Cycle Of Oppression

Given the definition of oppression as a system of interrelated barriers and forces which “mold”, “immobilize”, and “reduce” a certain group of people, and affect their subordination to another group (Frye 4), Frye lists out five premises in order to be considered oppressed. First of all, the group of people must be restricted. In other words, there must be limitations or barriers on them. For example, women make 78 cents for every dollar earned by men (Kessler 1). Second, “those restrictions surely cause harm, which must outweigh any potential benefits oppressed groups experience as a result of those same restrictions” (Gillingham 1). For

After I read the article, I had to sit back and digest the material for an entire day. The article force me to do some soul searching regarding my position on power, privilege, and oppression. Have I been so oblivious to my surroundings? I quickly thought about the six core values of social work: service, social justice, dignity and worth, importance of human relationships, integrity, & competence. Will I be able to help others; because like Spencer (2008) I took somethings in life for granted? It was ironic when I was reading the article that Martin Luther King Jr, Desmond Tutu, and Nelson Mandella came to mine. They all fought for the injustice and sacrificed much to change the minds of the one in the position of power.

One lesson I learned was definitely about the role of oppression in individuals who are asking for help. I realized that some of the problems I was facing was internalized racism. Many of the issues I was facing was because of not having enough money to take care of myself. I was struggling with being able to find a job in Washington DC and dealing with poverty. I felt that there were a very limited number of opportunities for me. Also, I had internalized a feeling of hopelessness. According to research by Leary, many African-Americans have learned to live with and survive oppression. However, this oppression can cause emotional responses of fear and internalized oppression where many African Americans feel that they are less than other and

The first source I will use is Andrea Ayvazian’s essay “Interrupting the Cycle of Oppression: The Role of Allies as Agents of Change”. She discusses how allies can change in a good way, our society into something better in increasing oppression and the power behind it. The author explain why it is so important to interfere and end the never ending circle of oppression, discrimination, stereotype thinking or prejudice. Oppression can be found in every group and we face it unfortunately every day, for example opportunities for those who are poor get often denied by the wealthier part of society which as we know out of the book are just a small part. Ayvazian defines the word ally and what it is to be one. Furthermore she discusses the importance

Oppression has change in history in the following ways: lower class people are treated different than higher class, people are discriminated by their race, and minorities knows how each class behave. People should not be obligated to change their lifestyle only because they are oppressing them to change for good. Each one of us should have freedom of what they want to do and enjoy life by not being forced to or feeling less than others

In the raw and graphical important events told to us in the novel Always Running by Luis J. Rodriguez, the events show us the way systematic oppression affects the life’s of minorities, but especially those of the community of the main character Chin. Chin is living through systematic oppression and feeling the effects of systematic oppression on his everyday life and to that of his community. Chin, experiences the oppression that the government created in order to oppress communities of certain appearances. We also get to understand his feelings of hatred towards the United States legal system because of how unfair it was towards minorities. His hatred comes from the abusive actions police committed by using their power of the law to make

From the beginning of time and around the world, women have been subjected to patriarchal oppression in various forms. From economic hardships such as wage gaps or an inability to own property, to social mores such as submission in marriage and sexual objectification, women are systematically treated as second- class citizens without a voice. African American women have faced these gendered challenges in addition to racial discrimination in the forms of slavery, unfair taxation, red-lining, unequal access to education and derogatory media representation to name a few. “Passing” by Nella Larsen portrays two African American women as main characters who experience racial and gender oppression in various ways. Webster’s Dictionary defines oppression as: the state of being subject to unjust treatment or control, prolonged cruel or unjust treatment or control; mental pressure or distress. Larsen’s story delves into social and feminist issues of oppression such as loss of identity, oppressiveness of marriage, women’s independence relating to women’s lack of independence, the importance of marriage in society, how race and class function in society, and how relationships are dictated by race, class, and gender.

What is it that Vonnegut wants the readers to realize? That equality in general is unnatural, because Adaption to the average might mean bringing everyone down to the lowest level and therefore confirm prejudices of stupid, fat and lazy people and lead to a loss of potential, excellence and talent. The immense state control can lead to oppression and torture of citizens if people are too busy with their personal life instead of caring for the greater good. Furthermore that our modern lives can lead to a desensitization if people spend their time in front of a TV lamenting about the chances in the world rather than standing up from the couch and do something about it. That an uncontrolled medium bears the potential of misdirected utilization

Language is common in the world it is the way humans communicate and relate to things with one another.Language is a powerful tool in the world because it can give power to people and can be used to manipulate through renaming people,stereotyping a person and using a euphemistic approach in addressing a person.

