In the book “White Advantage: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Peggy McIntosh, it is discussed how your skin is a privilege, with white people having greater privileges than those with colored skin. She continues by stating that racism not only disadvantages others but also benefits white people. She emphasizes that it has become so commonplace and ingrained in the system that many people are unaware of these features of privilege. She then goes on to outline a slew of ways in which many people enjoy white privilege. For example, if a white person is interviewed for a job and a brown person applies for the same position with a degree, but the white person is hired. Those who are not as fortunate are restricted and exploited in areas such as the law, education, work, and health care. These social identification groups are less wealthy and undervalued because of their race, such as black people, and also because of their gender, such as females.

The second reading, “Oppression” by Marilyn Frye, discusses the ongoing struggle that women face as a result of society. Being a woman and a person of color in society is difficult. Frye used an amazing comparison of a bird in a cage to express the intricacy of the oppressed who are bound and formed by societal structures and gender inequalities that have been since the beginning of time and continue to exist today.

Definitely interesting things i didnt know i needed to read and touch up on more.

            In the reading “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Peggy McIntosh it talked about “White Privilege” in how your skin is a privilege such as white people having more privileges than those who are colored skin. For example, if a white person can be getting interviewed for a job and a colored person can go for the same job and may have a degree too but the white person gets hired. In my experience one time after school me and my friends went to a Sephora and went inside like any other person and looked around and the whole time there was a security guard following us around. Until my friend said something to the security guard, he stopped following us and we still decided to walk out because we didn’t feel comfortable being in the store anymore. This shows how in society people judge you for your color or appearance not because of who you are. You usually see that white people are more privileged to walk around without having to be afraid to get stopped by a police officer but someone of any other race would be afraid of getting stopped by a police officer. For instance, if a white person was to commit murder and a person of other race such as Black, Hispanic, Asian, etc. committed the same crime the white person would get less years in jail than those who are from any other race. 

            In the reading “Oppression” by Marilyn Frye says a quote, “Consider a birdcage. If you look very closely at just one wire in the cage, you cannot see the other wires.” Marilyn Frye is basically representing the birdcage as women being oppressed. Society only sees what’s in front of them, but they don’t see the other barriers people have in their lives. For example, when a woman gets raped people think that she enjoyed it, but they don’t realize what really happened to her. She could be feeling upset or scared but people think that she enjoyed it just because of what the media portrays her as. The reading “Oppression” describes the word oppression as people judging others but the actions that are done but they don’t see the barriers that they have. Marilyn Frye gives the example of what women could wear such as dressing like she doesn’t care about herself or “unfeminine”. A woman can be judged for her appearance and make her look bad in front of someone else. Society judges a person for their appearance but, they don’t realize what that person may be going through. I like the picture my classmate Hillary shared with us because it states that a skin color of a person can determine the opportunities that they can get in life. For example, someone can be getting on the train whether they are Hispanic, black or Asian and they could be looked at in a weird way and a person can move to the other side of the cart but if it was a white person they wouldn’t be looked at weird and the person sitting wouldn’t move to the other side of the cart.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

I really like Safiya’s demonstration of white privilege and racial inequities. It’s a shame that black children have to be exposed to violence against their own people so early on. It’s even worse when the parent deems it necessarily for their safety. Young black men and women get brutality murdered by the police for unjust causes at an alarming rate. Meanwhile, at the same age that children of color are taught about the many ways their lives could be endangered, white boys and girls are taught about “the birds and the bees”. That dichotomy is extremely jarring but it can be perfectly explained by Peggy McIntosh’s, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” where they speak about how, “White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools and blank checks.” It is things like these that let white kids stay innocent and in many ways, oblivious to their privileges up until adulthood and for many, their entire lives. White people inherit these privileges as soon they are born, unlike POC’s who’s skin color poses disadvantages that aren’t deserved. Human rights are about making sure that things are not only equal, but fair as well.

  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. 

Both “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack”, by Peggy McIntosh and “Oppression”, by Marilyn Frye do a fantastic job of clarifying a couple of common misconceptions that white people have about white privilege and oppression. McIntosh writes, “I was taught to see racism only in individual acts of meanness, not in invisible systems conferring dominance on my group” (McIntosh, 1). Oftentimes white people engage in pointing the finger at one another by calling out the most heinous acts of racism, but fail to look inward themselves and recognize their own white privilege.

