A “white supremacist capitalist patriarchy,” a term that corners the concepts of privilege, intersectionalities, and institutions. bell hooks uses what seems to be a mouthful of words to accurately define what the foundation of our society is based on. Privilege, a word that is embedded deep into our societal roots, addresses in hooks’ term “white supremacist.” Intersectionalities, “regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage,” (Shaw and Lee 80) iterated through the foundation of capitalism. Institutions, largely in place by the ‘fathers’ of society, expressed clearly by hooks’ incorporation of patriarchy. This jargon can be understood through one’s critical view of society. To be critically …show more content…
vigilant of the world we live in, to look deeper than what is superficially displayed, is to be an enlightened witness. As bell hooks said, “I won't be able to understand it if I'm only looking through the lens of race. I won't be able to understand it if I'm only looking through the lens of gender.” (hooks 7), hooks means, one won’t fully comprehend the struggle of anyone or anything without looking at the their circumstance from every angle. From this point of view, it is easy to see how privilege and white supremacy mash. In modern times, white supremacy is mostly eradicated, however the foundation of the system is still with us. “Privilege can be defined as advantages people have by virtue of their status or position in society,” (Shaw and Lee 54) different from earned assets that assert one’s position in society, these privileges are defined by Peggy McIntosh as “unearned,” such as being born white (white privilege (Shaw and Lee 53)), or a male (male privilege (Shaw and Lee 54)) . These are assets that are used without so much as a thought. Being a white male in the world we live in is an absolute privilege. A sense of trust and wealth come from being a white individual, no matter where you are in the world. Being marked as a trust worthy individual without so much as a word is an example of these unearned privileges. Privileges like these allow one to have an absolute value in society, a basis to push off of. Capitalism is a system that works with this idea. Furthermore, capitalism also engages with the concept of intersectionality. Capitalism is an economic system that works to allow anyone to advance into a position of relevance in society. However, achieving success without the characteristics that society has put in place that defines a successful person, is almost an impossibility. If you are automatically labeled by intersectionalities no one expects anything more than what your assigned grouping has accomplished. Intersectionalities play a large role in who can achieve success. If one does not meet these ‘requirements’ their motivation is dwindled by those who place them in these categories. These interlocking systems, such as unearned assets mentioned by Peggy McIntosh, come together to depress those who want to achieve success. Yet it is not capitalism itself that drives this system; writer Alyssa Adamson, colludes that, “Viewing capitalism as the master frame does not entail claiming that sexism or racism originated with capitalism, but rather, it claims that the form of those dynamics today are actively shaped and affected by the capitalist mode of production — which serves as the organizing frame of all current social relations.” (Adamson ¶ 10). The basis on which modern capitalism is based off of is colonial America, a period in time where family position, race, and gender all decided who succeeded. An economic framework that is still relevant today, the framework that has been put in place by various institutions of patriarchal leadership. These institutions are social organizations that expects members to behave a certain way, that is organized around particular purposes.
Since the founding of civilization itself, institutions were put in place to organize the social aspect of society. These institutions include government, religion, sports, etc., furthermore, these institutions largely required leadership to operate. Leadership of these institutions throughout history have been organized as patriarchies. Men (usually white), viewed by society as the strong and dominant gender, have had an overwhelming influence on these institutions. These patriarchies assign roles to genders and race. These assigned roles include misogynistic ideas that women are too feeble to lead; women are too emotional to make tough decisions; or even women are too weak to be physical, among others. All of these combine to make an intersectionality in itself. Since these institutions have largely been replicated throughout history by ones that supersede them they tend to keep the values that drive these ideals of inequality between genders and race. A prime example of this iteration is found in the American government. Since 1776 the United States has not had a single woman president; Hilary Clinton, now a serious candidate, is ridiculed for menial things that men in the race, such as Donald Trump, would never face. Criticisms such as dress and physical appearance are somehow justified just because of Clinton’s gender. These qualities of leadership in societies institutions stunt progression and if we are to advance any further, they must be
halted. Overall, the scope of one’s view cannot be ratified by just looking at one aspect of either, an individual, organization, or even society in itself. One must be an Enlighted witness and look at subjects deeper than the assigned meanings. To truly understand anything, one must peer deep and look at a subject from all angles, and only then are the root problems identified. bell hooks pushes this broad concept into a cut version of today’s problems in society, “white supremacist capitalist patriarchy,” condescends todays perceptions of how things work and how things should be viewed and the scope in which we view them. Encompassing privilege, intersectionalities, and institutions, this term makes one think critically as to how all of the forces in the world come together to create the society we live in today. It urges us to not stand by and to take action in the face of these social issues.
