Iris M. Young, Bell Hook, Gloria Anzaldua are well-known writers who are known for writing about oppression based on culture, race, and gender. They all talked about how social class effect one’s identity and the subjugation that occurs throughout their daily life. Iris M Young talked about five different from oppression which she went in depth on taking about cultural oppression, race and gender. Where Bell Hook mostly talked about gender oppression. Gloria Anzaldua went in depth on culture and identifying one’s own identity. This women are giving their own insight and perspective of culture, race, and gender.
“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
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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 one’s labor works benefits wealthier class. She also argues that women are also exploited to through this from of oppression which is also entails in a systematic and unequal transfer of powers of women to men. Women’s labor benefits men without any sort of reimbursement, they are seen as wage workers. As a group woman also go through a certain gender exploitation which women give men sexual pleasure and emotional care for children and men thus women have been socialized to be more thoughtful and caring than men. Racial oppression is also a form of exploitation were specific race works for the more privileged class. Young argues that Marginalization is one of the most dangerous forms of oppression because through marginalization, groups are forced out from participation in social life thus possibly exposes them to material deprivation and maybe even extermination. This form of oppression not only includes different ethnic groups but people of different age groups, single mothers, and mentally …show more content…
She argues that feminism should not be about accomplishing social equality with men, personal freedom, and choice which is the conventional feminist manifesto. The reason why she is against conventional feminist manifesto is that she believes that “not all women share a common social status”. Different social groups are socially oppressed therefore even the men in those social group does not have social, political, and economic power. She believes the main aspect of feminism is changing society and began with demanding the cultural root of group oppression. She states that sex, race and class oppression are all interconnected but sexist oppression is what most of us experience day-to-day. Hook also argues that race and class oppression are feminist issues because they all depend on domination and if one form of domination cannot be disregarded while the other form exists. Therefore, feminism can be considered as a principal that by stopping domination in all its forms, frees women so that they can have their own say. This emancipation precedes to greater social revolution. The reason why she defines feminism the way she did is that she wants every woman to know importance of feminism and what is about so they can relate,connect, and understanding with one
In bell hooks’ “Seeing and Making Culture: Representing the Poor”, she discusses the portrayal and misrepresentation of poverty in our society and the methods behind the dilemma. In this excerpt, retrieved from her book Outlaw Culture: Resisting Representations (1994), hooks focuses on the negative effects of contemporary popular culture and its contribution to the negative societal views on poverty.
Ultimately, particular types of double-binds arise every day. It is evident that “being oppressed means the absence of choices” when cultural or racial minorities are observed as “too sensitive” when offense is taken in the power of a dominant culture or race. By not dealing with these matters, it permits these accounts to stay unknown and stay as something of arrogance to perpetuate and spread through society. It is apparent hooks’ definition of oppression demonstrates the double-bind in race relations, forcing the socially underprivileged minority to “never win,” and allowing the privileged “dominate norm” to never experience perpetual segregation.
Her goal is definite, “to strengthen families and societies by empowering women to take greater control over their own destinies”. This change will not only affect women, but everyone who surrounds
In the reading, Come closer to feminism, Hooks main argument is that she wants to change the way people view feminism. She wants to leave people with a better understanding of what the feminist movement
Feminism can simply be defined as a range of movements and ideologies in which share a common ground in terms of defining, establishing and achieving equal opportunities to that of males, in regards to economic, cultural and social rights. It is a critique of male supremacy with efforts in changing this to end the social oppression of women. (Hooks, 2000)
As much as men are working, so are women, but ultimately they do not face the same obstacles. For example, “Even if one subscribes to a solely economic theory of oppression, how can one ignore that over half of the world's workers are female who suffer discrimination not only in the workplace, but also at home and in all the areas sex-related abuse” (Moraga 98). This gives readers a point of view in which women are marginalized in the work place, at home, and other areas alike. Here Moraga gives historical accounts of Chicana feminists and how they used their experiences to give speeches and create theories that would be of relevance. More so, Moraga states how the U.S. passes new bills that secretly oppress the poor and people of color, which their community falls under, and more specifically, women. For instance, “The form their misogyny takes is the dissolution of government-assisted abortions for the poor, bills to limit teenage girls’ right to birth control ... These backward political moves hurt all women, but most especially the poor and "colored." (Moraga 101). This creates women to feel powerless when it comes to control one’s body and leads them to be oppressed politically. This places the government to act as a protagonist, and the style of writing Moraga places them in, shines more light to the bad they can do, especially to women of color. Moraga uses the words, “backward moves”
For most of the world, most of societies have been patriarchal for years. Due to this, women have been oppressed by the rest of society. This has left women, even by other women oppressed and confined to societal expectations. I will be talking about Marilyn Frye’s concept of oppression and provide an example. Frye’s main concept of oppression is when an individual’s rights and options become limited and is ridiculed by society through punishment and discrimination.
