: “The significance of seeing race, class and gender as interlocking systems of oppression is that such an approach fosters a paradigmatic shift of thinking inclusively about other oppression, such as age, sexual orientation, religion and ethnicity” (Donna Haraway, 405). Reflection: In my own words, this quote is saying when we bring the interlocking issues of oppression like race, class and gender we will then be able to examine what oppressions come from these things in different groups of age, sexual orientation, religion or ethnicity. The issues of oppression being race, class and gender generally come from social institutions that can affect our consciousness, social relationships and family life. By hindering what is socially acceptable …show more content…
for each group and conditioning society to continually believe in stereotypes and not allow everyone to be treated as equals, being the main source of oppression. Each group is in constant competition with each other for power and resources to get their voices heard and maintain control. However, a paradigmatic shift of thinking allows each individual of a group to share their biography of their life experiences of oppression. This quote reflects some of the main arguments and claims used by emphasizing that no two individual have the exact same biography so they shouldn’t be treated as such when it comes to their experiences of dealing with oppression, for example the platform of issues from white feminist and black feminists (Haraway,406). My analysis of the authors claims and evidence lies on the Black women’s oppression and their activism in presenting the matrix of domination.
I agree with the claim on page 411 that says “the existence of Black feminist thought suggests another alternative to the ostensibly objective norm of science and to relativism’s claims that groups with competing knowledge claims are equal... This approach to Afrocentric feminist thought allows African American women to bring a black women’s standpoint to larger epistemological dialogues concerning the nature of the matrix of domination”. Black women oppression is different than those of other groups being compared to facing the same oppressions. So when the black feminist standpoint is given the norms in society are shaken and may be hard for some people to receive their experiences given as a result. This can relate to my experiences in the real world, my oppression as a young African American women is different than that of a young Caucasian women when shopping at expensive stores or fighting for job promotion. When shopping at stores that have high end products I’m likely to allows get followed by the staff or security, the strange looks as I walk in, rude comments by the employees on the floor, criticized by how I look etc. Every women has their own individual experiences of oppression so every shouldn’t all be group in type of feminist theory or
thought.
Today in the United States of America people are both privileged and oppressed based on their diversity markers and social locations. These advantages and disadvantages are put in place by the people whom are in power, or otherwise known as the government and other leading officials. This is a major issue in today’s society that often tends to be masked by the many other issues within the country as well as by the privileged people. Many people who experience privilege tend to believe that privilege and oppression do not exist and that everyone has equal opportunity, but that is not the case privilege and oppression does exist and it can be seen every day in society. After a careful review of Dena Samuel’s “Matrix Model of Oppression and Privilege” I identified myself as rather privileged due to my social and diversity locations on her model.
Fiske, R., & Cyrus, V. (2005). Experiencing Race, Class, and Gender in the United States: Fourth Edition. Boston: McGrawHill
Within the Black Community there are a myriad of stigmas. In Mary Mebane’s essay, “Shades of Black”, she explores her experiences with and opinions of intraracial discrimination, namely the stigmas attached to women, darker skinned women, and blacks of the working class. From her experiences Mebane asserts that the younger generation, those that flourished under and after the Civil Rights Movement, would be free from discriminating attitudes that ruled the earlier generations. Mebane’s opinion of a younger generation was based on the attitudes of many college students during the 1960’s (pars.22), a time where embracing the African culture and promoting the equality of all people were popular ideals among many young people. However, intraracial discrimination has not completely vanished. Many Blacks do not identify the subtle discriminatory undertones attached to the stigmas associated with certain types of Black people, such as poor black people, lighter/darker complexion black people, and the “stereotypical” black man/woman. For many black Americans aged eighteen to twenty-five, discrimination based on skin color, social class, and gender can be blatant.
This power keeps the behavior of the oppressed well within the set guidelines of the oppressor (Freire, 2000, pg. 47). Critical Race Theory outlines this system of oppression as it relates to white and non-white races. By using the critical race theory coupled with the system of oppression described by Freire (2000), I propose that within the system of oppression, the oppressor must keep its own members in line with the prescribed guidelines by reinforcing the social norms from birth. Freire (2000) suggest that the interest of the oppressors lie in “changing the consciousness of the oppressed not the system” (pg.34). Identifying as white, therefore, starts at birth when members of the white class work to reinforce social norms that began with our founding fathers at Plymouth Rock. This long history of white privilege was taught to me and I continue to teach it to my children. As an educator of white affluent high school students, I believe we provide college and career counseling based on this white privilege system of oppression as well. Here, I journey even closer to unraveling the myth of white privilege as I encounter the intersection of an affluent white student choosing a career after high
Sandra Lee Bartky’s chapter on the psychological oppression of women operates by employing a philosophical analysis from the feminist perspective that analyses and discusses the ‘feminine’ individual. Bartky examines the feminine subject, and thus female consciousness, as being one located in the patriarchy where one’s femininity is constructed and expressed as a result of a number of oppressive relationships. In her review of Bartky’s book, Schell (1994) explains that ‘On Psychological Oppression’ “theorises modes of sexist psychological oppression via Frank Fanon’s analytical framework in Black Skin, White Masks. As Fanon contends, racial oppression is drawn from three interconnected site of material and linguistic production: 1) stereotyping, 2) cultural domination, and
To begin with, there are many events in United States history that have shaped our general understanding of women’s involvement in economics, politics, the debates of gender and sexuality, and so forth. Women for many centuries have not been seen as a significant part of history, however under thorough analyzation of certain events, there are many women and woman-based events responsible for the progressiveness we experience in our daily lives as men, women, children, and individuals altogether. Many of these events aid people today to reflect on the treatment of current individuals today and to raise awareness to significant issues that were not resolved or acknowledged in the past.
