This week you have two readings, each of which expands on the concepts of privilege and oppression from the week four readings. The Johnson reading addresses the fact that there are different levels of oppression and these levels influence one another. The Lorde reading addresses intersectionality, though she does not name it such in this piece.

Intersectionality, which we will continue to read about throughout the semester, is the idea that systems of oppression overlap and cannot be fully separated. Those systems socialize us as individuals with identities that are impacted. I use the contrasting analogies of a salad vs. a cake to explain intersectionality. We are not salads. We cannot take out the onions or the anchovies and either eat just them or have our salad without them. Instead, we are more like a cake made of flour, sugar, eggs, milk, baking powder, etc. We can never separate those ingredients into discreet parts because they all work together to create the cake.

Reflection #4 and Discussion Post #5 are due Wednesday, March 2nd by 11:59 pm/

Responses to three classmates’ discussion 5 posts are due Friday, March 4 by 11:59 pm.

A bit more about each reading:

Allan Johnson, “Patriarchy, the System: An It, Not a He, a Them, or an Us” (2014)

Allan Johnson explains that changes to the patriarchal system cannot come through an individualistic understanding of the system. As a society, individuals must understand how social systems perpetuate social problems—the system of patriarchy has been made and perpetuated by individuals, but it is not an individual. Johnson clarifies that we must understand the system of patriarchy in order to create a different system of socialization. While we all participate in social systems, we can change the system itself.

Audre Lorde, “There Is No Hierarchy of Oppressions” (1983)

In “There Is No Hierarchy of Oppressions,” Audre Lorde completes an intersectional analysis of her identities and her status as a member of oppressed groups. She explains that sexism, heterosexism, and racism all function together as systems of oppression. Because all of these systems work together, Lorde argues, there is no hierarchy of oppression—we must fight all forms of oppression, not just a singular system.