What do you understand by the concept “Systems of Privilege”? Why is there resistance by those who possess it to recognize it? Support your answer with examples from BOTH of the following articles (1) Peggy McIntosh “White Privilege and Male Privilege” and (2) Iris Marion Young, “Five Faces of Oppression.” Try to connect the two readings and be sure to provide specific examples from both, including all five types of oppression.
When you grow up, you start to realize that there are some things that certain people are able to do while others are not. You see a trend of social processes that that put certain people at an advantage and others at a disadvantage. These advantages are called privilege. More specifically, privilege is said to be, …show more content…
Oppression is used by a dominant group of people who take advantage of a subordinate group for the benefit of the dominant group of people. Iris Marion Young describes oppression as, “People reducing the potential for other people to be fully human” (1). There are varying degrees or oppression, some more intense than the next. Young explains that there are five faces or types of oppression. These “faces” are, exploitation, marginalization, powerlessness, cultural imperialism, and violence. Exploitation is, “is the act of using people’s labors to produce profit while not compensating them fairly” (1). To exploit people is to take advantage of their labor for your benefit and not paying them fairly for the amount of work they are putting in. An example of exploitation would be Sweatshops in China, India or any location where manufacturing is in high demand. Sweatshop is slang for any factory or workshop job that has manual workers that are paid very little, work long hours and work in bad conditions. In Sweatshops, workers work very long hours manufacturing items to be sold while they are being paid an extremely small amount for the work they are putting in. Marginalization is, “the act of relegating or confining a group of people to a lower social standing or outer limit or edge of society” (2). It is seen as a process of excluding people. An example of marginalization would be the Native Americans when the English first came to the New World. While England was establishing colonies and growing cities, they pushed the Native Americans out of their home lands and away from their newly established country. Even today, Native Americans are still marginalized because some live on reservations away from developed cities where the dominant group rules. Powerlessness is related to Carl Marx’s theory of socialism were some people “have” and others “have-not”. According to Young, “the
When you grow up, you start to realize that there are some things that certain people are able to do while others are not. You see a trend of social processes that that put certain people at an advantage and others at a disadvantage. These advantages are called privilege. More specifically, privilege is said to be, …show more content…
Oppression is used by a dominant group of people who take advantage of a subordinate group for the benefit of the dominant group of people. Iris Marion Young describes oppression as, “People reducing the potential for other people to be fully human” (1). There are varying degrees or oppression, some more intense than the next. Young explains that there are five faces or types of oppression. These “faces” are, exploitation, marginalization, powerlessness, cultural imperialism, and violence. Exploitation is, “is the act of using people’s labors to produce profit while not compensating them fairly” (1). To exploit people is to take advantage of their labor for your benefit and not paying them fairly for the amount of work they are putting in. An example of exploitation would be Sweatshops in China, India or any location where manufacturing is in high demand. Sweatshop is slang for any factory or workshop job that has manual workers that are paid very little, work long hours and work in bad conditions. In Sweatshops, workers work very long hours manufacturing items to be sold while they are being paid an extremely small amount for the work they are putting in. Marginalization is, “the act of relegating or confining a group of people to a lower social standing or outer limit or edge of society” (2). It is seen as a process of excluding people. An example of marginalization would be the Native Americans when the English first came to the New World. While England was establishing colonies and growing cities, they pushed the Native Americans out of their home lands and away from their newly established country. Even today, Native Americans are still marginalized because some live on reservations away from developed cities where the dominant group rules. Powerlessness is related to Carl Marx’s theory of socialism were some people “have” and others “have-not”. According to Young, “the