize privilege differences[11].

## Cultural Impact
The phrase crossed from internet slang into mainstream political vocabulary during the mid-2010s. Major outlets including *The New York Times*, *Time*, *The Guardian*, and *The American Prospect* all published analyses of the phrase and its effects on public discourse[6][13].

In academia, the underlying concept of privilege checklists became standard material in women's studies and social justice curricula. McIntosh's original essay was discussed on the WMST-L listserv from 1992 onward, with educators developing exercises around her checklist, including having students categorize each privilege item as "discretionary" or "non-discretionary"[17].

The phrase also shaped how platforms handle discourse about identity and inequality. Its rise on Tumblr in 2011-2012 coincided with the growth of social justice blogging as a distinct internet subculture, influencing the rhetorical style of progressive online spaces for years afterward[7].

The 2020 TikTok challenge demonstrated the phrase's ability to adapt to new platforms and contexts. By translating abstract privilege theory into a visual, participatory format, the challenge made the concept accessible to audiences who might never encounter academic frameworks[10].

## Fun Facts
- Peggy McIntosh's original 1989 essay listed exactly 26 daily advantages of being white, and she repeatedly forgot each realization until she wrote it down, calling white privilege "an elusive and fugitive subject"[2].
- The Guardian article comparing privilege-checking to "GOD HATES FAGS" sign-wavers noted that the author once had to put a trigger warning on a post about balloons because a reader was globophobic[6].
- The Shrub.com blog post that popularized the phrase was written as a response to a specific man's frustration at always being told what *not* to do but never what *to* do[1].
- The WMST-L academic listserv discussed McIntosh's essay for over a decade, from 1992 through at least 2003, with ongoing debates about whether her framework adequately addressed class and Jewish identity[17].
- Princeton freshman Tal Fortgang's 2014 privilege essay was described by the *Ordinary Times* blog as "so humdrum and repetitive" that the real mystery was why *this* particular incident went viral[12].

## Frequently Asked Questions
### What is "Check Your Privilege"?
"Check Your Privilege" is an online expression used in social justice communities to tell someone to recognize the unearned social advantages they have based on their race, gender, class, sexuality, or other identity markers before commenting on issues that affect less privileged groups[7].

### Where did "Check Your Privilege" come from?
The phrase appeared online as early as March 2006 on the social justice blog Shrub.com, building on the academic concept of privilege checklists popularized by Peggy McIntosh's 1989 essay "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack"[1][2].

### What does "Check Your Privilege" mean?
It means to acknowledge the inherent advantages your identity gives you and set them aside when considering someone else's situation. It suggests that a person's background shapes their perspective in ways they may not realize[1].

### How do you use "Check Your Privilege"?
The phrase is used in online debates when someone from a more advantaged background makes a statement perceived as ignorant of their social position. It can be deployed sincerely as a call for self-reflection or as a rhetorical shutdown in arguments[6].

### Is "Check Your Privilege" still popular?
The phrase peaked in online discourse around 2012-2014 and saw a major revival during the 2020 BLM protests through a viral TikTok challenge[10]. It still appears in social media discussions about identity and inequality, though less frequently than during its peak.

### Who is Peggy McIntosh?
Peggy McIntosh is the scholar who wrote the 1989 essay "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack," which laid the intellectual groundwork for privilege discourse by listing 26 daily advantages of being white in American society[2].

### Why did the phrase become controversial?
Critics, including some progressives, argued it devolved from a genuine call for empathy into a bullying tactic used to silence disagreement. The Guardian's 2012 article described it as "privilege-checking as a form of internet sport" driven more by public performance than dialogue[6].

### What was the Tal Fortgang essay?
In May 2014, Princeton freshman Tal Fortgang wrote an essay in *The Princeton Tory* responding to being told to check his privilege by detailing his Jewish family's Holocaust survival and his father's working-class background. The essay went viral after being reprinted by *Time*[12][13].

### What was the TikTok privilege challenge?
In June 2020, TikTok user @boss_bigmamma created a "put a finger down" challenge where participants lowered a finger for each experience of racial discrimination, visualizing privilege differences. It was viewed over 59,000 times and inspired thousands of response videos[10][11].

