Oppression in Gender Aspect - Assignment Example

Gender Studies SECTION I Oppression a. Definition: ‘Oppression’ is inequitable use ity, law or physical force by which a certain group ofsociety is being suppressed (Pharr 53). b. Example: Women are treated as mere child bearers in different parts of the society, which cites women marginalization on the basis of gender roles (Lee and Daily, 1-15). c. Relevance: From the perspective of social sciences the relevance of oppression can be viewed, as an outcome of dehumanization, defamation and demonization with regards to gender roles (Pharr 53). 2. Defined Norm a. Definition: The term defines a standard of rightness, which acts as a defined set of norms assisting in judging all others, in relation to the manifestation of oppression (Phar 53). b. Example: Women depending on their biological substratum are considered to be perfect for specific job roles in the society (Lober 13-36). c. Relevance: In order to enhance male viewership many sports channels like ESPN, includes women as sports-caster, dressed in a sexier manner than their male colleagues who are dressed formally (YouTube, “Killing Us Softly 4: Advertisings Image of Women”). 3. Myth of Scarcity a. Definition: ‘The myth of scarcity’ is defined as the justification provided by the dominating group to rationalize the scarcity of the available resources and blaming the minority groups for overusing these resources (Pharr 54). b. Example: Observations have revealed that, economically powerful companies utilize available resources and in turn blame the smaller powers, for over using the limited resources (YouTube, “Rosie the Riveters of World War II”). c. Relevance: The myth of scarcity created by the dominating males by asking the women to seclude themselves to the household works only before the world war II just to create better opportunities for males in the society (YouTube, “Rosie the Riveters of World War II”). 4. White Privilege a. Definition: According to the term, “White Privilege” people with white complexion enjoy additional benefits from their non-white counterparts under similar economic, political along with social conditions (Kendall 1). b. Example: The people having white complexions often enjoy better privileges and job opportunities than the black people in certain sectors of the society (Kendall 2-7). c. Relevance: The white privileges in the gender studies results in the treatment of women as inferiors at workplaces even when they are capable of doing jobs as efficiently as their male counterparts (Kendall 1-10). 5. Blaming the Victim a. Definition: This phenomenon explains the concept by which sufferers of oppression are held responsible for the mistreatment that is directed towards them (Pharr 59). b. Example: In the society the woman who is actually victimized of sexual harassment is blamed for being the reason, for facing the same (YouTube, “Grease - Summer Nights”). c. Relevance: The society blames the female character in the movie Grease to be a whore when both the characters were involved in the heterosexual romance (YouTube, “Grease - Summer Nights”). 6. Internalized Oppression a. Definition: The term is defined as a manner in which, the oppressed groups accept the negative stereotypes being practiced against them (Pharr 60). b. Example: Women limit themselves, from progressing by accepting the regulations set by the male society (McIntosh 139). c. Relevance: In the movie Grease, women due to their lack of institutionalization and internalized oppressions, faced humiliation in the male society (YouTube, “Grease - Summer Nights”). 7. Horizontal Hostility a. Definition: This is a practice of an oppressed group, which results in the belief of targeted group, to enforce the overriding structure of discrimination as well as domination (Pharr 61). b. Example: The dressing of women becomes a major issue for the society and is cited as a reason for the women being raped (Lober 13-36). c. Relevance: From the situation in the World War II, many women had to leave their identity and behave like male, to fight for their country (YouTube, “Rosie the Riveters of World War II”). 8. The Other a. Definition: The concept of “the other” is used to define a set of individuals who oppose the norms laid down in the society and diverges from norm, identity and self (Pharr 58). b. Example: ‘The other’, term identifies an individual who does not follow the norms of the society, for instance woman leads a life of men (Lorber 13-20). c. Relevance: The relevance could be drawn from the person who does not follow the normal rule of the societies like the homosexuals (Lorber 13-36). SECTION II Oppression is interlinked with the elements of sexism, homophobia, classism, albinism, racism and ageism. These elements are linked by a common power of a society such as economic and cultural power. The powers are used as a common method of limiting, controlling and destroying lives. However, if observed largely the institutional power, economic power as well as institutional and individual violence could act as a driving force to maintain a complete control on the phenomenon of oppression (Pharr 54-64; Sensoy and Di-Angelo 345-352). The essay elaborates on how economic power and threat of violence together supports institutional power. The essay also discusses on how institutional power is different from individual prejudice and intolerance. Subsequently, a detailed elaboration has also been done on the contribution of the above mentioned elements in social construction of gender. When dealing with social issues