There are few words that convey a far complex idea (due to historical and societal contexts) while the meaning of the word itself is easy to understand . Privilege and oppression are two of such words. In a general sense, privilege is the ability to enjoy something that other people may not enjoy. For example, beaches are a privilege people in mountainous regions don’t enjoy. Oppression is a prolonged state of being treated unjustly. One may feel oppressed by their job that overworks them. Sounds simple enough. However, privilege and oppression hold a much greater value. They are one of the key concepts that makes us understand the status quo, in terms of race, gender, sexuality, class and other socio-economic factors.

Marilyn Frye’s Oppression and Peggy McIntosh’s White Privilege both share light on how most privileged people are either unaware or don’t acknowledge their privilege. They accept that certain groups are disadvantaged but at the same time cannot grasp that it means their group is advantaged. This has a lot to do with the misconception about the term. People assume that when they’re labeled privileged, it implies that they don’t face obstacles in their lives or every thing is always easy for them. In reality, it simply means that the problems they face have nothing to do with the group they belong to. It’s a personal issue rather than a societal problem. Men telling womxn they too feel unsafe walking at night for the fear of being robbed do not seem to grasp that womxn fear that, as well as being catcalled, sexually harassed or followed home (which isn’t a fear for most men).

In the same way, oppression is also something the group in power have a hard time comprehending. They fail to understand that oppression isn’t just a minor nuisance we as humans face, irrespective of our diverse background. Oppression is a systematic barrier of discrimination, subjugation (both apparent and subtle) enforced upon a specific group to make it difficult for them to step up in society. The group in power hordes all power to maintain a sort of superiority over other groups. White people that complain that cultural appropriation doesn’t exist, or that they should be allowed to wear ethnic hairstyles justify their reasoning with “but people of color also wear suits, adapt “white culture”.” What they don’t recognize is that most of these ethnic people were forced to assimilate, forced to give up parts of their culture in order to appease white people, to make them feel safe and comfortable. A white person being told they can’t wear indigenous headdress isn’t oppression, but a Muslim woman being asked to remove her hijab is.

Having privilege isn’t necessarily a bad thing, especially since it’s not something in your control. It is how you utilize your privilege that makes all the difference. You can either remain indifferent to the injustice of groups you don’t belong to, or you can choose to work towards bridging the gap between these groups. Hell, as a cis-gendered bisexual woman and a “model minority” I have certain privileges other LGBTQI+ and POCs don’t have. The basic assumption is I’m smart, hard-working and docile. Basically, I’m not considered a threat to the current power structure and hence not treated in a terribly bad manner. On the other hand, as a woman and a first gen immigrant, I am not granted the same opportunities as men or white Americans are. I do not have the bodily autonomy or sexual freedom men do. Similarly, my accent is seen as a sign of incompetency, nevermind the fact that I’m fluent in 3 languages and fair in 2 more. One can be privileged in certain regards and oppressed in others. This is true for most people, except maybe heterosexual, cis, white men. Privilege and oppression are hard to understand, except they’re actually not. You just have to be willing to learn about them.

We’re all aware about the recent discussions in public domains regarding the use of they/them pronouns for non binary people. There has been much outrage over having to use they/them pronouns to refer to a single person. One can’t help but wonder why this is such a polarizing subject when we have always been using they/them pronouns when referring to an individual we know nothing about. This is when you come to realize it has nothing to do with grammar, and everything to do with whom these pronouns are acknowledging. Using these pronouns mean accepting that there are genders beyond just male and female. We would rather negate the history (of language and people) by saying these are “modern” ideas birthed by a morally corrupt, godless generation. Never mind the fact there are evidences of gender fluidity in numerous cultures throughout the world. It isn’t that people were simply either male or female in the past but that they were persecuted if they weren’t. T they had to hide their identities for their safety and well being.

So does this mean that everything is better for non binary people now, since they can make “demands” publicly? Unfortunately, things haven’t changed much. As we read Alok Vaid Menon’s Beyond The Binary, we understand how society barely tolerates non binary people, let alone accept and let them thrive. Non binary people are forced to defend their existence every single day, whether it’s to strangers that ask invasive questions or to government officials that deny their rights. They live in a constant fear of verbal and physical abuse simply because they exist. Basically everything transphobic people claim will happen to them if non binary people are accepted, despite there being no evidence to support the claim. Plagued by baseless fear and assumptions, we label everything that doesn’t subscribe to our preconceived notions as abnormal and alienate them. Menon says, “Gender non conformity causes such a huge reaction because we’re constantly taught there are only two fixed and universal genders. Seeing other people defy this mandate brings the entire system into question.” We feel threatened that our society built by perpetuating gender and gender roles would topple and cease to exist. What we fail to consider, or rather purposely misunderstand, is that acceptance of non binary genders does not automatically mean rejecting male and female as valid identities. It simply just means acknowledging that gender is a spectrum and no two individual have to be of the same gender simply because they have the same features. Furthermore, it also means rejecting gender roles that serve no real purpose. For Alok, to move beyond the gender binary means them being able to live their truth without fear, children growing up to be whoever they want without the societal pressure and indoctrination to act a certain way. They say, “We want a world where boys can feel, girls can lead and the rest of us can thrive. This is not about erasing men and women but rather acknowledging that man and woman are two of many- stars in a constellation that do not compete or amplify one another’s shine.”

