Feminist Oppression
This assignment will tackle the concepts mentioned in Question 1
Must all women be free of oppression if any woman is to be truly free of it?
1 A person sits on a bench blanked faced looking at the sunlight. Step closer you notice that the person has chains on their ankles. Chains, which tie them down. They are unable to move. They are without volition. They are forced into this submission by a higher force, and no matter how hard they try to break the chains that tie them to the bench they can not break free. This is oppression. Oppression defined by Webster’s dictionary as, “the unjust or cruel exercise of authority or power”(Websters). The symbolic figure behind this unjust cruel exercise of authority is usually …show more content…
These faces are; exploitation, marginalization, cultural imperialism, powerlessness, and violence. When a group is faced with these faces of oppression they are burdened with no means to escape their oppression. Throughout history one group of people has been faced with these faces of oppression with no sign of relief, they are the women of the world. In the United States, it is evident that this group is oppressed by the system of dominant society. In the midst of so much adversity the members of this oppressed group must overcome, to be liberated. A question that arises when discussing matters of oppression is, must all women be free of oppression if any woman is to be truly free of it? The illustrious writers of the past and present have presented possible theories to deconstruct this oppression. By analyzing the perspectives of …show more content…
By removing their social value dominant society as the oppressor deems the oppressed essentially worthless. Women are constantly marginalized and one such example is the sexual objectification of women. Sandra Bartky delivers her perspective on the issue in the following quote,
A person is sexually objectified when her sexual parts or sexual functions are separated out from the rest of her personality and reduced to the status of mere instruments or else regarded as if they were capable of representing her...sexulization is one way of fixing disadvantaged persons in their disadvantage, to their clear detriment and within a narrow and repressive eros(Bartky,26-27)
The sexualization of women is used as a tool to keep a woman in her theoretical space. Women in dominant society’s perspective are nothing more than an object and tool of pleasure. To them, a woman has no worth outside of her sexual benefits. This degrades women because men do not recognize her intelligence, but instead recognize her body. By defining a woman in a societal niche where she is a sexual conquest and not a human is disrespectful for one, but also a form of marginalization. This form of oppression happens every day, and many men partake in this form of marginalization by catcalling. Men who objectify women must take a step back and realize their role as an oppressor. Women do have worth beyond their sexuality.
This assignment will tackle the concepts mentioned in Question 1
Must all women be free of oppression if any woman is to be truly free of it?
1 A person sits on a bench blanked faced looking at the sunlight. Step closer you notice that the person has chains on their ankles. Chains, which tie them down. They are unable to move. They are without volition. They are forced into this submission by a higher force, and no matter how hard they try to break the chains that tie them to the bench they can not break free. This is oppression. Oppression defined by Webster’s dictionary as, “the unjust or cruel exercise of authority or power”(Websters). The symbolic figure behind this unjust cruel exercise of authority is usually …show more content…
These faces are; exploitation, marginalization, cultural imperialism, powerlessness, and violence. When a group is faced with these faces of oppression they are burdened with no means to escape their oppression. Throughout history one group of people has been faced with these faces of oppression with no sign of relief, they are the women of the world. In the United States, it is evident that this group is oppressed by the system of dominant society. In the midst of so much adversity the members of this oppressed group must overcome, to be liberated. A question that arises when discussing matters of oppression is, must all women be free of oppression if any woman is to be truly free of it? The illustrious writers of the past and present have presented possible theories to deconstruct this oppression. By analyzing the perspectives of …show more content…
By removing their social value dominant society as the oppressor deems the oppressed essentially worthless. Women are constantly marginalized and one such example is the sexual objectification of women. Sandra Bartky delivers her perspective on the issue in the following quote,
A person is sexually objectified when her sexual parts or sexual functions are separated out from the rest of her personality and reduced to the status of mere instruments or else regarded as if they were capable of representing her...sexulization is one way of fixing disadvantaged persons in their disadvantage, to their clear detriment and within a narrow and repressive eros(Bartky,26-27)
The sexualization of women is used as a tool to keep a woman in her theoretical space. Women in dominant society’s perspective are nothing more than an object and tool of pleasure. To them, a woman has no worth outside of her sexual benefits. This degrades women because men do not recognize her intelligence, but instead recognize her body. By defining a woman in a societal niche where she is a sexual conquest and not a human is disrespectful for one, but also a form of marginalization. This form of oppression happens every day, and many men partake in this form of marginalization by catcalling. Men who objectify women must take a step back and realize their role as an oppressor. Women do have worth beyond their sexuality.