As a result of reading this week’s articles, I discovered that there are four levels of oppression, all of which are interconnected and have an impact on one another. I had no idea how deeply rooted the patriarchal system is, as seen by the levels of oppression. It helped me to grasp deeply embedded patriarchy is in our culture and how frequently we fail to see how easily we may rebel against it. All we need to do is acknowledge its existence. As Allan G. points out, it seems to be much simpler to simply place the responsibility on a group of people.  In his essay Patriarchy, the System, Johnson states that “we are stuck in a model of social life that views everything as beginning and ending with individuals.” We choose to focus on particular people rather than society as a whole.  This means that while we will constantly believe that a bad situation is the result of a group of people who did something awful, we will never really get to the bottom of the problem. I had not considered it from this perspective, and I believe that it has improved my understanding of the importance of this week’s readings.

As an immigrant, I acknowledge the immense privilege I have experienced in America. My access to education, food, and healthcare is something that many people in my home country cannot attain. Even having a phone at a young age is a luxury that is not readily available in my homeland. In contrast, those without wealth or the ability to pay for schooling are often unable to receive a good education. As the video highlights, I can take a shower for as long as I want, while some regions in my country have limited water supply. I am grateful for the freedom to express my likes and dislikes, which is not a given for everyone. Additionally, being a woman has afforded me certain privileges over men. After watching the video and reading about privilege and oppression, I now have a better understanding of these concepts. My perception of privilege is still developing, as I recognize that those with lighter skin complexion have more advantages than I do. Furthermore, I was previously unaware of how individuals are treated differently based on their sexuality, age, race, gender, and religious beliefs.

The main ideas explored in both Peggy McIntosh’s “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” and Marilyn Frye’s piece titled “Oppression” are to what extent the oppressive hold themselves accountable and how racism is ignored, taught, and how it can be unlearned. McIntosh discusses her perspective as a white woman and the dual nature of her oppression and ignorance. She expounds upon a common experience white people have in which they believe to be completely aware of their effect on marginalized groups and in society. McIntosh then counters this idea with the idea that white people are taught to be ignorant of their privilege while simultaneously learning about the detriments of racism. This results in beliefs such as that racism happens in “individual acts of meanness” as she so puts it. Additionally, it alludes to the idea that a white individual is born into a “neutral moral state”, implying that they are not guilty and not a participant in the oppression of other people. I thought that this section was the most significant in the passage along with her self-experiment of listing all the ways she experienced white privilege in one day. This demonstrates real accountability, or at least a first step into it. The fact that she was uncomfortable making and reading the list further proves the willing ignorance of white people. As well as McIntosh, Marilyn Frye delves into the nuances of oppression. The most important topic discussed by her was the rejection of accountability by oppressors and victimization. She uses an example of men commonly countering discussions of oppression by claiming they are oppressed as well. The negative effects of this behavior are the invalidation of experiences and lack of progression. I think it’s ridiculous when people do this sort of thing! If you have to make the conversation about your experiences then its obvious you don’t care about the problem at hand. 

I feel like I was very lucky to live the way that I have been living. I can tell that a lot of people wish to live the way I do and have things that I do have in order just to survive. Most people did not choose to have a difficult life so whenever I am having a difficult time I always look at those that would be extremely happy to have even ¼ of what I have. In taking into my own experiences, growing up in poverty in an impoverished community without many resources, it would’ve made a world of difference in my quality of life if there had been accessible after-school programs or even lunch programs. Growing up in my country , I oftentimes went to schools knowing my parents couldn’t afford items like new uniforms. I remember feeling ashamed knowing my button-down shirt wasn’t purchased from the same uniform shop where all the other girls’ parents spent hundreds of dollars on their uniforms. The rare occasions funding for workshops, food banks, and book clubs were provided for people in my community, it strengthened our morale as neighbors and improved the community as a whole.