like oppression it has been witnessed that even an established “defined norms” of a society, represents groups who have an ability to exert power and control over others. A segment of community that has been oppressing the minority groups is often backed by institutional power. However, the individual prejudice and bigotry cannot take a position of a mass oppression unless backed by the institutional power. The institutional power gives detailed outlay of group expansions, which gets replaced broadly by individual developments. The individual prejudices and bigots limit ones success in developing the chances of “tokenism” among masses. Furthermore, individual movements, due to lack of proper support of institutional power, fails to in rise the group consciousness (Mclntosh 1-5; Pharr 54-64). Economic power ensures control over institutions and helps to enhance their power. The institutional powers including the government and other social development bodies often draw their financial strength from different organizations operating within the society. However, depending on this phenomenon it can be observed that once wealth gets accumulated in the hands of a few, controls in a society subsequently moves in the hands of the people holding economic power. This gives them the chance to exploit the major masses as well as give them the economic advantage of limiting mobility and employment. Parallel to this, once the economic power operating within the society, utilizes the available opportunities, in turn creates a myth of scarcity. Constant threat of violence is a determining factor, for chalking out proper display of power of the institution. This helps the institution to deal with threat of violence from “the others” to control and maintain its power over the society (Pharr 54-64). Gender has been constructed by the different social and cultural norms that were predominant in the society and not attached to biological substratum. As discussed by Lorber, gender is a routine ground of our everyday life (13-36). As per the examples depicted by Lober, the societal segregation of work among the gender made Billy Tipton lead her entire life as a man just to pursue her dreams of becoming a jazz musician, which was considered to be a man’s job (13-36). It is stated by Lober that “individual are born sexed but not gendered”, and are “taught to be masculine or feminine” depending on the social and cultural background the individual belongs to (Lober 13-36; YouTube, “Rosie the Riveters of World War II”). Moreover, due to the cultural and social norms, individuals are forced to act according to the expected predefined norms. For example, in the major parts of southern India the harvesting job are done by men or are shared by women. This phenomenon comes from the social stratification of women, to be weak and efficient enough to do only easy jobs (Lober 13-36; YouTube, “Grease - Summer Nights”; YouTube, “Rosie the Riveter Final Cut”). The analytical tool, SCWAMP Framework helps to understand and resist ideologies as well as representation of the sexist, racist and homophobic among others helps to identify the diversified ways to view the social hierarchy. It helps to identify the negative effect that skin color have on the society. Additionally, it helps to measure the negativities that are prominent in the society for the minority groups. This identification is done with the help of the analytical tools and helps in closing down the gaps as well as develops the status of the minority groups (Kellner 1-21; YouTube, “Grease - Summer Nights”). The institutional power, economic power as well as the threats of violence has been acting as the three major determinants of maintaining the defined norms to control oppression. However, it has been observed in the social backdrop that the accumulation of the economic power in the hands of the few has been acting as a major cause for the segregation of the society. Moreover, the gender discrimination as well as the sexual segregation of the society is highly dependent on the institutional power and the economic power predominant in the society. Subsequently, it can be ascertained that with the use of the SCWAMP Framework gender and social stratification can be easily identified. Works Cited Kellner, Douglas. “Cultural Studies, Multiculturalism and Media Culture.” A Cultural Studies Approach (n.d.): 1-21. Print. Kendall, Francis E. “Understanding White Privilege.” Christian Peacemaker Teams (2002): 1-10. Print. Lee, Richard and Richard Daily. “Mans Domination and Womans Oppression:The Question of Origins.” A Study in Intertribal Trade Relations (1940):1-15. Print. Lober, Justin. "Night to His Day: The Social Construction of Gender.” Paradoxes or Gender (1994): 13-36. Print. Mclntosh, Peggy. “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.” The Institution of Education (n.d.): 1-5. Print. Pharr, Suzane. “Homophobia: A weapon of Sexism.” The Common Elements of Oppression (n.d.): 54-64. Print. Sensoy, Ozlem and Robin Di-Angelo. “Developing Social Justice.” An Open Letter to Our Faculty Colleagues 90.5 (2008): 345-352. Print. “Grease - Summer Nights.” YouTube. (n.d.). Web. 19 Jul. 2014. < http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXlnMveRt-Y> “Killing Us Softly 4: Advertisings Image of Women.” YouTube. (n.d.). Web. 22 Jul. 2014. “Rosie the Riveters of World War II.” YouTube. (n.d.). Web. 19 Jul. 2014. < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GarCzR_6Ng&feature=youtu.be> “Rosie the Riveter Final Cut.” YouTube. (n.d.). Web. 19 Jul. 2014. Read More