This week’s reading, “Patriarchy, The System” by Allan G. Johnson very much echoed C. Wright Mills’ “Sociological Imagination” which I’ve recently read in my Sociology class. The idea that we simultaneously are shaped by and shape society. I feel it gives context to greater societal issues, the way we interact with them, and our ability to affect change. That while we did not create these systems, our existence perpetuates them, and none of us are capable of operating outside of them. One other point that I appreciated of Johnson’s was that it’s not just the way we divide things into a binary, but the value we place upon one side, and the inconsistency that exists in valuing certain qualities when they are shared by both sides. The way we have elevated men, their accomplishments, and their prescribed traits above those of women, but then disparage women who dare tread in their territory.

I also appreciated Audre Lorde’s “There Is No Hierarchy of Oppressions” for highlighting the ways in which aspects of identity can overlap. How while one aspect of our identity can be more dominant in an environment. We aren’t capable of shedding aspects of our identity, and I especially appreciated her point that no part of us would benefit from attempting to do so. I saw these sentiments echoed in the LGBTQ+ community during the Black Lives Matter protests. That we needed to stand in support of all members of our community, and that we could not place our oppression above the oppression of others.