In this response, I will focus on how gender oppression is exemplified in the lens of race and racism. This paper will demonstrate how Fausto- Sterling, Preves, Messerschmidt, Crittenden and the film Senorita Extraviada have helped us understand the gender oppression itself. While still keeping Intersectionality, the system in which multiple categories intersect to contribute to who you are, in mind. These categories may consist of gender, race, socioeconomic class and sexuality. Intersectionality aids our understanding of oppression, not just by focusing on one variable, but several that lead to social inequality. We will come across the women of Juarez, Intersex, gender regulation of children, gender labor, heterosexuality, homosexuality …show more content…
Hence, bringing the idea of gender labor. When Messerschmidt introduced the background information of Lenny, a 15 year old boy, raised in a heteronormative households we see the gender labor in action. According to Messerschmidt both parents performed gender labor following society’s norm. The father was the masculine one in charge of decisions and the mother, feminine, meant for the home setting. This was when gender, socioeconomic class, and sexuality intersected to play a role in the way he grew up and saw himself. This much reflected to the psychological theories of sexuality of Freud in which Lenny identified with his father to later engage in activities that emphasize masculinity. Not only was this for the males but for females in the households, they were the caretakers of the family and were in charge of doing the domestic housework, which Lenny and his father never did. The female gender in this case is oppressed but the male gender in an unequal white household and expressing the traditional family labor model.
Gender regulation of children was a way to control different background of children to distinct from the two sexes, “Girls in one line, while boys in the other, but for some it was a complicated choice (Preves). Intersex became something that was not allowed
“The extension of women’s rights is the beginning of all social progress.” -Charles Fourier Initially. Women have always been seen as the fragile sex, the one that has to be protected and kept safe. Still, not everybody thinks like that. There are several places around the world where women are seen as the weaker sex or even a burden. In order for women to be valued more we have to address the issues behind the cause, and we need to find a solution immediately. We need to achieve social progress by fighting all the types of oppression against women and by creating a better future for them. Oppression towards women is still a problem in today’s society because they are victims of modern day slavery, it causes gendercide, and have no educational
It is mandatory to understand the history behind Intersectionality and it’s upbringing to understand how it ties into cultural identity. Kimberlé Crenshaw’s classic article “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color” helps to understand the struggle that women of color face with entwined differences that are not confronted and dealt with accordingly. Crenshaw mentions that, “The problem with identity politics is not that it fails to transcend difference, as some critics charge, but rather the opposite -- that is frequently conflates or ignores infra group differences. In the context of violence against women, this elision of difference is problematic, fundamentally because the violence that many women experience is
Early feminism was typically focused only on white women, likely because racism was still extremely prominent at the time feminism began emerging. It was not until Kimberlé Crenshaw introduced the term “intersectionality” in 1989 that feminism started to look at oppressed group’s needs (Nash, 2008, 2). Intersectionality is a way of thinking that acknowledges that when a person has identities that belong to more than one oppressed group, it impacts their quality of life more negatively. In this paper, I will argue that intersectionality is important in the discussion of feminist theories and activism because it ensures that feminism is for all women, not just a select group of them. Intersectionality has changed the way the feminist movement handles the overlapping of different identities, which has helped feminist theorists understand the experiences of women of colour much more clearly. While intersectionality has a very important role in the conversation and practice of feminism, there are certainly critiques of the concept that should be brought up. These critiques, however, can offer a way to improve the study of intersectionality.
Women’s history is a history of oppression. Throughout time, women have faced systematic domination, which has ultimately informed women’s identities and shaped their roles in society. However, the oppression of women is not uniform and different groups of women have experienced sexist oppression to different degrees and in vastly different ways. This is largely due to intersectionality, which is the idea that the convergence and interaction of various oppressed aspects of one’s identity uniquely affect individuals and social systems. As Kimberlé Crenshaw discusses in “Intersectionality and Identity Politics: Learning from Violence Against Women of Color”, women of color are situated in such a way that they belong to at least two subjugated groups. Their particular position exemplifies intersectionality because they are victims of overlapping patterns of sexism and racism, leaving them completely marginalized. Furthermore, intersectionality highlights the interconnectedness and multiplicity of oppression in society. In her essay “’Intersectionality’ is a Big Fancy Word for My Life”, Mia Mingus explains how the oppressed can also contribute to oppression. This concept in culmination with discrepancies in discrimination within communities leads to a fraught and complex dynamic that has lasting impacts. Societies must recognize intersectionality in women’ history in order to fully comprehend and rectify the oppression of today.
