The Men Who Cried Oppression Analysis

“The Men Who Cried Oppression & The War on Planned Parenthood”
Oppression is a term that has been used throughout history to describe the injustices brought upon minority groups. Feminist writer Marilyn Frye shared the definition of oppression, which essentially means to shape or conform certain groups of people (for this paper women will be used as the primary example) into socially constructed ideals through restrictions that mold and immobilize minority groups or females (Frye 11). According to Marilyn Frye, this term is sometimes loosely thrown around and used out of the term’s true context. The misuse of this term often creates a misconstrued view of what true oppression is and how particular groups of people are able to function within

Her claim is that through the oppression of females, males also claim to be oppressed (10). She goes on to explain how these claims are made, “We hear that oppressing is oppressive to those who oppress as well as those they oppress. Some men cite as evidence of their oppression their much-advertised inability to cry. It is tough, we are told, to be masculine” (10). One can most likely interpret this quote quite simply as Frye has a direct approach to her writing. The essence of this quote displays that through female oppression, men also become oppressed, as they are unable to stray from their “masculine” ideals. By being unable to participate in what are considering “feminine” actions such as crying, they are showing signs of weakness. It seems that Frye believes that through this example, the term oppression, no longer keeps to its true meaning. This is due to the fact that the term is being used to define itself through any negative affectations of the human experience of all

According to Frye, “One of the most characteristic and ubiquitous features of the world as experienced by oppressed people is the double bind – situations in which options are reduced to a very few and all of them expose one to penalty, censure or deprivation” (11). In other words, a double bind occurs when someone is caught in a situation where there are two conflicting choices or demands presented; neither of these options is desirable and the outcomes from making such choices or meeting these demands are also undesirable. For example, when a woman chooses not to have children, she is considered non-maternal and unfulfilled or void of purpose. However, when a woman chooses to have children and become a housewife, she is considered simple minded and/or void of a greater purpose. Either way, this woman is caught within a double bind and can’t escape. Frye uses her own example of women that are sexually active versus women that aren’t sexual active; “It is common in the United States that women, especially younger women, are in a bind where neither sexual activity nor sexual inactivity is all right. If she is heterosexually active, a woman is open to censure and punishment for being loose, unprincipled or a whore. The "punishment" comes in the form of criticism, snide and embarrassing remarks, being treated as an easy lay by men, scorn from her more restrained female friends” (11). The female