Question One

Privilege is defined as the advantages that are exclusive, not earned, and socially conferred to powerful social groups. A system of privilege in society is based on three primary factors; dominance, identification, and centeredness. For instance, white supremacy means that white people view themselves as supreme and dominant positions of power. White identification is based on the notion that white people are the standard race. Centeredness is seen when a specific group is placed as the center of attention, for example, male privilege. When a society is organized this way, privilege is given to the social groups in power. Oppression is a consequence of privilege. Recognizing privileges and power and resisting the status quo will help create new systems of fairness, justice, and compassion for all. 

Question Two

  Coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw, intersectionality identifies various factors of advantage and disadvantage, such as gender, race, sex, and class. It defines how different people experience multiple forms of inequality which intersect and exacerbate each other. Connecting this concept to feminism is imperative as it validates the fight for gender equality. Intersectionality broadens previous works of feminism that fixated on white women to include women of color, immigrants, and low women with low income. it shows how race, sex and gender, and other factors merge to shape people’s experiences. Intersectionality symbolizes how systems combine to define the experiences of people, thus creating privilege. Crenshaw introduced intersectionality to show the hindrances caused by intersecting factors that create certain aspects of violence against the oppressed in society. 

Question Three

Patriarchy is a social construct where males dominate and hold power, and women are greatly excluded from the power. A core attribute of patriarchy shows that male qualities are dominant over all other qualities. This system oppresses women exposing them to economic dependence, domestication, and violence. Patriarchy affects various aspects of life, including the home, leadership, education, management, religion, and ownership. Although there are positive shifts in attitudes, patriarchy continues. From unequal pay, unequal access to opportunities, overlooking women’s achievements, gender roles, and gender violence. Through recognizing and unlearning patriarchy, society can achieve fairness and equality. 

Question Four

Gender is a social construct often interchangeably used with sex. Sex is biological, and gender is psychological, which means an individual’s gender can be different from their sex. Society has already determined what is masculine or feminine and expects people to live accordingly. Gender identity arises during self-identification. A theory on social learning suggests that children progress their identity through observation and imitation of the gender-based behaviors of others, upon which reward is given for emulating mannerisms of others with a similar gender and punished for mimicking the mannerisms of the opposite gender.

Question Five

Sex refers to the biological reproductive organs, whereas gender refers to socially constructed roles and norms. The combination of androcentrism and heterosexism creates a conflation of sexual orientation, sex, and gender. The conflation triangle depicts sex at the base-where conflation begins-and sex and sexual orientation at the top. Expectations are placed on people with certain genitalia to behave a certain way and are punished or harassed when they do not conform to the societal standard. The conflation of gender is linked to systems of bias in society.

Question Six

A double bind refers to assumptions placed on an individual regarding gender and leadership. Women are stereotyped as compassionate, soft, kind, and nice, while men are the opposite. In a leadership position, the leader is expected to demonstrate control, assertiveness, toughness and make tough decisions to ensure growth in an organization. These qualities are far from the stereotype society created for women. Therefore, a woman in such a position is left at a crossroads on how to lead. If she decides to lead as nice and friendly, she is viewed as weak, but she is deemed unlikeable if she leads with assertiveness.