35 “Invisible” Privileges That Most People Don’t Notice Because They Have Them

Whether we like it or not, we’re all privileged. In different ways. In different amounts. But we’ve all got some type of advantage over others. And sometimes… sometimes we don’t even realize we’re privileged. No, not in the classic way you’ve probably read about on the internet! Some privileges don’t actually sound like privileges so some folks don’t realize that’s what they are. In other words, they’re ‘invisible.’

Redditor Woo_loo asked their fellow online users to name a privilege that most people don’t realize is a privilege and their thread went viral. From pointing out that feeling safe in your own home is something a lot of us take for granted to having the ability to read or even a bed to sleep in, some of these responses hit home hard with the simple fact that we take so many wonderful things for granted.

Have a read through some of the best responses that redditors have answered with and upvote the ones you agree with 100%. And be sure to read on for Bored Panda’s interview with the original poster of the thread, redditor Woo_loo themselves.

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35 “Invisible” Privileges That Most People Don't Notice Because They Have Them Not knowing what war actually is like

Man-X98 , Lukáš Trstenský Report

Final score:

277points

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35 “Invisible” Privileges That Most People Don't Notice Because They Have Them Living without constant physical pain. The idea that most people just exist without nonspecific pain is baffling to me.

booklovinggal19 , Karolina Grabowska Report

Final score:

263points

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35 “Invisible” Privileges That Most People Don't Notice Because They Have Them Feeling safe in your own home. Not worrying about rats, mice, roaches, bed bugs, bricks being thrown through windows, violence outside, break ins.

soccer_trekkie , Andrea Piacquadio Report

Final score:

250points

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Woo_loo’s thread got 12k upvotes on the r/AskReddit community, over 7k responses, as well as a whopping 92% upvote rate. What’s more, the redditor got 58 medals for their efforts in bringing such an important and intriguing discussion to the forefront.

Redditor Woo_loo was very open with Bored Panda about what inspired them to create the thread and the fact that they didn’t expect their submission to “blow up like this” on the net.

35 “Invisible” Privileges That Most People Don't Notice Because They Have Them Affordable healthcare.

xXKillerRabbitXx , Pixabay Report

Final score:

236points

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35 “Invisible” Privileges That Most People Don't Notice Because They Have Them Being able to hold the hand of your partner in public without harassment or the fear of something bad happening to you.

weekendweeb , Anna Shvets Report

Final score:

219points

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35 “Invisible” Privileges That Most People Don't Notice Because They Have Them Waking up and just being able to see. What’s that like? No glasses, no contacts. Just wow.

professional_amatuer , Nataliya Vaitkevich Report

Final score:

218points

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Woo_loo explained to us that what inspired them to turn to r/AskReddit with their question was their line of thinking about all of the things that we have but we’re not constantly aware of.

“I was thinking about how people always say that we should be grateful for things like clean water and education so I wanted to know what else we were taking for granted that isn’t talked about,” they said.

35 “Invisible” Privileges That Most People Don't Notice Because They Have Them Being able to walk alone, especially at night, without any worry at all.

llcucf80 , Andrea Piacquadio Report

Final score:

214points

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35 “Invisible” Privileges That Most People Don't Notice Because They Have Them Having a bed. When I was ages 8-11, my siblings and I had to sleep on the floor because we lived in a tiny one-bedroom apartment.
I remember turning twelve and finally getting to sleep in my own bed after three years of not having one. It was euphoria.

averyfragilegirl , Erick Palacio Report

Final score:

208points

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35 “Invisible” Privileges That Most People Don't Notice Because They Have Them Having an emotionally mature parent.

anonymous , Anete Lusina Report

Final score:

206points

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In the redditor’s opinion, all of us, no matter how rich or poor, happy or miserable, all of us have something to be grateful for. However, Woo_loo pointed out to Bored Panda that they don’t expect that anyone’s constantly thinking about their privileges and how much they appreciate them. Imagine how exhausting it would be to always be grateful for hundreds of small wonders, every hour of every day. There wouldn’t be any time for living and making great experiences.

#10

35 “Invisible” Privileges That Most People Don't Notice Because They Have Them Sleeping through the night

pressonshop2020 , Ivan Oboleninov Report

Final score:

204points

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#11

35 “Invisible” Privileges That Most People Don't Notice Because They Have Them Being in countries where you are able to speak insults to, openly criticise or question authority without going to jail

Mardanis , Thomas Lin Report

Final score:

196points

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#12

35 “Invisible” Privileges That Most People Don't Notice Because They Have Them Fresh water from the tap. Imagine living in rural Africa. Or Flint, Michigan.

gozba , Daria Shevtsova Report

Final score:

193points

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One of the things that Woo_loo believes (especially after reading through all of the plentiful responses that their question received on Reddit) is that we’ve all got a responsibility to help those in need and those in a worse position than ours. In short, the redditor is a humanitarian with a very honest desire to lend others a helping hand.

#13

35 “Invisible” Privileges That Most People Don't Notice Because They Have Them Having pets. So many people discard them like they're playthings over the most mundane reasons.

