“Privilege” is a word that’s been tossed around a lot lately. But if you’re wondering about its origin, look no further than Peggy McIntosh, a women’s studies scholar at Wellesley College. Before Princeton freshman Tal Fortgang “Checked His Privilege” at the suggestion of his university professors, McIntosh wrote a paper in 1988 entitled “White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming to See Correspondences Through Work in Women’s Studies.”