### What is the "Children Who Need To Check Their Privilege" blog?
A parody Tumblr blog launched in August 2012 that posted satirical privilege analyses of photos of babies and small animals, mocking the rhetorical style of social justice Tumblr[8].

### How did Tumblr shape the phrase's popularity?
The phrase became a popular Tumblr tag throughout 2011, coinciding with the rise of social justice blogging on the platform. It spread alongside related tags like "white cis male" and "die cis scum"[7][9].

## References
1. [“Check Your Privilege At The Door” – Entering women-only spaces as a man — Feministe](<https://web.archive.org/web/20111114095840/http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2007/06/12/check-your-privilege-at-the-door-entering-women-only-spaces-as-a-man/>)
2. [Check Your Privilege (AKA, Boo hoo. I’m sure that life is just so hard for you.) / Queer As Fuck Or Not At All](<https://web.archive.org/web/20140821173343/http://feyboy.tumblr.com/post/2853311161/check-your-privilege-aka-boo-hoo-im-sure-that-life>)
3. [Online bullying – a new and ugly sport for liberal commenters | Ariel Meadow Stallings | The Guardian](<https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/oct/18/online-bullying-ugly-sport-liberal-commenters>)
4. [Check Your Privilege - Know Your Meme](<https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/check-your-privilege>)
5. [Marriage Story](<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage_Story>)
6. [Check Your Privilege - Urban Dictionary](<https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Check%20Your%20Privilege>)
7. [Children Who Need To Check Their Privilege](<https://web.archive.org/web/20120807200516/https://childrenwithprivilege.tumblr.com/>)
8. ["Check my what?" On privilege and what we can do about it – Official Shrub.com Blog](<http://blog.shrub.com/check-my-what/>)
9. ["White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" and "Some Notes for Facilitators" - National SEED Project](<https://www.nationalseedproject.org/key-seed-texts/white-privilege-unpacking-the-invisible-knapsack>)
10. [There's A "Check Your Privilege" Challenge On TikTok And It's A Big Reality Check](<https://www.buzzfeed.com/kristatorres/check-your-privilege-tiktok>)
11. [Check your privilege: What is the trend going viral on TikTok? | The Independent | The Independent](<https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/check-your-privilege-tiktok-white-privilege-kenya-big-mamma-racism-a9547731.html>)
12. [A semi-brief note on Jews, Privilege, and Whiteness - Ordinary Times](<https://ordinary-times.com/2014/05/04/a-semi-brief-note-on-jews-privilege-and-whiteness/>)
13. [A Panarchist Perspective on Privilege - Attack the System](<https://attackthesystem.com/2014/04/09/a-panarchist-perspective-on-privilege/>)
14. [Daily Meme: You Probably Should Check Your Privilege - The American Prospect](<https://prospect.org/2014/05/07/daily-meme-probably-check-privilege/>)
15. [White Privilege](<https://userpages.umbc.edu/~korenman/wmst/white_priv1.html>)
16. [Men! Feminism needs you! (Not your privilege…) – The F-Word](<https://thefword.org.uk/2008/06/men_feminism_ne/>)
17. [Check your privilege at the door. | The Geek Side](<https://nightgigjo.wordpress.com/2007/03/30/check-your-privilege-at-the-door/>)
18. [Private Site](<https://kateharding.net/2007/05/07/gratitude/>)
19. [One moment, please...](<http://theangryblackwoman.com/2009/10/01/the-dos-and-donts-of-being-a-good-ally/>)
20. [A List Of Privilege Lists | Alas, a Blog](<https://amptoons.com/blog/?p=2731>)
21. [Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack II](<https://web.archive.org/web/20020518193416/http://www.cs.earlham.edu/~hyrax/personal/files/student_res/straightprivilege.htm>)
22. [The Costs of American Privilege - CounterPunch.org](<https://www.counterpunch.org/2002/10/04/the-costs-of-american-privilege/>)
23. [die+cis+scum | Tumblr](<https://www.tumblr.com/search/die+cis+scum>)
24. ["White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" and "Some Notes for Facilitators" - National SEED Project](<https://www.racialequitytools.org/resourcefiles/mcintosh.pdf>)
25. [Female Privilege – Feminist Critics](<http://www.feministcritics.org/blog/2008/06/08/female-privilege/>)

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