This week’s discussion on oppression was a very interesting one. In one way, I knew and already had an idea of what oppression is. In the reading titled White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh, something that stood out to me was when they wrote ” They may say that they will work to improve women’s status, in the society, the university, or the curriculum, but they can’t or won’t support the idea of lessening men’s”. I found it rather interesting that McIntosh decided to include this in their piece because it is one of those things that could anger an audience. But at the same time, I feel like that is necessary to get an image across. To make sure many are aware of the countless amount of oppression many women feel. Sometimes it is anger that can make someone want a change more than before. As for the video about privilege, it was very touching because it made me realize just how much privilege I have as well as how I can experience oppression. Yet it made me also think about how although privilege is sometimes seen as a bad thing, we can utilize our privilege to help others.

The ready ” patriarchy, the system: an it, not a he, them, or an us” by Allan johnson was very informative on both the topic of patriarchy and on the different levels of oppression. Patriarchy isn’t something we learn or become over time and grow but something we learn or become over time and as we grow but rather something that is instilled in us from birth. this is something that I learned from the reading, social systems are created, and as we participate in this system, our lives are shaped and molded. We grow up with this system; our lives are shaped and molded. We grow up with this system being the basis of our beliefs, action, and what we think is our identity. But it isn’t, once we stand up for what we want and believe. Then that is when we can make the change. our participate, only how.”

In the ready ” there is no hierarchy of oppression” by Audrey Lorde, she gives us a glimpse of what it’s like being part of two communities that face oppression. Lorde explains to us that oppression and intolerance come in all types, shapes, sexes, and colors. She tells us that we do not have to be the same to help each other create a better future. I admire how she says, “I cannot afford to believe that freedom from intolerance is the right to fight oppression whenever and wherever.

I feel like the example of humans being cakes rather than salads really helped me personally to understand the concept of intersectionality better. Because of the word inter’section’ality itself, I immediatelly presumed these are all things that can be seperated, but when put in the context of a cake I understand it all mixes together like ingredients and makes us up. I never knew there were levels of oppression, but after being introduced to them I can understand how they all effect one another almost in a domino aspect. The cultural/structural is at the very top, and it influences the institutional section, which then cages the interpersonal that bleeds into the personal component.

On the other hand I found Johnson’s piece of text to be very eye opening and almost mind boggling. It will come across as ignorant but it never occured to me to instead of blaming the people, to look at how society effects our thoughts, behaviors and actions. To almost zoom out and look at the bigger picture instead of the people being contained within the frame. It dives into the fact that the social systems held in place limit us as human beings. While we do make the systems there is always an opportunity to change said system holding us in place. One thing I think that’s important to remember for my future self is “We are not patriarchy…Patriarchy is a kind of society organized around certain kinds of social relationships and ideas… our participation both shapes our lives and gives us the opportunity to be part of changing…But we are not it.” To remind myself that though we all do live in a society of patriarchy, it can exist without every man being a patriarchist.

Before these readings, I wasn’t fully aware of the different levels of oppression and how they influence each other within patriarchy. We are born into this system of patriarchy and unconsciously incorporate it into our everyday lives. It’s what we’ve been taught to accept. Intersectionality proves that these different levels of oppression cannot be separated because if a part of you is attacked, so is the rest of you. The cake analogy was actually very helpful, and once a cake has been mixed it is impossible to separate the ingredients that make up the cake. Audre Lorde explains how there is no hierarchy of oppressions by revealing the ways in which she experiences oppression on a daily basis and how they all are connected. As a black lesbian woman, she explains that any attack against either of the groups of oppression that she is included in will affect the other groups as well. “Any attack against Black people is a lesbian and gay issue, because I and thousands of other Black women are part of the lesbian community. Any attack against lesbians and gays is a Black issue, because thousands of lesbians and gay men are Black. There is no hierarchy of oppression.” Not only is she affected by racism, but there’s also discrimination against her sexuality, and then the fact she is a woman makes it easier for others to look down on her. The way we react and respond to patriarchy will determine if we will be able to destroy it in the future.

Before I had no idea that there was a hierarchy of oppression because they are things that are done as part and custom of society, when we grow up we see them, many times we even see them as normal because that came from generation to generation when it shouldn’t be like that, because if your parents are wrong about a concept, you should investigate so that you don’t do the same thing.  This is due to many reasons, for example, ignorance because it does not have.  knowledge , lack of resources to search for information or they simply adapt to oppression so as not to want to break a scheme created by the system of society .  Similarly, Aidee Lorde in her article “There is no hierarchy of oppression” clarifies many things for us and that it does not exist.  Audre Lorde argues for us as a woman she faces oppression, as a lesbian being a mother and as a woman of dark skin color she faces her own fears and difficulties.  She mentions that no matter where you come from or your status, everyone faces oppression and many identities go through that situation.  Patriarchy is the one who is in charge of having control in society.  We citizens are the ones who have to improve, contribute, volunteer and seek solutions to have a better system.  She clarifies that not only women suffer oppression, but also men because they are all part of the system, many times because women in certain cases have suffered more for being submissive or for supposedly being the “weaker sex” society puts them as that it is the only one that can suffer oppression but it is not true that man too.