            The fact of the matter is that white privilege is so insidious and all-encompassing that, much like life inside of the patriarchy, it can be difficult for white people to recognize what’s right in front of their face. When systems are skewed to benefit the majority, there is little to no motivation for those in power to sacrifice some their own power to benefit those who are systemically oppressed. Men will cling to power like life itself. It’s instinctual. It’s only when we start treating all people with respect and equality that we show any sense of true humanity. 

            Some people would rather live in denial then admit the error in their ways. There is a misconception amongst white people that the term “white privilege” denies the fact that white people experience suffering and hardship. This misunderstanding is illustrated perfectly by Kevin Kimble’s snapshot which states, “White privilege doesn’t mean your life hasn’t been hard; it means that your skin color isn’t one of the things making it harder”. Although the word privilege can feel like a loaded accusation because it’s associated with wealth, it doesn’t always have to do with money. According to the Oxford dictionary, the definition for the word “privilege” is “A special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group.”

            It can be helpful to boil words down to their roots in order to dissect their meaning. Marilyn Frye does this with the word “oppression”. She points out that the root word “press” holds the key to understanding the difference between oppression and suffering. “Presses are used to mold things or flatten them or reduce them in bulk…Mold. Immobilize. Reduce” (Frye, 11). What she means is that a person who is oppressed is rendered powerless by forces so great that they have little if any chance of overpowering them.

            The truth is that men suffer, and women are oppressed under the patriarchy. Men suffer under sexist beliefs that it’s not OK to cry or have interests that society deems to be “feminine”. Deep down we would all be better served to set aside our judgments of one another and give each other space to exist in all our forms and presentations. A less racist and oppressive world would benefit us all and open doors for everyone. There is nothing to be gained by continuing to oppress one another and everything to lose by not stepping up to the plate and taking ownership of the privileges that one was born with. 

This week’s reading, like always, was a very interesting and knowledge filled reading. I was able to learn more about privileges white people get to experience and obtain a bigger picture behind white privilege. White Privilege is just like many other common terms, like cultural appropriation and “Black Lives Matter,” that have been thrown around the past few years. Many times, these terms are overused and misunderstood, therefore causing misunderstandings and the message losing its value and effectiveness over time. For example, when it comes to white privilege, many would think that it means white people being smart and rich partying on a yacht. They would relate the term to a racial group’s wealth. This is, in fact, a wrong definition for whites privilege. So one may ask, what is white privilege? White privilege, or, to be more exact, white skinned privilege, is privileges in society that are exclusively given to white people by certain societies. These societal privileges leaves behind non-white people and benefit white people that are under the same political, economical, and social classes. White privilege does not mean white people don’t struggle in life, but it means they will not have to struggle in life because of skin color. 

Today white people don’t realize that’s the sad part. In our society, when you’re black, Latino, or Asian-American, in many ways, you still have to protect yourself and other people of your group, by yourself. White people are never seen as an asset or a disgrace to their race because their actions are considered their own. No one else’s actions reflect negatively or positively on them. While some white people take every discussion of racism personally and end up standing up for the indisputable, when non-whites talk about racism, they are usually talking about the system and specific individuals, not about white people in general. This kind of pervasive racism is a specialty favored by white people. If white men commit 20 murders in a day, it doesn’t affect how people view white men in general. If a murder is committed by Black, each Black becomes a suspect and target. We’ve seen it happen over and over again over the years. I’m not advocating any crime here, that’s just an example. 

White privilege means not having to fear the police. For example, when a white person sees the flashing lights of a police car behind them, they may worry about being fined and know how to get out of it. They probably didn’t think about losing their lives. That’s the first thing that many black people in the same situation think of. If they panic and act irrationally, it’s because they’re scared for their lives and tired of constantly feeling this way. Whenever another unarmed black person was shot by the police, someone, usually white, would ask why they disobeyed the order of the police and agreed to be humiliated and dehumanized. . Their failure to receive it is a prime example of white privilege. If you don’t have to live your life feeling like a target because of the color of your skin, you probably can’t really understand why black people react the way they do when they stare at the barrel. pistol from the police.