Most women exercise feminism, which practices equality for women and men, whether in social or financial standards. However, sexist men oppose feminist and discriminate them as an unequal thereby indicating woman lacks the ability to do what a man can do. When she steps out of the social convention, she becomes courageous and
To her, feminism is not just a fight for equality but a fight to give women the recognition they have long deserved. She believes that women can do anything men
This theory focuses on using multiple factors to conceptualize systems of oppression. Patricia Collins, in her article, “Towards A New Vision” mentions to the reader it is important that we realize race, class, and gender are interlocking categories of analysis that together cultivate profound differences in our personal biographies (Collins,1989). Meaning, it is important to take into account an individual’s identity is more than just being female/male or black/white. Intersectionality allows for multiple factors to be analyzed at a time rather than just analyze dichotomous factors. For example, within intersectionality individuals are allowed to analyze the life of a Hispanic women, living in a low class neighborhood, who has a means of low education. Collins states, “we must re-conceptualize race, class, and gender in order to create new categories of connection and questions how can we transcend these barriers created by our experience with race, class, and gender oppression.” However, intersectionality brings forth many problems in terms of social
REACTION PAPER WEEK 8 Bell Hooks ‘Black Women Shaping Feminist Theory’ first published 1984 edited by Kum-Kum Bhavnani (2001) Outlines a different theoretical and epistemological attitude in gender studies, ideal work at exposing the ruins of feminism as a liberal movement by privileged whites. The basis of hooks’ method are fundamentally Marxist approach, the conflict amid the oppressors and the repressed that exists in this case, she claims that Black women are discriminated also their status as being the most oppressed in the feminist theory is ignored by the paradigmatic epistemology, led by White women like Friedan. White Western upper or middle class feminist theorists maintained mistakenly that gender is formed separately of class
Bell Hooks, an American author, feminist and social activist, wrote “Feminism: A Movement to End Sexist Oppression” in the book Feminist Theory From Margin to Center (1984), which describes the goals of feminism. Hooks expands and complicates my argument as she defines feminism as “The struggle to and sexist oppression. It’s aim is not to benefit solely any specific group of women, any particular race or class of women. It does not privilege women over men… It compels us to centralize experiences and social predicaments of women” (Hooks 240).
Among the many subjects covered in this book are the three classes of oppression: gender, race and class in addition to the ways in which they intersect. As well as the importance of the movement being all-inclusive, advocating the idea that feminism is in fact for everybody. The author also touches upon education, parenting and violence. She begins her book with her key argument, stating that feminist theory and the movement are mainly led by high class white women who disregarded the circumstances of underprivileged non-white women.
Throughout history, women have remained subordinate to men. Subjected to the patriarchal system that favored male perspectives, women struggled against having considerably less freedom, rights, and having the burdens society placed on them that had so ingrained the culture. This is the standpoint the feminists took, and for almost 160 years they have been challenging the “unjust distribution of power in all human relations” starting with the struggle for equality between men and women, and linking that to “struggles for social, racial, political, environmental, and economic justice”(Besel 530 and 531). Feminism, as a complex movement with many different branches, has and will continue to be incredibly influential in changing lives. Feminist political ideology focuses on understanding and changing political philosophies for the betterment of women.
Feminism is defined as the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes. It began as an organized activity on behalf of women?s rights and interests. This concept was developed to help women earn a place in a predominantly male society. Unfortunately over the years, the intentions of feminism have become distorted, not only by anti-feminists, but also by the feminists themselves. The principle of equality for women and men has turned into a fight in which feminists wish to be better than men. Feminism has been twisted and misunderstood so much that it has become a harmful idea.