There has been many different times When some people wanted others to be obedient, they played the nature card throughout history. Life is difficult for poor people, and this is natural. They accept it as it is. This categorization and privilege enjoyed by the upper castes was also presented as something god-given and natural to the individuals at the bottom of the caste system. At one time, some people believed that people with blue eyes and blond hair were a superior race, destined to control the world. Gender disparity operates in a similar manner. For millennia, men in patriarchal communities and systems have claimed that women are inferior to them. By definition to be exact. As Audre Lorde’s experience with oppression described in “There Is No Hierarchy of Oppressions”. She faces oppression because she is Black, a woman, and lesbian. Rather than only being judged by her outyerself (skin color, hair), she began feeling as though who she was as a person may have been questionable due to societies interpretation.

The fact behind this is that some individuals simply want to maintain their power, so they create these convenient dichotomies. It has nothing to do with nature. All of this is made up, socially manufactured, easily practiced, and maintained. Every day, we are bombarded with these structures. When really its up to us to change these structures so that quality can me forefront.

This week’s reading gave me a better understanding of the different forms of opression. A person is defined by many different aspects of themselves. Different forms of opression can be targeted to one or more of these aspects at the same time. As Audre Lorde’s experience with opression described in “There Is No Hierarchy of Oppressions”. She faces opression because she is Black, a woman, and lesbian. These readings opened my eyes to the ways different forms of opression intertwine with each other. Lorde describes facing opression in the Black community for being gay and in the gay community for being black. These are concepts that many people don’t think about unless they are experiencing it. To reference Lorde again, she states “I cannot afford the luxury of fighting one form of opression only” (Lorde). This statement perfectly expresses the idea behind this week’s discussion. Representing the fact that there are many forms of opression toward many aspects of a person and each form of opression has the same great impact. “Patriarchy, the System” by Allan Johnson focuses more on the gender aspect of opression. Gender play’s an important role in opression because it effects a greater, deep-rooted system built into our society. As I mentioned before, different forms of opression intertwine. Having that underlying gender discrimination impacts all other forms of opression. A great example of this being Audre Lorde’s story. She is effected by racism and homophobia but each of these forms of opression are amplified because she is a woman. Different forms of opression have some relationship with one another that further discrimination while also reinforcing systems of opression like the Patriarchy.

I wouldn’t know what to say if I was asked indeed if there was a hierarchy of oppression, but I think Audre Lorde hits the nail right on the head with her article “There is no Hierarchy of Oppression”. This week’s reading gives very good insight to the system and its patriarchy and matters of oppression. Audre Lorde expanding and explaining the problems associated with each of the identities she ascribes to. As a woman, she faces oppression. As a black woman, she faces her own judgmental difficulties of oppression. As a Lesbian and a member of the LGBTQ community as well as being a mother. She is stating that, regardless of what you identify as, or the numerous identities you have all comes with its own dynamic struggle. People of all race and gender are oppressed. Patriarchy indeed has its own special consequences on both men and women. Society’s rules and regulations takes control of the actions of people. It does not choose a side. We are the ones who have to find solutions and/ or ways to combat these circumstances which hinder the growth of individuals and community as a whole. Just like how we learnt that that not just women encounter situations of sexisms, it is in fact a similar way by which not just women are affected by patriarchy but men as well. I found this very interesting, just like the many other reading that continue to teach and give insight to matters we have turned a blind eye to such as this one.

We are born into Patriarchy. There is no choice. It is the sociocultural default, but it is not just “human nature”. Allan Johnson’s “Patriarchy, the System” emphasizes that Patriarchy is greater than the individual; It is a systemic issue. Johnson highlights some of the very basic things of society that are “normal” to us, but in reality are incredibly harmful to all. An example is the belief that a mother is the one who should stay at home and take care of the children. This defaults to placing the care and parenting on the woman out of biological “maternal instinct”. This is why in single-parent families, it is often a single mother, because the father was able to walk away “baggage-free”, no concern for the children, and no consequences for him. This default to “maternal care/instinct” is why it is often difficult or not allowed for fathers to take a leave from work after his baby is born. Paternity leave is a faint concept. 

In the excerpt from Audre Lorde, she talks about her varying identities (i.e. lesbian, black, woman, feminist, member of interracial relationship) and how they are all intertwined in furthering oppression. As a black lesbian herself, Lorde says that  “an attack on black people is an attack on [queer people], and an attack on [queer people] is an attack on black people.” Someone can be a member of multiple groups that face different types of oppression, and that one mode of oppression can feed off the other like fire.
Lorde says, “I simply do not believe that one aspect of myself can possibly profit from the oppression of any other part of my identity. I know that my people cannot possibly profit from the oppression of any other group which seeks the right to peaceful existence.”

03/02/2022

After reading the article for this week I learned that Oppression is disciplined into four different parts that authorize each other. It showed me that the patriarchy is impacted in our generation. Sometimes we don’t understand that we can escape our system. We just need to learn how to work our way around it. We humans usually like to blame others for our fails. In the article “Patriarchy, the System, “Johnson states“ we are stuck in a model of social life that views everything as beginning and ending with individuals.” To me, this means that our society likes to point fingers at individuals instead of owning up to the fact that some things are just part of our society and not just specific people. After reading this article I now see it from this point of view. ours!