I found White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy Mcintosh very interesting however the information within the article was not surprising. I know how white privilege works and have seen it personally countless times. The funny part is that the people that experience it look over the matter because it is benefiting them. There is one fact of the article I found interesting and that was learning that Mcintosh is a white woman. When she began to list the things, she does not experience because she has white privilege, I couldn’t help to laugh because these are thing I experience as a colored person and most of the friends and family I have experienced. “I can go into a music shop and count on finding the music of my race represented, into a supermarket and find the staple foods that fit with my cultural traditions, into a hairdresser’s shop and find someone who can cut my hair.” I know for a fact that this statement is the complete opposite for most people of color. I used to live in South Richmond Hill in Queens, and it was easy to find the foods of my culture because Caribbeans and Hispanics make up most of the population of that area. But if I were to go to any supermarket that was not in the “hood” I would not be able to find those things. Last year I moved to Niagara Falls NY and just to get my cultural foods I must travel 6 hours back to Queens Jamaica Avenue and Liberty Avenue just to get my cultural foods. When it comes to finding hair stylist that can do my hair it is near to impossible, and again I would have to go to Queen, Brooklyn, or the Bronx. No matter where I go in the I should be able to find products of my culture and that rule should go for everyone. One should not struggle to find cultural representation anywhere this country is literally built on migration of culture and tradition so why is it so hard to find representation in basic accommodation shops.

This brings me to my second point “I can remain oblivious to the language and customs of persons of color who constitute the world’s majority without feeling in my culture any penalty of such oblivion.” The number of times I have witnessed a white person yelling or getting frustrated because a group of people are speaking their language in a public setting, like a restaurant, is disgusting and its always the same reply “This is America, speak English.” Or “We speak English is America.” It just really gets under the skin. The worst is when they travel out of the country and don’t think to learn the language of the country nor the customs because they feel everyone should conform to suit their abilities. Recently I was looking into teaching English in Korea, and I told my friend about it and how I will only go once I am as least able to have a full conversation in Korean. My friend asked me why I needed to learn Korean and told me I didn’t need to learn Korean because most of the population would know English. Its very sad that some people are so close minded and feel they don’t have to learn things about other countries they go to because the country is “westernized” I am no long friends with that person.

It’s funny how the same way most white people are oblivious to white privilege is the same way most men are oblivious to the oppression of women. Reading Oppression by Marilyn Frye was a bit emotional because it angered me to read about all the BS situations women go through and the way we are so looked over and undermined. I appreciate the way Frye spoked about how oppression truly is and how it may seem like it happens to both men and women but not in the same contest so much that men don’t experience it. The part when Frye spoke about the agency men have to open the door and all the little, small “chivalrous” gestures for women is something the whole world needs to read. “Men will impose themselves awkwardly and jostle everyone in order to get to the door first.” (Frye page 12) This has always been so funny to me, and I never understood the whole chivalry thing, like I can open the door on my own. However, as I got older, I realized that most men use the “gentlemen” card to manipulate women to do things for them in return. About 3 years ago I went on a date with this guy, and he was super nice throughout the whole date, however I believe he saw being nice and gentlemen like as an open pass to touch me inappropriately. I ended the date, and this man had the audacity to tell me after he was much a gentleman and paying for everything, I didn’t let him kiss me and I was a bitch for that. Women are taught if not at home, then by society to please men and if you do otherwise you’re seen as an uptight bitter woman. We are expected to be jolly and just deal with the things we go through. Frye spoke about women never being able to do anything right in the eyes of society.  You dress modest and reframe from sexual actions with men and deny them when they try, you’re uptight and bitter. You dress the way you want to dress and are proud of your sexual energy and freedom you’re a whore. Raquel Hernandez post about appearance really summed up the way women are treated today, there is no pleasing anyone, EVERYTHING we do people will find a way to criticize and oppress us from expressing our true selves. To be completely honest I believe the only way we as a collective can stop the oppression of women is to do what we want and express how we feel no matter what and stand by one another. There is power in numbers, and you cannot oppress the untouchable.

(P.S. I know it can be hard to express yourself freely and fight against all the manipulative actions and norms of society that oppress us so if anyone would like some empowering Femme Fatal music, I would be honored to create a playlist and share it with the class ?)