These readings discuss and Define what White Privilege is and discuss Oppression in any form. These readings made me understand white privilege and Oppression because I have never dealt with Oppression or privilege and never truly understood what the term privilege meant. Still, the reading “White Privilege unpacking the invisible knapsack” gave us different ways to define privilege, for example, not only the term white privilege but men’s privilege as well, also from a cultural standpoint. The second reading on Oppression stuck out because it gave me insight into how a person feels about being oppressed and what it means. I lived in a bubble growing up; I would go to school and come right back home, so I never really saw Oppression firsthand, and I never experienced and knock on wood that I don’t ever experience it, so this reading gave me a different perspective on how people are pressed in their daily lives. It makes me grateful that I haven’t had to go through those types of things.

Peggy McIntosh argues that white privilege is an invisible package of unearned assets that puts white people at an advantage. This text discusses the effects of white privilege on the lives of African Americans, such as being in the company of people of their race, being able to rent or purchase housing in an area which they can afford, and being able to go shopping alone. It also highlights the difficulty of finding parallels between racism, sexism, and heterosexism, and the difficulty of disentangling unearned advantage from other factors such as social class, economic class, race, religion, sex and ethnic identity. To redesign social systems, we need to acknowledge their unseen dimensions and raise our consciousness on the perquisites of being light-skinned.

I think the very first thing I have to talk about is the metaphor comparing white privilege to an invisible weightless knapsack in the first reading. One of the most interesting ways I have heard someone put it. The thing that intrigued me the most was the significance of the “weightless” aspect of it. All of us have our own baggage that we carry everyday as a person, we all carry our burdens. Some heavier, some lighter, but we all know that they are there. What I found interesting is that the author says that white people carry their privileges around everyday too, on their backs, guaranteed to have them and use them whenever they please. But the author says weightless. Maybe I am just exaggerating this but it’s just crazy that this one word affects how I’ll see it from now on, white people don’t just not see their privileges. It’s there on their back and they can’t feel it because it’s been made weightless for them. Being the kind of person that I am, a lot of the time I can excuse ignorance just because if you cant see something then you cant see something. But they can’t feel that burden of holding all their privileges and that makes me think: why not?

I really liked the fact that the author was talking about women and mens privileges and that made them start thinking of their own, but not just considering her sex but all contributing factors like class/race/religion. I like when people are aware of their privileges, I think I have said that before. The author even made a list, and on that list I felt there were things that were important to point out but I have just never put it into words myself. One that stuck out to me was number 15 that says “I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group.” I think that’s just one that I have never thought of. I’ve seen countless examples of it, specifically black people having to speak for their race in groups when they are the only one there. Why? No one can guarantee a whole race group has the same thoughts as one girl so why put her to speak? It just made me think that I have never had to do that in a big group before and how insensitive it is too. I hope there will always be another person of color in whatever public room I walk into. Overall the reading was very eye opening when it comes to recognizing some of the privileges I have due to the color of my skin and the people around me. 

The second reading starts off strong with the author wanting to make sure people use the term “oppression” correctly which I can agree with. In my experience I haven’t heard people using it deliberately wrong. I will be thinking about the context in which the term is being used though from now on. The author is right in wanting to point it out too, we have to know what it means in order to stop it from happening. One quote I found that shocked me was “If we ever deny that any person or group is oppressed…we are accused of insensitivity…For women, such accusation is particularly intimidating, since sensitivity is one of the few virtues that has been assigned to us if we are found insensitive we may fear we have no redeeming traits at all and perhaps are not real women.” I was shocked at how true it was, there are so many moments where I have felt this way and therefore silenced myself. We are taught to be nice and hear people out even if you know what they are saying is completely wrong, that’s not right.

The author gives a metaphor, they compare oppression to a birdcage. Sounds simpler than it is, the author says understanding oppression depends on how you look at situations. You need to be able to see the big picture and look outside of just your own point of view.  People see oppression as one general thing you can work to overcome but fail to see all the things that limit a person into being able to even start. 