Intersectionality has a significant impact on the feminist movement for several reasons; first is recognition of varying oppressions, second the inclusiveness of others facing oppression, and third how the recognition and inclusiveness can help reach equality. Intersectionality and the growing recognition of it has provided a better look at the amount of different oppressions that exist Through the understanding of intersectionality it becomes clear that race and sex are not the only factions that experience oppression, this awareness has led to the desire to “address a whole range of oppression.” (Combahee, pg. 4) Race and sex are no longer the sole focus of
For my Final project in WS, I have chosen to talk about the oppression of women, and women of color. To narrow more in on the topic, I have chosen to discuss the oppression of women in the work force and all the different forms of oppression women face. Oppression is defined as, “A situation in which people are governed in an unfair and cruel way and prevented from having opportunities and freedom,” (dictionary.cambridge.org). Oppression can be caused by many different things. People can feel oppressed because they are being compared to the opposite gender. People can be oppressed being compared to other age groups. And people can feel oppressed when being compared to different races. Women of color feel oppressed because they are constantly being compared to white women, and some may say they do not always have the same privileges as others. I have enjoyed reading and researching about this topic, but at the same time have had a hard time truly understanding it. To be completely transparent I am a privileged white girl and throughout my whole life I have never felt that I faced oppression. I have witnessed it, but never experienced it. The oppression I have witnessed has only been in the work force; which I will discuss later on.
The concept that all oppressions are inherently linked underlies the theory of intersectionality that implies interactions of multiple systems of oppression, discrimination, and exclusion. Although we have been exposed to an extraordinarily wide variety of literature throughout the semester, with various standpoints, from very different regions of the world– the one unique concept in which they share is this underlying theme of intersectionality. In their own way, each author points out that we must recognize race, class, and gender as interlocking categories of analysis that together create profound differences in personal identity. The implications of this study provide a new and innovative and effective way in analyzing and understanding the intricacies and power dynamics that play out in not only the United States but on an increasingly global scale. This theory also lends itself to understanding the continual and perpetuating marginalization of women around the world, and how complex and interconnected their experience of oppression is, and why as critical thinkers we cannot discuss gender as stagnant or one-dimensional or merely continental.
Kimberlé Crenshaw is an esteemed civil rights advocate and law professor. Crenshaw introduced the concept of “intersectionality” to the acclaimed feminist theory close to 30 years ago in a paper written for the University of Chicago Legal Forum, describing the “intersectional experience” as something “greater than the sum of racism and sexism. (Crenshaw)” She wrote in terms of intersectional feminism, which examines the overlapping systems of oppression and discrimination that women face, based not just on gender but on ethnicity, sexuality, economic background and a number of other axes. She speaks on it in a sense that the term intersectionality provides us with a way to see issue that arise from discrimination or disempowerment often being more complicated for people who are subjected to multiple forms of exclusion because of the protected clauses they may possess. Crenshaw speaks on the “urgency of intersectionality” in her Ted talk. This as well as her spreading awareness for the #SayHerName campaign drives a tie between the necessity for intersectionality advocaism and the the occurrences of neglect and violence present in societal happenings today. The question that stands in the forefront of her work is how can we effectively apply an intersectional methodology to analysis of violence and other acts against people who are often being neglected of any sort of recognition in social issues today? Intersectionality is one of the better known concepts within the
Frye opens the essay with defining what oppression is about which it targeted toward women and the minority people. Oppression happens when a woman or a person from minority group are denied the privilege that white male made to prevent from them to receive same rights as the white males experience. It results for them to be expected to smile, accept the fate and move on with daily life no what how unfair the situation is. Oppression is not only just limited to just one structure but also many factors in force which it includes the barriers and double binds. Oppression is not about not able to receive the privilege but the barriers that they had to face everyday that prevent them from able to move forward with their position. On the other side, double binds occur among to the barriers, mainly targeted toward the females because unlike males, they cannot win any type of situation. Women are double standard by white males, for example, women are expected to be prude, but not too prude which it leads for males to tell them to lighten up and be more flexible. They cannot enjoy sex too much or they will be labeled as slut, thus it shows how males set up structured barriers to keep women inferior from their social status. Oppression is more than just a group of people who are being treated unfairly, which Frye had explained one way to see oppression macroscopically by using an example, as to look at the birdcage. The first time you see the cage close enough, which you merely
