Privilege is very often invisible because many people make a conscious effort to fit into their social surroundings with behavior, fashion and activities. It may take a particular situation for a person to notice a major difference. For example, you may work with someone that seems to live a much more extravagant lifestyle and you could have a hard time trying to understand why you cannot live the same way. Learning more about the person may expose that they are from a wealthy family, or have a spouse that makes a significant salary.  This can be troublesome because you see that they have an advantage that you do not.

I believe that in the situation of Andrea and Jewel the knowledge of privilege was not as apparent because of the girls ages, and the fact that the parents of the girls did not point it out. Jewel was amazed and appreciative of all that Andrea and her family had. It did not seem to create a problem. Maybe there was a bit of envy, but it was not expressed.  Andrea became uncomfortable at Jewel’s home for a number of reasons. She was in an unfamiliar situation. She was observing behavior among a family and culture she did not know. Although she was comfortable with her friend for a significant time, this was the part of her life she had not experienced. The unfamiliar setting and the realization that Jewel had much less advantage than Andrea was just too much for her to process. I can’t help but wonder if there was an element of embarrassment. Andrea’s mom had welcomed Jewel into their home and did not show any type of superiority. Jewel’s mom worked very hard to try and give her the same opportunities that Andrea would have. Unfortunately it was not enough to keep Jewel in the school that would have given her a better opportunity. The fact that the family needed to live in the school district which was beyond their financial means is a reminder that the wealthier communities do offer better services because there are more tax dollars to support them. An example of “Invisible Privilege”. As reality set in overcoming social differences was not a probability for the two girls. As much as an individual may want to have a relationship a definite disconnect among social statuses seems to persist.