In White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy MacIntosh, she explains the complexities of white privilege. MacIntosh begins by explaining that racism not only puts others at a disadvantage but puts white people at an advantage. It is a device in which not only some are hurt by but others benefit off the harm.
Not only is this harmful effect in play but many white people do not recognize their own privilege. MacIntosh writes “Have been conditioned into oblivion about its [white privilege] existence.” Throughout the passage she reiterates that it’s been so customary and embedded into the system that many don’t realize these aspects of privilege. She then includes a long list of aspects in which many indulge in white privilege. These include housing benefits, lesser chance of being followed in a store, representation in the media, trust in monetary affairs, and lack of interference when regarding legal or medical care. These aspects are taken for granted. Not only are they taken for granted but they are part of a white person’s daily experience.
MacIntosh also writes that there’s positive and negative advantages. Positive advantages can benefit anyone while negative benefits present hierarchies or rejection. She concludes her essay by saying those with white privilege must use their knowledge on white privilege to “reconstruct power systems”.
In the second reading, Oppression by Marilyn Frye, the author discusses what the word oppression means and what it means for a group to be oppressed. Firstly, she clarifies that not being oppressed does not mean you don’t suffer. Often men use this narrative that they are also oppressed because they suffer in some form too but it is inaccurate that they are oppressed for their gender.
Frye goes on to say that oppressed people must comply. “We participate in our own erasure”, she writes. Then she continues to elaborate on the oppression of women. She gives an example of being caught between systematically related pressures; regardless if you are active in heterosexual activity or don’t, either way a woman will be blamed for their own rape. If a woman is raped she will be accused of wanting it, thus no longer is it even considered rape.
An oppressed group is “confined and shaped by forces and barriers which are not accidental or occasional”. Frye gives an analogy of a cage and how wires interlock on a cage to create barriers that capture a bird. Similarly, different forces work against women to capture her.
Frye ends by saying “barriers have different meanings to those on opposite sides of them”. For example, a prison’s barriers can mean something completely different to a prisoner than to a free person. For a prisoner the barrier is a confinement and for a free person it is a safety measure or the confines. Men generally benefit from the barriers.
Raquel Hernandez posted a picture in which two women with different attires/aesthetics are both equally criticized just in different ways. I think this has to do with the reading on oppression and how either way a woman will not be able to please everyone because we have been conditioned to deter womanhood.