When it comes to gender oppression, it is important to view it through other systems of oppression because it allows us to understand the many different ways in which individuals or groups experience it and how these other oppressions contribute to gender oppression as well. There are people who suffer because of many systems of oppression, such as racism, poverty, or cissexism. These systems start to intersect, become dependent on each other, and they can only be understood all together as one sum. This is known as intersectionality. Moreover, when it comes to viewing gender oppression through the lens of racism, it could be either beneficial or harmful when we are dealing with
The theory of intersectionality as a research tool has practical implications in political practice and public policy. This allows for greater efforts to be made to address the structural disparity between women’s rights based on factors such as race, class, sexuality, ability and so on. The importance of implementing intersectionality, as a feminist theory, within these spheres is that significant changes can occur and this can allow for more adequate policies in regards to women’s needs. There has been further discussion surrounding how developing ideas of intersectionality towards these structures and institutions will allow for further debunking of politicized identities, which I will further discuss in this essay as posing a limitation
I agree with your point of view on this topic. It should not matter what gender you are or what racial background you come from. I believe that we live in a world now that wants to please everyone, and prove that there is no discrimination being done, but then you are basically being discriminated against if you are not a women or of a minority race. I think the fear that you will be accused of being unfair and discriminating has a lot of companies worried, so they make up a number quota so that no one feels offended.But what about someone who has tremendous work ethic and a very qualified work background, who applies for a job and yet is looked over because they are not a minority race? Like your work place, race and gender should be left
Black women are thereby more decimated against simply for being women. In each of the black and white cultures, there is also the blatant gender racism between those of the own races, because men see women as weak; followers. That the heads of the BLM movement are women – black women – only shows that the times are changing. These women aren’t just fighting for the equality of the races, but for equality of the
Discussions about gender and race equality are a big part of our daily lives; however, the fact that this is even a discussion might be a problem in itself. Woman or man, black, white or yellow, were words conjured up by scientists to classify species just as german shepherd and poodle were. They were not meant to be used as a way to label people in society, with regards to who they are or what they do. Labels and categories were meant for food, utensils, and lab settings, not for people in society. So why is it that from a young age we are taught that there is a separate bathroom for men and women, that most guys are attracted to girls and girls to guys, that blue is for boys and pink is for girls, that anyone that has a different shaped
Feminist perspective developed with the ideology that women face large amounts of inequalities in a patriarchal society. They aimed to address and rid the social world of this oppression of women by men. According to Bishop, (2015) “oppression occurs when one group of people use different forms of power to keep another group down in order to exploit them. The oppressor uses the power; the oppressed are exploited” (p. 133-134). Oppression must be by individual experience and not grouped into being the same for all. This includes understanding the original ideology of feminist theory being critiqued as only considering the experiences of middle class, white women. That black women, of lower class experienced oppression much different from the other women. Women are oppressed, thus has to be understood in a different construct that women are similar in some sources, experience of oppression but also experience oppression very differently from one individual to another. Feminist theories have further been expanded do its continuation throughout society and decades to encompass many more issues and arenas than just men and women relationships. Now it seeks to understand and address oppression based on culture, race, class, etc and not only for women but for all. Therefore, Bishop (2014) outlines five components that seem common to all forms of oppression and serve to maintain its presence in society.