Oppression by Iris Young - Article Example

Exploitation generally depicts the conflicts between and haves and have-nots. It is a major trade union issue of all times, as most of the workers’ unions think that the management is their permanent enemy and the workers need to be in war with it always. In the extreme form of unionism, productivity is lost sight of, resulting in grievous loss to the economy. The working class also suffers in the long run.
Marginalization is about those sections that are unable to bear with the stiff competition in the labor market due to a variety of factors like loss of employment due to recession, disabilities, racial discrimination, etc.
Powerlessness is about the plight of the workers, especially those who are unskilled and are unable to tap the alternative sources of employment due to lack of educational qualifications. Such classes of workers have neither autonomy nor authority and have fewer chances of improving their job prospectus. They have to carry on with the available facilities.
Cultural Dominance refers to the dominance of one group over the other that goes in tandem with cultural expressions and interpretations on the basis of history. Iris Marion Young argues about such attitudes in her book “Justice and the Politics of Difference, “The Hebrews are oppressed in Egypt, and many users of the term oppression in West invoke this paradigm.”(41)
Violence dominates over a big canvas of societal life. State-sanctioned violence, racial segregation, harassment to women in the workplace, are some of the prominent examples of oppression in these areas.
In this materialistic world impacted by industrial and internet revolutions, Iris Young has correctly assessed the aspects related to various types of oppressions and the anguish they cause in the day to day life of the people in the concerned segments as stated above.
“Sexism”
Attitudinal differentiation on the basis of sex is the hallmark of societal interactions. In the normal social and business interactions, the fair sex commands more attention and helpful disposition in a civilized society in interactions with male or female. I visit the railway reservation counter for advance booking of our vacation tour tickets and find that there is a separate Q for the females. Obviously there is less rush in this particular Q in comparison to the serpentine Qs in the counters for males. Many come with their wives, and the wife stands in the Q to take advantage of this situation. Merilyn Frye in her article on “Sexism” writes, “ In everything one does one has two complete repertoires of behavior, one for interactions with women and one for interactions with men.”(397) The fair- sex has the advantage in business and societal dealings that which is difficult to define precisely but they are being the weaker sex, they are prone to face misadventures by the male counterparts. They may be strangers or sometimes their own male colleagues working in the same office. I visit the shopping mall with my wife. Her friend is working there in the famous designers’ apparel shop, which is supposed to pay their employees well. “Well it’s okay, but I get wages 30% less than my male counterpart, even though we both are degree holders in Marketing Management from the same institution, take our degree in the same year, and join this organization on the same day!” This is an example of an occupational sexism.
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