Oppression and discrimination has plagued our society since early times. As a collective society one would think that over time oppression and discrimination would turn into acceptance and equality. Conversely, our society has taken sluggish steps towards diversity, acceptance and equality. Our society is focused on labeling people and putting them into limiting boxes. Oppression occurs across various groups of people based on gender, sex, race, religion, and disability. Members of these diverse groups are discriminated among work places, schools, and other places. Work places and schools promote diversity and non-discrimination, however little seems to be practiced. Oppression across generation leaves damaging consequences hindering society in the growth towards a more accepting environment.

When working to determine the causes of oppression, one must first establish a definition of the word. Oppression can be perceived as being a broad, which can lead to disempowerment of the term. For the purposes of this paper, oppression is defined through the lens of both institutional and internalized oppression. Institutional oppression is define as the occurrence of established laws, customs, and practices systematically reflecting and producing inequities based on one’s membership in targeted social identity groups (Cheney, 2012). In regards to institutional oppression, oppressive consequences such as classism, prejudice and discrimination are typically attributed to institutional laws, customs, or practices. Internalized oppression is internalized oppression is the

A Social Worker’s reflection on Power, Privilege and Oppression, this is the title of Michael Spence’s article, but what really does that mean? Spence talks about his personal experiences in life that dealt with all three of these aspects, power, privilege and oppression. In this paper this writer will also talk about power, privilege and oppression in regard to Spence’s outlook on the topic. What is power? How does it relate to Social Workers and social situations? Is privilege really something that can be given to you just based on race and where you grew up, or how you were raised? Lastly Oppression, what causes one type of social group to be oppressed?

Oppression suppresses individuals or groups using power to maintain what can be seen as social place within a society. Keeping groups or individuals at a level where their rights are restricted below those of the suppressor due to things such as race or sex. Enforcing inequalities upon those who have none or limited means to fight for equality. Oppression keeps people within a restricted existence where they are unable to improve their situation due to restrictions imposed by the oppressor.

It’s important to acknowledge the historical context when understanding oppression because oppression always has its roots somewhere; no one is oppressed just because. Marginalization of minority groups in the past, and even today, has a purpose—not necessarily a good purpose, though. The purpose was usually for power; majority groups wanted to be the standard for good, resulting in the dehumanization of minority groups. Therefore, to understand fully why the oppression still stands today, it’s important to look back on how it started. That way, we can see why it still persists in our society; is its original purpose still being pursued but in a less physical way like in the past? And, is it still affecting the same people today, even to a

I am stating the Five Faces of Oppression based on my understand after reading Shaw & Lee. The first face is Exploitation. Exploitation is, “A process that transfer the results of labor of one social group to benefit another.” (Shaw&Lee, p.53.) An example of exploitation is sweat shops. Children in many parts of the world are making clothing items such as Nike for pennies a day. While these children are underpaid people who aren’t sweat shop workers’ pay multiple dollars for the items made. Marginalization is the next face, Margination is described as, “The expulsion of an entire group from useful participation in social life.” (Shaw&Lee, p.53.) A group that fits this category are the homeless. Homeless people were unable to pay their bills therefore, they’re without a home. Powerlessness comes next and is described as, “lack of respectability.” (Shaw&Lee, p.53.) An example of this would be minority groups. In the media you see many videos of white people disrespecting minorities for being “different.” Cultural Imperialism is the fourth face. Cultural Imperialism is, “Recognizing the dominant group experience and culture as the norm.” (Shaw&Lee, p.53.) An example of this is white culture in America. In America it’s the norm for mothers to be stay at home moms while the husband is the sole bread winner for the family. The last face of oppression is violence. Violence is described as, “Members of a subordinate group who live with the threat of violence.” (Shaw&Lee, p.53.) Transgender individuals live with a lot of fear and violence. Many people don’t understand or support the trans community and tend to thing in order to solve the “problem” they must hurt and kill trans individuals. Iris Young said described the acts as “Using people’s labors to produce profit while not compensating them fairly.”