I sometimes use the words “privilege” and “power”, which may be uncomfortable for you to read. They are new words to me. To be honest,I have never thought of “privilege” until I moved to the US (which clarifies that I was privileged in Japan). Understanding this “privilege” is important to bridge the appropriation to appreciation.
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Please be advised that there are many ways to define the word “privilege”. What I write here is purely my understanding. That being said, for me, the “privilege” is “level or numbers of choices”. In a rough summary, the more one has choices, the more privileged they is. In the context of Sashiko, [English] as the language is one privilege as the experience in Sashiko is less significant than the proficiency of English when it comes to “teaching Sashiko”. As there are/were numbers of Japanese Sashiko Artisans buried in the trend, I keep saying Sashiko introduced in English is insufficient – when one defines it as “All You Need to Know”, it is because of language – not practice itself. It is not fair.
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Privilege itself is not a matter of Good or Bad to me. There is nothing I can do to have or to avoid the privilege, yet why is the word “privilege” used as a word to be accused of…? I personally think the “privilege” is something I appreciate – but it becomes an issue when we do not “acknowledge” it. When one ignores their privilege they have, they may cause harmful situations. Power comes with Responsibility, and I hope that privilege with acknowledgement will help others with less choices. As I always say, this “acknowledgement” is the bridge between Appropriation and Appreciation (which will be the main topic I talk with @made.by.yuki – Again, this is purely my current understanding. I hope to learn & share more there.
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日本に生まれ育った私は「特権」という言葉をいまいち具体的に理解できていません。それはつまり、私が「特権を持って生きてきた」証拠でもあるのですが、移住して、「持たない側」から世界を見るようになり、少しずつですが学びを積んでいます。
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時に「特権」が悪いかのような表現もありますが、私はそうは思っていません。問題は「特権を持っていることを意図的に無視する場合」です。この議題はどうしても英語で考えたものを日本語訳してしまう傾向があるので文章にするのは難しいのですが、なんとか配信も含めてお伝えしていけたらと思っています。
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