Reading “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.”, I think that it’s a great thought-provoking, self-reflection-provoking article. I like that Peggy McIntosh begins with bringing up male privilege and the intersection with white privilege. White (cisgender heterosexual) Males are at the top of the privilege hierarchy.

Some of these questions bring up ideas I’d never actively, consciously thought about as a “privilege.” One in particular is #26: I can choose blemish covers or bandages in “flesh” color and have them more or less match my skintone. As a light-medium skinned person of color, I’ve never had to think about bandages not matching my skin. I’ve only awoken to this inequality within the last few years as companies like Band-aid have begun to release their “nude” bandages in multiple “skin-tone colors.” This “nude” issue extends beyond band-aids, and into clothing, including undergarments and shoes, and makeup. Nude has been synonymous with light, white skin for so long and it is just starting to change. 

An important statement I want to highlight is “6. When I am told about our national heritage or about “civilization,” I am shown that people of color my color made it what it is.”
It took until I grew older into a younger adult that I started to become aware of how biased and how much erasure is in our public school system regarding American History. It is all very whitewashed, in textbooks and classrooms, and excludes so many important aspects of history that have to do with people of color. We almost only learn about famous/important people in history that are white. It seems the only way to really learn about important people of color who shaped our nation is to take specific ethnic-studies classes.

Reading “Oppression” by Marilyn Frye, I wanted to keep in mind the perspective of the time period as it was written 40 years ago. A bird cage is a good visual metaphor for viewing the situation of oppression as a whole, rather than by individual parts. It is all connected, there are so many layers and you have to start breaking down systemic oppression from the root.  I agree with her argument in Section 1 about the door-opening ritual and think it has roots in power play. What came to mind was that people (men) often expect a “Thank You” in response to holding a door, and get angry or upset when not acknowledged for their “chivalrous act” Another important thing she touches upon is “Can Men Cry?” She points out that it is much more acceptable for a man to cry in front of a woman versus a man to cry in front of another man. This is because women are defaulted to being seen as natural caretakers. Frye addresses that these “societally required behaviors” regarding crying, are upheld by men and impact men, but men are praised for their “emotional restraint” while women are viewed as weak or dramatic for being “emotional”