Everyone has privilege in one way or another. People feel that privilege is give to one race more, instead of every race. The race that it’s getting more privilege is the White race and with that comes White privilege. White means the people who have a light skin color also known as Caucasian or European and privilege means an advantage over others. An example of privilege is getting away with something that someone may not get away with. So White privilege is defined as “an invisible package of unearned assets that [someone that is White] can count on cashing in each day, but about which [they were] ‘meant’ to remain oblivious” (McIntosh 1990: 1). McIntosh is saying in that quote is that Whites do not recognize that they have this privilege
Realistically, when someone is more powerful, they have the ability to set the rules. Men have historically held power in society, which means that women did not have as much stance or freedoms as men have had in the past. For example, Canadian women did not have the right to vote until the year 1916. This factor has continued to trail into the present day, creating the ‘weak’ image towards women, overall forcing and pushing men to become the opposite of this factor. Thus, cultural ideals of masculinity rely on the ideas of femininity through patriarchy and gender binaries. The emphasis on characteristics of men are being exaggerated, as society is pressuring men with unattainable standards of masculinity such as being tough, muscular and buff. Men continue to conform to these characteristics, in the fear of being oppressed through exclusion, which only strengthens society’s standards even more. This leads to more societal pressures on men, thus leading men to experience more societal pressures in the fear of feeling excluded. These “systems of inclusion and exclusion are divisions or barriers that prevent people from joining and belonging.” (50). For example, if a man wears nail polish, they may be oppressed and excluded through facing ridicule and bullying, because wearing nail polish is considered “girly”, therefore this boy is rebelling against society’s socially
After World War II, “ A wind is rising, a wind of determination by the have-nots of the world to share the benefit of the freedom and prosperity” which had been kept “exclusively from them” (Takaki, p.p. 383), and people of color in United States, especially the black people, who had been degraded and unfairly treated for centuries, had realized that they did as hard as whites did for the winning of the war, so they should receive the same treatments as whites had. Civil rights movement emerged, with thousands of activists who were willing to scarify everything for Black peoples’ civil rights, such as Rosa Parks, who refused to give her seat to a white man in a segregated bus and
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
Bell hooks covers an abundance of issues through different class, race, gender and nation. In her article ‘Feminism A Movement to End Sexist Oppression’ she begins by discussing the oppression of mainly black women who are in a lower class. Hooks discusses if men become associated with the feminist movement it would mainly affect the upper class and middle aged white women while just scratching the surface for working-class and poor women. In the recent article ‘Representing Whiteness in the Black Imagination’ bell hooks discusses the oppression about the racism faced by black people. I find it that this article is more non-intersectional because we are only talking about black people in general. We can only assume that hooks is discussing racism faced by poor black people because they were servants. Further into the article however hooks does focus on African Americans and we read upon what their impression of the white man could be. Hook also looks as students and how racism occurred in one of her class discussions. Finally, we look at the view of two black women and how they faced racism. The first woman was Njeri from ‘Every Good-Bye Ain’t Gone and how her grandfather was run over by 2 white guys. The second woman was Sethe from ‘Beloved’ by Morrision and how she killed her young because she didn’t want them to grow up in a world of terror. I found it that hooks did not say specifically who she is talking about like in her article ‘Feminism A Movement to End Sexist Oppression’ but is targeting the topic of racism all
Essentially, the majority of America is unconsciously, or at least appears to be unconscious to a patriarchal system that is evident in businesses, the government, and society. One can also relate the patriarchal system to racialized sexism. Because the patriarchy system in America revolves around the idea that being a white male receives the most privileged, people often tend to think that racism is mainly directed towards African American men instead of ethnic groups as a whole, and feminism involves mainly white females, which leaves women of color as their own collective identity that is result of the patriarchal system in America. Patriarchy also promotes males as being dominant which unknowingly enforces domestic violence. Thus, in conclusion, the patriarchy system that exists in America today is a silent problem that many need to be more aware of because it leads to unfair treatment, and in extreme circumstances
Many white Americans are living with the fear that they didn't really deserve their success, and that maybe luck and privilege had more to do with it, than brains and hard work. There are numerous reasons for the widespread discrimination at all levels, but the main reason for the existence of discrimination is a privilege to certain groups of people, and widespread social prejudice towards certain groups of people. Differences between people have always existed, but they gain in importance only when are different importance given to certain differences, so it creates privileges. People who are privileged in one society are often not aware of their privilege. It is very easy to be oblivious to the privilege. The problem of discrimination is very complex and there is no unique formula that would solve it. There are general patterns in a white supremacist culture, that all white people have privilege, whether or not they are racist themselves.
bell hooks closes her essay by saying, “If black men are betraying us through acts of male violence, we save ourselves and the race by resisting.” (123) I believe in what she is saying, but she is one sided. Maybe she is just saying that we, as women, would rather be called just ‘girls’, ‘women’ or even ‘chicka’, but that is every woman, not just the black women. But, did she even think about the girls (black and white) that like to be paraded around like giraffes at a circus? Did she realize that she is just one person, as am I, and she can’t change the world she lived in? The world is cruel and evil and some of the men in it are just as nasty and immoral, but it’s our choice whether to live in the world…or in the circus.