Tarantulette , Sam Lion Report

Final score:

191points

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#14

35 “Invisible” Privileges That Most People Don't Notice Because They Have Them A hot shower every day

hoppenstedts , Armin Rimoldi Report

Final score:

188points

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#15

35 “Invisible” Privileges That Most People Don't Notice Because They Have Them Being healthy instead of disabled and chronically ill.

jesusislord67 , Andrea Piacquadio Report

Final score:

186points

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“We should try to help people acquire the privileges that we take for granted and be a lot more aware of it. Not everyone has the same chances in life but we can make it as fair as possible,” the redditor opened up to Bored Panda, alluding to the idea that we’ve all got to do our best to ensure that society lives by the principle of equality of opportunity.

#16

35 “Invisible” Privileges That Most People Don't Notice Because They Have Them Having a family that loves you. I grew up in a pretty loving family. It was somewhat dysfunctional, to be sure, but my mother loves me as does my sister. So did my grandparents. We were always a close family and we helped each other when possible. We were always supportive too.

I went to school with people whose parents couldn't have [cared] less about them. I mean straight up, just didn't give a [damn] if their kids lived or died. If your parents actively tried to keep you off drugs and off the streets and were emotionally supportive and not abusive, count your blessings.

CDC_ , John-Mark Smith Report

Final score:

177points

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#17

35 “Invisible” Privileges That Most People Don't Notice Because They Have Them Honestly, Memory.

When Alzheimers hits, your brain is basically dead. That disease is heartbreaking for every party involved

daniscooked , Laura Fuhrman Report

Final score:

176points

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#18

35 “Invisible” Privileges That Most People Don't Notice Because They Have Them Being conventionally beautiful

It gets you more than dates. It influences prison sentences; attractive people are less likely to get convicted, and more likely to get lighter sentences when they are convicted.

Job interviews, assessments of intelligence and academic performance are all biased to favour good looking people. They are also more likely to benefit from kindess from strangers

IdaBaldwin , Anthony Tran Report

Final score:

174points

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If you’re not familiar with equality of opportunity as a concept, it’s all about making sure that everyone’s able to compete for social status, as maintaining high social mobility. Or, in other words, it’s all about looking at people’s merits, efforts, and skills, not the social position they were born in. To sound all pop-culture for a moment, I’ll say that equality of opportunity is the rags-to-riches myth that the American Dream is built on.

#19

35 “Invisible” Privileges That Most People Don't Notice Because They Have Them Being able to read.

dahopppa , RF._.studio Report

Final score:

171points

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#20

35 “Invisible” Privileges That Most People Don't Notice Because They Have Them Having friends.

Famasitos , Helena Lopes Report

Final score:

165points

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#21

Being able to live with your parents past the age of 18

anonymous Report

Final score:

155points

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In Woo_loo’s opinion, having access to clean water and proper education are the most basic privileges that absolutely everyone should have in their lives. Without them, you’re barely surviving. “Dirty water can result in many problems that most of us don’t have, but I also think that education is the most important because it's the backbone of society and people need it to improve their lives and establish a better place to live in.”

#22

35 “Invisible” Privileges That Most People Don't Notice Because They Have Them Being a person of average height.

sumitsaxon , cottonbro Report

Final score:

153points

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See Also on Bored Panda

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#23

35 “Invisible” Privileges That Most People Don't Notice Because They Have Them Not having social anxiety. Imagine how breezy life must be. The amount of effort I have to put into doing normal things like checking out at the grocery store is incredible. I keep telling people that I got better over the years, but it's not so much that social interactions get less scary but more like I'm better at getting ready for said social interaction... or better at pretending that I'm uh, "normal." I'm almost 30 and I still feel like a seven year old who's mom left them at the grocery line to grab something real quick.

Kuneria , Andrea Piacquadio Report

Final score:

149points

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#24

35 “Invisible” Privileges That Most People Don't Notice Because They Have Them Having indoor plumbing

Evil-ish , Anna Shvets Report

Final score:

148points

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The redditor candidly shared their opinion that we should all stop acting like all of these privileges, small and big, don’t exist. “Everyone has some kind of advantage in life that others don’t and I'm not talking about the privileges that people talk about on Twitter to cancel someone, but the ones that are so natural to us that people don’t even realize that they exist.”

#25

35 “Invisible” Privileges That Most People Don't Notice Because They Have Them No student loans. Don't take it for granted guys.

SJ21x , Tim Gouw Report

Final score:

146points

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#26

35 “Invisible” Privileges That Most People Don't Notice Because They Have Them Having a roof over your head.

Those that work jobs that don't make a living wage have no means to provide for it. Thus they are forced in to unsafe slums or having house mates.

Every day when I pull in to my drive way I reflect on this daily. There is something to be said about the peace of mind knowing you have a welcoming home waiting for you once your done work.

Like many things we grow accustom to having something with no expectations of change, this is something I'm always grateful and respectful of.

anonymous , Maria Orlova Report

Final score:

145points

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#27

35 “Invisible” Privileges That Most People Don't Notice Because They Have Them Being able to complain about getting bored/not being able to socialize during a pandemic. If you're able to flourish or even live comfortably during these times, that's a privilege.