Alok isn’t just fighting for the right of non binary people, they are also fighting for little girls that want to become president and boys who want to become ballet dancers. Growing up, I had what were considered “boyish” interests. I played football (soccer) with my brothers, fixed any and every mechanical malfunction and was loud and assertive. While most of my relatives reprimanded me for not being a decent girl, I was praised by my friends for not being a “girly” girl. As if having “girlish” interests somehow a bad thing. As a young girl, I avoided the color pink or wearing skirts because I felt the same. Now, I wear whatever makes me happy, be it pink sparkly dresses or worn out basketball shorts. I understand that neither of those things are validation of someone’s identity, the person’s existence is valid enough.

Feminism has been a widely discussed subject throughout recent history. There is much discourse about feminism, about what it means and what it stands for. The general concession is that it is a movement put forward to improve the socio-political standing of women. It sounds like a reasonable enough definition. After all, the word itself is closely related to “feminine”. This has led many to believe that feminism is solely for the benefit of women, that it is anti-male, that it promotes the superiority of women rather than equality. While it may had started out that way, early feminists filled with righteous anger at the injustice and domination leading the movement, feminism is far more nuanced than just a “he v/s she” issue. It is about ending sexism, irrespective of the gender and making the world an equal level playing field for everyone.

In the essay Feminist Politics Where We Stand, author Bell Hooks defines feminism as “a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression”. What she means is that feminism is not just the battle against systematic and historic domination of women, it is against sexist notions, perpetuated by patriarchy, that disadvantage men as well. It is as much about destigmatizing emotional vulnerability in men as it is about giving women equal opportunities in the workforce.

Hook understands that the feminist movement isn’t without flaws and that women aren’t absolved of all responsibility simply because they are women. In fact, she highlights the disconnect within the women, separated by race and class. She says, “By accepting and indeed colluding with the subordination of working-class and poor women, they not only ally themselves with the existing patriarchy and its concomitant sexism, they give themselves the right to lead a double life, one where they are the equals of men in the workforce and at home when they want to be.” As an immigrant woman of color, this resonated the most with me. I had always believed feminism to be an “all women” against “all hindrances” thing but I never realized how different hindrances looked like to different socio-economic groups.

This disparity can be further seen when it comes to gender and sexuality. In the article Sex and Gender 101, Kyl Myers provides us a brief description about sex and gender and how diverse it can be. After the reading, I couldn’t help but notice how feminism mostly talks in binary in terms of gender. This is especially interesting since feminism, in theory, is against traditional gender roles. This should make gender identity a more prominent part of the movement rather than the sex (of male and female). This further reiterates Hook’s observation about the disconnect in feminism. While a privileged white woman may be lauded for breaking beauty standards by growing out her body hair, an ethnic woman already masculinized by euro centric beauty standards and a non cisgender woman may not have the same luxury.

Both Belle Hook’s and Kyle Myers’ readings have reinforce the idea of feminism I already had. They have verbalized what I could never put into words. Feminism isn’t just about women against men, it is about everyone, irrespective of gender, race, class and sexuality toppling sexism and oppression. Feminism isn’t about saying men and women are equal in all regards, it is about understanding that all genders should be treated equally, no matter their differences.

Hi! My name is Bidushi Pyakurel. This is my last semester as a criminal justice student in BMCC. I hope to transfer to John Jay next semester and hopefully go to law school after that. I am originally from Kathmandu, Nepal and have been living in the United States (and New York) for the past 4 years. I use she/her/hers pronoun. Growing up in a third world country with predominantly patriarchal societies, I believed the US and other western countries were the epitome of gender equality and expression. However, with age and experience, I have realized that may not be the case. I guess taking this class is my attempt at understanding the nuances and intricacies of such a complex subject, especially in terms of intersectionality. I want to understand what roles race, socio-economic status, religion and other factors have on how gender and sexuality is perceived in different cultures. For example: the literacy rate for women in Nepal is almost half that of men whereas it’s the same in the US. On the other hand, while the US workforce has a significant difference in its male and female population, it is almost equal in Nepal. I assume these differences have a lot to do with the economic condition of both countries. These are some of the things I’m hoping I learn from this class. As for my hopes and dreams, I plan on going back to Nepal and investing in efforts to make education accessible to women.
On a lighter note, I love learning new skills until I’m fairly decent at them. After that, I stop doing them altogether. I have taken up sewing, making nail art, playing a guitalele (in my defense, I thought I ordered a guitar), painting, drawing anime characters, cooking, among other things. My favorite thing to do, however, has to be overanalyzing media I consume, especially TV series. One thing I’ve noticed in recent years is that the female characters I sympathize with (or at least understand their motives and reasonings) are usually disliked by male audience. Two of the examples I can think of are Diane Ngyugen from Bojack Horseman and Siobhan Roy from Succession. It is especially interesting to me since most women I talk to seem to agree that these are well-rounded, relatable characters. I would really love to get into this in class if it feels appropriate. I’m looking forward to this class and I hope I leave with a better understanding of other people’s perspective.