The part where the author talks about men opening doors changed my life. I’m not kidding. The author explains that when men open doors for you it is not entirely a kind gesture or even at all. Men want to get to the door first. Men are capable of helping you when they think it will benefit you but don’t help when it comes to actual life and death situations. I know the author didn’t mean to make me see men in a worse light but they did, it’s all true, they will rather hold a door for you than change the system that keeps us in a constant state of fear. They ignore it and only advise you to work around it. I liked that the author mentioned how men also say they are being oppressed when they are the ones contributing to that system. Men cant cry because men would rather be praised for not crying than be mocked and compared to a woman. They are rewarded for their punishments to themselves. Even the barriers they created that limit them still find a way to reward them, even if it’s just maintaining their status of being a man. I never thought about it that way.

Having a home, water, and perhaps electricity is a fundamental human right, and you die without it or live an impossible life. Yet, not everyone has it.

World is an unfair, cruel place, and it’s heartbreaking to know how many children live in poor living conditions, how a recent earthquake in Turkey demolished thousands of lives, and how wars affect people who suffer tremendously, losing everything!Do we feel lucky  seeing this?  I feel privileged that these disasters never happened in my life.I feel for people.  I try to help when I can. My family decided to let Ukrainian families live in our place in Poland. But that is still very little help. I live here in the United States, work and go to college, but others try to stay alive. When I say, I take one day at a time to survive, in my reality, others run from bombs! Nevertheless, every problem has value, and we also prepare this country for those who will survive wars, our children here,veterans and everyone who is here so that they can live good  life.

My daughter is a person of color. I have known her father for many years. I was exposed to a massive injustice that affected my partner’s life, and I was sometimes afraid for his life. Knowing how many issues people of color experience makes me see how little we understand of human value. And how ugly it is to see racist comments toward people who built this country as enslaved people!! Reading Peggy McIntosh White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” made me recognize how many little knife-stabbing situations one can experience beyond what I already knew. 

A day for me can be so dramatically different than a person of color, and we will go through the same situations. The list of 25 white privileges is very serious, and some of them are mind-opening, like the thrift shop clothing, newspapers with people of my race, cash in my pocket, or a neighborhood etc. Peggy McIntosh is very honest, and that shows that admitting to doing something wrong is ok. I guess that’s how you change. She is very clear, and her writing sounds a bit like a confession. 

In Meryline Frye article, I strongly agree with what she called being oppressed. To expect a woman to smile is to push her( make her) not to complain and to accept what you have, no matter what you think. A woman who is speaking her mind is difficult to work with! How wrong and unfair this is. The comparison to a bird in a cage is very accurate. The cage shows the macroscopic phenomenon of pretending to have a good life but in real-life situations, the laws are taken away! You are praised if you are in control if your freedom to fly and be is taken away. You are a symbol of beauty to smile and obey, you are a mother or wife to place a role of a family member, and if you like to work without acceptance of a man, you are not a good family member, you aren’t a good mother.

Fake behavior covers the truth under the night. Opening a door by a gentleman seems fancy, but he might not obey that person’s fundamental rights in another situation.

I don’t like the word LADY, and I learn how not to use it anymore. I think it was made by men to control women. What is LAdy ???

Every day I wake I give thanks to God that I live to see the next day because while I’m walking on this earth giving a next chance people are getting news that they only have a couple of months to live or some people just lost their loved one today. Being privileged is waking up every morning because not so many people get the chance to. Watching this video helped me understand different people’s points of view on what privilege means to them. This person describes privilege as when “some people have some things and other people don’t have things”. I most definitely agree with this meaning of privilege because things that I do have could make another person who doesn’t have it less privileged than me. What privilege means to me is Privilege means when a person has something of value that is denied to another person. 

This is why I try to be happy and thankful for everything I receive in life because there’s always someone out there who has it worse than me. Social media is one of the causes of why people are not thankful for what they have because it makes people focus on what they don’t have vs what they have. For example, somebody could have a Nissan but go on social media and see someone with a Lambo and feel like they are not where they are in life. But they should be thankful for even having the opportunity to own a car because not too many people do.