TonyStark39 , Nandhu Kumar Report

Final score:

144points

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“Ma’am I Live Here”: Woman Refuses To Back Out Of Driveway, Learns A Lesson The Hard Way

Woo_loo continued: “By making life as fair as possible and establishing a system that helps people who are at the bottom of society and helping them get back on their feet instead of punishing them, we can help them acquire the privileges.” Are you up for the challenge, dear Pandas?

#28

35 “Invisible” Privileges That Most People Don't Notice Because They Have Them Education. Where I'm from education is paid through (very high) taxes. We even "get paid" so we can focus on school and not being forced to drop out or take a giant student debt.

ieatpotatoesraw_ , Karolina Grabowska Report

Final score:

143points

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#29

35 “Invisible” Privileges That Most People Don't Notice Because They Have Them my partner has to use IV nutrition because her stomach muscles don’t work properly preventing her from digesting food. Until I met her I never considered being able to eat as something i’m lucky to have.

whatsmynamefrancis69 , insung yoon Report

Final score:

140points

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#30

35 “Invisible” Privileges That Most People Don't Notice Because They Have Them Being able to go to a store without worrying if your wheelchair can fit through the aisles of if they have front steps.

Moonlight713 , AR Report

Final score:

139points

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Do you think that all of these things are privileges that most people don’t realize are privileges? Why do you think we tend to take so many of these for granted? How many of these privileges do you have without noticing them in your daily lives, dear Pandas? Share your thoughts and any extra examples of unseen privileges in the comment section below.

#31

35 “Invisible” Privileges That Most People Don't Notice Because They Have Them Being able to work from home.

AlterEdward , olia danilevich Report

Final score:

137points

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#32

35 “Invisible” Privileges That Most People Don't Notice Because They Have Them Reliable electricity and clean running water.

RamenNoodles620 , Burst Report

Final score:

127points

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#33

35 “Invisible” Privileges That Most People Don't Notice Because They Have Them Therapy. Any basic mental health coverage.

wendyneff , Emma Bauso Report

Final score:

124points

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#34

35 “Invisible” Privileges That Most People Don't Notice Because They Have Them Being mentally healthy. Basically, my childhood was such that as an adult I have an overactive amygdala - the part of the brain that handles strong emotions and instincts like fight/flight.
As I’ve gotten treatment and medication, and as my situation has gotten better, I’ve had quite a few ‘whoa’ moments where it really hits me that this is how a lot of people naturally see the world.

Sanguine_1 , Andrew Neel Report

Final score:

119points

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#35

A steady income, even one that means living paycheck to paycheck. You have money to support yourself and the means to get assistance where you can. A lot of people don’t have that.

RosesAndPonds Report

Final score:

119points

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Note: this post originally had 97 images. It’s been shortened to the top 35 images based on user votes.

What do you think ?

Claudia Gotthardt 3 years ago

I think it is important to be thankful for the good things we get in life so thank you for listing all this positivity. :) I would, however, not call most of those "privileges" as this is something that has a negative ring to it. Privileg is often used to describe a somewhat undeserved/unfair advantage, given by some form of authority. Today you kinda feel bad if you find you have a privileg and this list is surely nothing to feel bad about. Lets just call it "Things we are thankful for". ;)

31points

Daria B 3 years ago

Well said. Let's not turn the good things into negative stuff. We're already miserable enough. Let's turn this article into something that will remind us to appreciate the things we have.

18points

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Daphne Williams 3 years ago (edited)

Nonsense. These are all privileges. I have almost every single one, and I'm extremely privileged. I don't think what I have is "undeserved," rather, I think every one "deserves" these privileges, and calling them such reminds me that I need to be conscious of living, and voting, in a way that works towards the goal of everyone having what I have, or as close to it as possible. Actually, the entire concept that you "deserve" a privilege or not is largely nonsense, since whatever you have or don't have has been the result of thousands of years of decisions made by other people. You're tough enough to live with the knowledge that you have privilege.

2points

Eliška Hůlková 3 years ago

Yes, calling these privilege somehow suggest that people don't deserve it, but it's the exact opposite: everyone deserves it but unfortunately not everyone has it. I hope that it is possible that all people will have these once and I want to help if I can.

1point

Monica Pryts 2 years ago

I wake up with a headache almost daily thanks to chronic migraine. Waking up pain free without taking loads of medication is a privilege.

0points

Mewton’s Third Paw 3 years ago

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Deborah B 3 years ago

Being able to attend school without fear that the next school shooting will be at your school. I can't imagine how kids go through highschool in the USA.

12points

Anarchy (they/them) 3 years ago

Honestly? In my experience no one talks about it, we just go through our normal lives and internally hope that today is not the day. I mean I don't even really think about it that often until someone says something related to it. It's just there and we all pretend that it's not

Bill 3 years ago (edited)

I appreciate that Bored Panda puts out intresting articles for me to enjoy during my morning poop.

7points

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35 “Invisible” Privileges That Most People Don’t Notice Because They Have Them

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