Q1. How do systems of privilege and oppression function in our society? How do we combat these systems?
What is defined as privilege? A kind of special advantage or immunity granted to specific or certain groups of people. Privileges exist through social systems and/ or rights are kept intact. “White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack”. Most of those with these privileges are oblivious to this fact. They are unaware of the freedoms they enjoy over other groups. Oppression is created by acts of abuse which establish dominance. Oppression takes place when a person acts, or a policy is enacted unjust against an individual because of whom they are affiliated with. Oppression is socially constructed through people’s actions and behaviors towards others at a structural level. We can combat these situations by creating an awareness. When these privileged groups can acknowledge the fact that they receive different treatments. We may combat oppression by speaking up and/or showing support to marginalized groups.
Q2. What is the concept of intersectionality and why is it important in women’s gender, and sexuality studies?
Intersectionality is said to be framework for conceptualizing a person, group of people, or social problems as affected by several discriminators and disadvantages. This involves taking into considerations the overlapping experiences of people, to comprehend the diverse preconceived opinion they face based on the complexion or appearance. Intersectionality is the declaration of the disadvantage that comes with being part of a certain race, religion, gender etc. Intersectionality recognizes that oppression and racism work hand in hand. It is essential to understand its theories and how we can convey those into necessary measures to ensure equity for all women and people that are barely regarded. Failure in acknowledging the difference will cause us to never truly access and address the inequality and injustice.
Q3. Why is it important to recognize patriarchy as a system and not an individual identity?
Patriarchy is an analytical concept referring to a system of policies social and economic relations structured around the gender inequality of socially defined men and women. Patriarchy is a kind of society organized around certain kinds of social relationships and ideas that chose paths of least resistance. Patriarchy is something that place men as superior to women. We should recognize it as system, to see the bigger picture. Thus, the involvement of society etc. As such, we will be able to root out the cause of such norms and take measures to correct them. Society plays a bigger role in adjusting the roles in patriarchy. Men have been given the most authority, even some religious practices teach that it is mandatory and appropriate to have men superior. Most individuals act in accordance to such norms even though we may speak against it, not because we want to, but it has been embedded in us.
Q4. How is gender constructed and learned in our society? How do we perform gender?
Gender is socially constructed throughout an individual’s development. Gender identity as a result can be affected and depending on the society’s evaluation of the roles of men and women. Society categorizes people as either males or females. People from the moment they are born are given an identity as a boy or girl. This emphasizes the way the way the individual is treated. If you are categorized as a male, you are not expected to cry, “as that is what females do”. He is made to believe that he is the head/ superior and is expected to be aggressive. If categorized as a female, you are told to smile all the time, to dress nicely, to be gentle. We are manipulated into thinking that this who we are, and the gender we must identify as. People tend to “make gender binary system seem like a given, not a decision”. The world. Is getting more open minded and people are accepting the choices others make regarding their genders, some are still reluctant to condemn their societal norms.
Q5. What is the differences between sex and gender? How are sex and gender conflated (converged and confused) within our culture?
Sex refers to the biological distinction of being a male or female. Gender is a structural feature of society, and the sociological significance of gender is that it is a devise by which society controls it members. Gender is a cultural construct that shifts between societies and across time and affects how people are treated based on their sex. An instance is when some people who do not conform to gender in some places are in no way allowed to express or make their preferred gender identity known. Sex is like the physical difference between a male and a female. Gender is what someone identifies as. Society has influenced our concepts since identity is formed by society based on the culture or any parameters set by the individuals to make his/ her identity whether the individual is a male or female.
Q6. What is a double bind? How do double binds function within our society?
Double binds can be extremely stressful and become destructive when one is trapped in a dilemma and is punished for finding a way out. This involves situations where individuals receive contradicting messages from a second third party. These circumstances happen in such a way that whatever decision or action an individual takes, he or she is criticized. This is something that can happen to anybody; men, women, children, elderly people etc. An example is; if a mother constantly shows her son affection and love, she is deemed to over pampering her kid and seen as weird, she is condemned as a result. If the matter is reversed, and the mother does not show any form of affection to her son, then she is being too hard on him. She is not being a good and dutiful mother. She is criticized for that as well. Whatever way she acts towards her son, she is judged and criticized for that.
