Malasia L. Clarke
West Chester University
SWG 511
Final Exam
Dr. O’ Neal
December 11, 2015
(Revised)
The Subordinate Group Oppression is a type of injustice. Oppression is the inequitable use of authority, law, or physical force to prevent others from being free or equal. The verb oppress can mean to keep someone down in a social sense, such as an authoritarian government might do in an oppressive society. It can also mean to mentally burden someone, such as with the psychological weight of an oppressive idea (Napikoski, L 2015). A women who have been batter by men often talk about the heightened sensitivity they develop to their partners’ moods. Being able to anticipate and avoid the men’s rage is important to survival (Adams, M 2010). Survival sometimes means not responding to oppressive behaviors directly (Adams, M 2010). To do so could result in psychical harm to oneself, even death (Adams, M 2010). Woman have been viewed as less emotionally secure than men, however rather than seeing gender as extending from sex, Butler argues that sex is produced by gender. That is, the discursive formations of masculinity and femininity require the belief in a naturally bifurcated structure or biological sex (Chinn, S. 2010). Women Oppression History in America Women suffered an excessive deal of oppression during the eighteen hundreds, from their fathers, husbands, the police force, and society. Women living in the eighteen hundreds wasn’t secured in, and out of
During the 18th century, women were treated like slaves. They had little authority regarding anything. Women didn’t have the right to vote or the right to own property. Only a spinster or widow woman could own and manage property until they married. Women were owned by the husband just as he owned material possessions. Many women were trapped in loveless marriages and those without families were seen as outcasts. The husband was legally entitled to beat his wife for disobedience. Divorces were rarely granted and women usually ran away from bad marriages. As you read, I will talk about
Women, like black slaves, were treated unequally from the male before the nineteenth century. The role of the women played the part of their description, physically and emotionally weak, which during this time period all women did was took care of their household and husband, and followed their orders. Women were classified as the “weaker sex” or below the standards of men in the early part of the century. Soon after the decades unfolded, women gradually surfaced to breathe the air of freedom and self determination, when they were given specific freedoms such as the opportunity for an education, their voting rights, ownership of property, and being employed.
First, I will start this paper with the definition of oppression given by Webster Dictionary and also by the social work dictionary. Then, we have that Webster Dictionary defines oppression such as "Unjust or cruel exercise of authority or power especially by the imposition of burdens; the condition of being weighed down; an act of pressing
For a long time, men and women have been dealing with the controversy of gender roles. In modern day, the battle for gender equality has been more known. In the story “Guys Suffer from Oppressive Gender Roles Too”, the author Julie Zeilinger explains how males are held to a more macho standard, but do have prevalent emotions. If we were to let go of these rigid rules about what is manly, there would be no standard for any gender. If that was reality, men shouldn’t have to feel humiliated about staying home, and if their companion makes more money than they do. Zeilinger talks about how males detach themselves from some emotions, and live a “life nub to a true range of human emotion” so they can meet this masculinity standard. However if males
There are some who may argue that oppression is a concept of the past and that it does not exist in our modern society; however, oppression it not always an overt power one person or group exerts over another. It can come in more subtle forms, many of which that have become such normative aspects of our society that some oppressors and oppressed individuals alike may not immediately recognize its impact. In
The late 1800’s in America life for woman was not as easy or fulfilling as it is for woman in America today. Women were looked at differently than man, and were treated as such. There have been many women in our past that have helped shape who we are as women today. Many groups have contributed to women’s rights as well. Women were not allowed to do a lot of things we as women are allowed to do today. Women in the late 1800’s in America were treated indifferently because: they were refused the right to vote, they were treated differently than men, and in marriage they had separate spheres than the men.
Oppression is when groups of people are pushed down by societies or those in power. The word comes from the Latin root opprimere, meaning "pressed down”. There are several ways people tend to be oppressed in terms of race, gender, class, sexual preferences, disability and age and so on. A person can deal with numerous forms of oppression, it is an unjust use of power to enforce an unequal relationship and deny another’s rights and values. The oppressor disempowers a person or group, often in order to further empower and/or privilege themselves. Oppression prevents people from freedom and opportunities. Different forms of oppression For example, systematic oppression is wide spread in American society which is towards the black community. It has got a bit better since the late 1960’s however it is still going on. Over a quarter of the black community are in demand of basic needs with poverty rates being the highest out of any race in the country. The black community unfortunately dominates the low income markets which then generates low income
the concept of oppression we see that it is a lack of power and unjust
In Allan G. Johnson’s, “What It has to Do with Us,” he writes that doing something about oppression and privilege requires talking about it. He believes that individualism does not help the fight against oppression and privilege. Individualistic thinking leads to trying to find someone to blame, and it hides privilege. The solution is not looking at oppression and privilege in an individualistic way, but looking at the system and see how both the system and individual people participate in it (Johnson 67). In order to do this, there must be an “understand[ing of the] dynamic between people and systems of privilege” (Johnson 68). Johnson defines this dynamic being between the way participating in systems shapes us and in how participating in a social systems, we allow it to happen (Johnson 68). He writes that by existing in social life, we are socialized to learn how to participate in social life, and “develop a sense of personal identity” (Johnson 68). This being how society or we perceive ourselves. The relation between people and systems “produces patterns of social life”
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
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.
“Five Faces of Oppression” by Iris M. Young tries to create an idea that we can critique the reality and stages of oppression of different groups. She argues that oppression is structural in the sense that injustices arise from systematic everyday activities, and not from policies or how people act. Since oppression is systematically reproduced and thus ingrained into culture, politics and economics, therefore it cannot be simply removed from our society. She separates the condition of oppression into five different forms: exploitation, marginalization, powerlessness, cultural imperialism, and violence. Young states that exploitation is where oppression occurs in the transfer of one social group’s products of labor to benefit the wealthier class. She also argues that women are also exploited to through this from of
Oppression signifies an authority over another group, disengaging that particular group from the rest of society. “The term oppression encapsulates the fusion of institutional and systemic discrimination, personal bias, bigotry, and social prejudice in a complex web of relationships and structures that shade most aspects of life in our society” (Bell, 1997). In one way or another every individual experiences some form of oppression, whether it be through race, sex, gender, religion, age, wealth and/or sexual orientation. These cultural minorities experience inequality where a dominant culture casts its authority and power through exercises of unjust and cruel methods; these methods have been experienced through the Women’s Movement, the
The aim of this essay is to address the problem of inequality and oppression through three separate texts, The Second Sex, The Death of the Profane and Killing Rage. The Second Sex focuses on the woman and her role compared to man. The Death of the Profane and Killing Rage are both texts that describe experiences about the constant racism felt by blacks. To thoroughly examine these texts and how they are related to oppression and inequality it is important to first define what each mean. Oppression and inequality each have different definitions but they go hand in hand. Oppression is the state of being subject to prolonged unjust treatment. While inequality is defined as lacking equality, equality is the state of being equal especially in status,
Oppression by definition is an act of cruelty, it cannot longer pass as ignorance or mistake, and it dehumanizes an individual by abusing an unjust power to begin with. For example, in some cultures women are said to be the property of their fathers/husbands and they must obey the men in regards to marriage or even trivial decisions such as clothing. This is an example of women being oppressed, but this extends to every group and stops at nothing – the impaired, the religious, the poor, the elderly, the young, the immigrants and so forth and so on (Thompson, 2012).