This week’s readings by Allan Johnson and Audre Lorde opened my mind to concepts that I never truly took the time to think about or analyze. Learning about the patriarchal culture and how our participation has gotten us to where we are today, consciously and unconsciously, was, for lack of better words, kind of scary. Although I am one single person, I hate to think that I have participated in a system that hinders others’ opportunities. The system has been capable of normalizing what is acceptable vs. unacceptable and has fogged people’s perceptions of one another. Allan Johnson’s writing piece on patriarchy provided me with a better understanding of what social structures are and the influence it has had on patriarchy. It also made various connections to everyday life scenarios to which I was able to link my own personal oppressions. In Audre Lorde’s, “There Is No Hierarchy of Oppressions”, she shares her personal struggles and the many oppressions she has faced. The labels that society has bestowed upon her, being black and a lesbian, influence one another, yet neither one is better than the other, which many of us can relate to. As she stated, there is no hierarchy in oppression.