Overcoming Oppression Analysis

Oppression is the state of being subjected to unjust treatment or control. People with disabilities get treated unfairly at some point in their life. They are either treated as if they do not know what they are doing, can’t do something, or are ridiculed. In many countries people with mental or physical challenges aren’t given enough treatment and are not given the respect they deserve as a human being. “Russia: Discrimination against People with Disabilities” is a YouTube video describing the pros and cons in the country. On the other hand the article “The Life of a Disabled Child, From Taunts to Hate Crimes” from the New York Times tells the story of a little girl who at one point in time was part of the cruelty towards her brother.

A story is most powerful when it inspires the reader to believe that reading the story is “necessary”. In our textbook, there are three stories that hold true to this idea and follow the “Between Worlds” theme. These stories are, “A Cab Drivers Daughter” by Waheeda Samady, “Three Ways of Meeting Oppression” by Martin Luther King Jr., and “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates. In “A Cab Drivers Daughter” a Pediatrician examines her life and the life of her father; she notes all the stereotypes and negativity that surrounds an immigrant driving a cab. This story shines light on the generation gap and cultural beliefs. Secondly, “Three Ways of Meeting Oppression” is the explanation behind the ideology of the

Privilege and oppression provides a framework for understanding how institutional structures and ideologies shapes individual experiences. Privilege and oppression also explains “how power operates in society” which led to the formation of “a dominant group and a marginalized group” (Launius and Hassel, Threshold Concepts, 72-73). “Oppression can be defined as prejudice and discrimination directed toward a group and perpetuated by the ideologies and practices of multiple social institutions” (Launius and Hassel, Threshold Concepts, 73). While, privilege refers to the “benefits, advantages, and power that accrue to members of a dominant group as a result of the oppression of marginalized group”,

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

Oppression is intersectional, and my various identities all contribute to my experience with diverse forms of oppression. I took this course to help broaden my understanding of my privilege and the affect it has on how I interact with different forms of oppression. I wanted to become aware of my privileges that were invisible to me, and change the discriminatory behavior that I may be engaging in unknowingly. This Gender, Power, and Privilege class brought to my attention the harmful ideas I’ve been socialized to believe regarding classism and weightism, and given me the tools to continually acknowledge and challenge these beliefs.

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

The reading about conceptual foundation took the multiple dimensions of oppression and broke it down in a way that was easy for an individuals to understand, including me. This article was very informative and did a thorough time explaining how oppression is operating at different levels. Out of all the different levels, oppression is broken down into, the individual level really stood out. It was interesting to see that at an individual level oppression is maintained by attitudes and beliefs that can be conscious or unconscious (Hardiman, Jackson, & Griffin, 2010). It is unimaginable to me that there are still people in this world that are judging individuals because of their differences. It seems like there are always going to be certain individuals who are so stuck on their beliefs and attitudes that they do not even see that our society is evolving. Same-sex marriage is now legal in the United States, but there are still people going around denying marriage licenses to same-sex couples because to them it is unnatural to marry someone of the same-sex. There are even some individuals who believe that it is not okay for women to hold high managerial jobs because they are fragile and could not keep up with the responsibility of running a business. This is an example of a conscious attitude because the person clearly believes that women are not good enough. Everyone has the ability to do great things, and nobody has the right to tell them

In the poem "Oppression" by Jimmy Santiago Baca, the author gives readers an understanding of oppression, its psychological impact upon endurance, and one's ability to seek emancipation. Within the first stanza of the poem, Baca defines oppression as "being trampled under" and expresses that those who endure oppression "are human". Baca continues to explain that the act oppression "[i]s a question of strength" of the oppressor, and a question "of unshed tears" of the individual enduring oppression. In this stanza, the author is stating that oppression is a fight for power in which the oppressor uses fear through the form of violence or terror to oppress individuals, while the individuals being oppressed show their strength by remaining calm

In the modern era, many people are shown the freedom that the world has to offer them. This facade of reality blinds those who are facing modern day oppression. It is no longer the straightforward unjust treatment demonstrated in the past, but it is subtle things that happen in people’s lives. What Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote in “Three Ways of Meeting Oppression”, can not only be applicable to racial oppression, but also to common problems. Many common problems and issues are forms of oppression that people do not even realize it is. In the face of oppression, the natural responses that people would have are stated by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. : violence, acquiescence, and nonviolent resistance . Although there are countless ways in which people can respond in a situation, for the loss of a job, there is an order of effectiveness.

The image shows a woman surrounded by people, all of which are wearing grief stricken expressions - they are mourning a loss. Adversity is displayed through courage and resilience, and the woman in the centre of the photo is facing upwards, perhaps in a display of defiance, as if she will not completely give in to the mourning that is going on around her, acting defiantly in the face of death.

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

Have you heard about Martin Luther King Jr.? Martin Luther King Jr. was an American Baptist minister and activist who was a leader of the Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience based on his Christian beliefs. He was the one who was fighting for equality, and he believed every person should be treated equally. Also, he was thinking of bringing equality and free from oppression violence and acquiescence are not a good way, and he chooses non-violence resistance.

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

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.”

When I was reading the presentations, I became interested in the topic of oppression. Oppression is the systematic mistreatment of people within a social identity group such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, etc. Oppression is also a system of barriers that limit those within those social groups which tend to be invisible to those outside of the group. For example, when someone says an ethnic slur against a black individual then that is oppression whereas if it was against a white individual then that is not oppression because it is not part of a system that burdens white individuals. Moreover, a white disabled person could be oppressed because of their disability. What made oppression even more interesting is that oppression