Currently, in our society we can see an increase in inequality and discrimination towards different people. Unfortunately, the American ideology does not take into account the diversity that exists in the country. The lack of an educational perspective that includes all people regardless of gender, race, sex, religion and social class is vitally important to take into account not just those people who meet the “normal” perspectives imposed by society, but also take in consideration those who don’t necessarily meet the social expectations. It could be said that intersectionality is a tool which helps us to analyze and defend multiple discriminations and above all to understand how different factors influence the rights and opportunities that
In Breaking Women, Jill McCorkel reveals a systematic disempowerment of women that takes place within the penal system in the form of privately run drug treatment programs. McCorkel shares her findings by
For instance, relating to the employment, there were two obvious hierarchical differences between the black and the white, and women and men. According to Kimberle (2015), in the late 1970, the employment opportunities for black people and women were still in the straitened circumstance, furthermore, even if there were chances for them, “... the black job were men’s job, and the women’s job were only for whites.” (Kimberle Cranshaw 2015). In other words, there was no opportunity for the black women. In this case, the unjust discriminatory treatment for black women simply resulted from their intersected identities as a “black” and “woman” both were marginalized in the society. In regard to this, however, the important point is that people did not analyze the cause of this situation through considering it from the both racial and sexual sides simultaneously. People ignored the experience of the others, and categorized the black women based on their sex as a “woman”. In other words, people, especially who were in the privileged position, just neglected the subtle “differences” of others, and they stretched the rules to their own advantages. Relating to these “differences”, Audre Lorde (1984: 115) explains that “ But we have no patterns for relating across our human differences as equals. As a result, those differences have been misnamed and misused in the
African American women are considered the most disadvantaged group vulnerable to discrimination and harassment. Researchers have concluded that their racial and gender classification may explain their vulnerable position within society, despite the strides these women have made in education, employment, and progressing their families and communities (Chavous et al. 2004; Childs 2005; Hunter 1998; Settles 2006; Wilkins 2012). Most people agree that race and gender categories are explained as the biological differences between individuals in our society; however sociologists understand that race and gender categories are social constructions that are maintained on micro and macro levels. Historically, those in power who control the means of production within a society have imposed race, class, and gender meanings onto the minority population in order to maintain their dominant position and justify the unequal treatment of minority individuals by the divisions of race, class, and gender categories (Collins 2004; Nguyen & Anthony 2014; Settles 2006;).
The way humans look externally and feel internally has been a barrier and the kernel to many of America’s social conflicts. Audre Lorde’s essay, “Eye to Eye: Black Women, Hatred, and Anger,” attempts to answer why Black women feel contempt among one another. It resonates that Black women, in lieu of their hatred for each other, should replace it by bonding together because they share the same experiences of being women and Black. In the essay titled, “Colorblind Intersectionality,” penned by, Devon W. Carbado seeks to expand the definition of “intersectionality,” which is a theory Professor Crenshaw initially introduced as a, “Drawing explicitly on Black feminist criticism,” (Carbado 811). Carbado is able to provide other forms of intersections by
The premises that race and gender are social constructs mobilized anti-racism and feminist movements, including education and research, to counter the issues encompassed within these two forms of discrimination. However, while there are many arguments supporting the problems surrounding white supremacy as well as the sexual oppression of women, the combination of both race and gender lacks examination in comparison. Racialized women are commonly associated with being sexually available and exotic, despite feminist movements against the objectification of women. Because women are underrepresented in arguments against race, and issues of race are underrepresented in arguments against the sexualization of women, racialized women are marginalized and continue to face both racism and gender inequality.
In the story, A Social Worker’s Reflection on Power, Privilege, and Oppression, Michael S. Spencer touches on some very important details when it comes to oppression, power, and privilege of different groups. The impacted groups can include those made up of people who are racially diverse, those who are a different gender or those who are part of the LGBT community. (Spencer) Each of these groups can experience oppression in different ways. When it comes to people with a different color
In this world we are constantly being categorized by our race and ethnicity, and for many people it’s hard to look beyond that. Even though in the past many stood up for equality and to stop racism and discrimination, it still occurs. In this nation of freedom and equality, there are still many people who believe that their race is superior to others. These beliefs are the ones that destroy our nation and affect the lives of many. The people affected are not limited by their age group, sex, social status, or by their education level.
Through many life experiences and knowledge around oppression/privilege, I have been able to reflect on how my own identities and ideas shape my reactions; along with my learning process when discussing class readings involving oppression/privilege. These class readings touching base on topics such as lookism, classism, and ableism. With reading and discussing these topics, I have been able to re-think old ideas and ways of working, address questions that have been generated from myself, realize why these questions are important to my practice and personal life, and find ways I have or could use these ideas in my professional practice, employment, and/or personal life. As a result, from reading about these topics I have also been successful