This week you have two readings. You should also complete your Reflection #3 and Discussion #4, as well as respond to three of your classmates’ Discussion #4 posts.
This week we move away from discussions and definitions of gender specifically, and attempt to understand the terms “oppression” and “privilege.” These are things many of us think we understand, but if asked to provide a clear definition we aren’t always able. I have also included an optional reading that demonstrates how these concepts actually operate in everyday life. “When Privilege and Oppression Intersect” by Joseph Mabry is a fairly quick read that I highly recommend checking out.
Required Reading
Marilyn Frye, “Oppression” (1983)
In “Oppression,” Marilyn Frye seeks to explain and clarify what oppression is and challenges the claim that men can be oppressed as men. Frye begins by exploring the root word of oppression and explains that oppression leads to double binds, such as women being expected to both be sexual and virginal. In double binds, the oppressed is punished for performing any of the options open to them. Frye also illuminates the ways in which oppression is a set of socially constructed systems. She emphasizes that oppression must be examined on a macroscopic level because analysis at the microscopic level obscures the structure and intent of oppression. Frye concludes this article by arguing that women are oppressed as women. While members of racial groups can be oppressed as members of that racial group and members of certain economic classes can be oppressed as members of that economic class, men are not oppressed as men.
Peggy McIntosh, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” (1988)
Peggy McIntosh explores the ways in which white privilege is hidden and unacknowledged within culture and positions the discussion of white privilege within a feminist framework. McIntosh explains the way white people acknowledge the need for racial justice while refusing to acknowledge white privilege and the way privilege is set up to remain hidden within society. She brings white privilege into dialogue with feminism by comparing and contrasting it with male privilege. McIntosh makes a list of the ways she is privileged to make its definition less elusive and then analyzes those privileges. She then distinguishes between unearned power and earned strength, emphasizing that unearned power is disguised as strength within American culture. McIntosh concludes by illustrating how systems of privilege interlock to keep dominant groups in power and challenging readers to recognize the structure of these systems in order to change them.