Bell Hook states that the leading issues with gender inequality is: “cultural imperialist, white supremacy, and cultural patriarchy”. Hook makes a strong point that is far beyond valid or legit. Poor women have the most difficult time with succeeding in life. For instance, poor women have issues with paying for bills, education, and finding jobs that will accept them. I am not saying that wealthy women do not have issues with succeeding in life, but if one was to have monetary riches more resources are available. Culture imperialism is the cultural aspects of imperialism, in which is the maintenance of unequal relationships between civilizations favoring the most powerful civilization. Hook is referring to the taking of essence from minorities as in their characteristics. This alone enables women of color to feel powerless. If one was to take all of the riches and cultural benefits of one ethnic group, and in return they use it for another that only creates a greater disparity or difference for others. White supremacy is an ongoing issue that is international. There are groups or cults of people who truly believe that there is a “Supreme Race”. These people are discriminate and epitomize hatred towards others who are not of their origin or ethnic group. If there are cults of people that will negate, discriminate and spread hate towards minorities. Which as well limits or lowers a woman of color
According to Miller (2016), prejudices based on race and gender do not always simply create disadvantages for women. For instance, stereotypes about black women leaders can play a major role in hurting and helping these women. Miller continues to point out that when a woman exhibits a conventionally masculine behavior she is viewed undesirably. Additionally, an assertive female leader she is normally disliked while an assertive male leader is normally respect. In regards to the concept of intersectionality, working-class African American women, unlike white women are positioned in a place where they are often stereotyped as being confident, assertive, and confident. As a result, these traits are not only expected for these women but also permissible in leadership
Clare Booth Luce, a woman who broke the gender barrier herself as the first abroad female ambassador, once said “Because I am a woman, I must make unusual efforts to succeed. If I fail, no one will say, "She doesn 't have what it takes." They will say, "Women don 't have what it takes"”. As a country, the United States of America has come leaps and bounds from where it began with women’s rights. Women were not allowed to vote, and now we have women running for president. But, women are still not always treated as equally as men. Women still cannot hold certain positions in the military, or even wear what they want without being told it is too risqué. Gender inequality is still astronomically prevalent in today 's society and can be seen throughout mass media, career opportunities, and in
Within the United States election season of 2012, we heard many of our current, and wanna-be elected leaders discussing a ‘so-called’ war on women. Coming into this years election cycle we will undoubtedly hear more of this discussion, which begs the question: Is there really a war on women in America? In America, women make up only 19% of the US Congress, 5% of the Fortune 500 C-level executives, and just 16% of the Heads of State [Nilges]. Whether it be in politics, the workplace, or through inherent speech patterns, gender bias influences opportunities afforded to both men and women. While tremendous improvement has been made within the United States over the last 3 generations, it is clearly a challenge that requires a persistent, collective effort.
The article is written by Bell Hooks as a critique of the article by Sheryl Sandberg. The author analyses the feminist theory as propounded by Sandberg. She acknowledges the fact that Sandberg’s view on Feminism is clouded by her race and privileged social status. It is thus apparent that Sandberg’s views are subjective to her situation and status in life. The largest failure of the piece is the fact that the writer fails to discuss how multiple intersectionality as defined by Kimberle Crenshaw affect the gender power matrix.
Essay 1: WRITE A COHERENT ESSAY IN WHICH YOU ATTEMPT TO EXPLAIN THE USE OF BLACK ICONIC IMAGES (AND OTHER ETHNIC IMAGES) TO SELL PRODUCTS AS THE ECONOMY OF MASS CONSUMPTION EXPANDED IN THE LATE 19TH AND EARLY 20TH CENTURY. YOU ARE ENCOURAGED TO INCLUDE IMAGES IN YOUR PAPER! During the 19th and 20th century, America –mostly white collar, middle class Americans- saw a great increase in salaries and a huge rise in mass production which paved the way for the modern American consumerism which we know today. The advertising scene saw a dramatic boost during that period and tried to latch on to this growing pool of emerging consumers. Although only limited to print, advertising during this pivotal period showed panache and reflected American society and popular culture.
Money can give people a lot opportunities and privilege. Financially privileged people have no trouble getting materialistic things such as big houses, expensive cars, and jewelry. Being privileged can also provide better scholastic education as well as respect. On the other hand, a lack of money, as a person might guess, limits opportunity and lower a person’s status on the privilege pole. In order for an underprivileged person to have all of those things, they have to work hard to get to get the luxuries of nice houses, cars, and jewelry. As far as education goes, the underprivileged might not go to the best schools but they get an education that will prove to be more valuable in life; they learn to earn respect, appreciate what they have and how to survive with just the necessities and what’s really important in life. So when a person looks at each group and tries to decided with one gets the most out of life, they will see that underprivileged individuals get so much more out of life than a person who came up in affluence and privilege.