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Recognizing Privilege and Becoming an Ally

It can be hard to hear these kinds of truths about inequality in our world. Because of that, we have to understand our privileges and how we can use them to become allies for these people who are being oppressed.

Peggy McIntosh says “My schooling gave me no training in seeing myself as an oppressor, as an unfairly advantaged person, or as a participant in a damaged culture” about white privilege, but this is true of all privileges.” (McIntosh: 370) We can choose to recognize our privileges and rather than do good, turn to “collective blindness.” This “hinders the establishment of social facts, conceals inequality, and undermines the foundation of social science research.” (Pettit: 3) Or, we can choose to recognize our privileges and become allies to the people  who are not as advantaged as us. 

Privileges exist for everyone: males, white people, straight people, non-disabled, and all sorts of people. Those of us with certain privileges have to want others to share our privileges. Sharing our privileges with minorities does not mean that we lose them, it means more people have better advantages and opportunities in our society.

A lot of minorities, as we know, have stigma surrounding them; women are emotional and unstable; African Americans are violent and have criminal tendencies; people with disabilities are unintelligent; and, like always, so many more. None of these are true, but because of these stereotypes that have been perpetuated for years, minorities are discredited. We can help them, as members of the majority, by using our voices in their favors.

In the first courts, back in Rome, we did not have lawyers. Instead, we could defend ourselves, or we could have a friend or someone vouch for us. Being an ally is similar to that. Allies are there to help vouch for people. We aren’t here to use our voice for the, but to use our voice with their voice. Unfortunately, it is hard for minorities to get things done when they don’t have privileged people on their side. Don’t get me wrong, Minorities can stand up for themselves, but having someone from the other team is always helpful. 

Sources:

Rosenblum, K. E., & Travis, T. (2016). The meaning of difference: American constructions of race and ethnicity, sex and gender, social class, sexuality, and disability: A text/reader. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.

http://www.in-mind.org/blog/post/inequality-minority-disadvantage-or-white-privilege-and-why-it-matters

McIntosh, Peggy. White Privilege - Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack 

Pettit, Becky. Invisible Men: Black Incarceration & the Myth of Black Progress

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Heteronormativity and Its Consequences

Members of the LGBTQA+ community are too often overlooked because of something we call heteronormativity. “‘Heteronormativity promotes the norm of not only heterosexual but also married, monogamous, wite, and upper middle class.’” (McNeill: 425) Our society tends to assume everyone is straight, and so we push that status onto others blindly all the time.

This concept is everywhere. It is when people say young boys are “such flirts” because at a very young age they are talking to girls, or when we call a boy a “ladies man,” or even in the classroom teaching sex education. Challenging heteronormativity doesn’t mean erasing or shaming heterosexuals, it just means recognizing the fact that different sexualities exist and are also normal.

The first step to combatting heteronormativity is doing it at home. Children should be taught from day one to do what they want to do because they want to do it, not because society says they should. Boys should be allowed to play dress up or use dolls. Girls should be allowed to use toy cars instead of wanting makeup. These things are trivial, but when all of these heteronormative practices add up, we end up with children who don’t feel comfortable in their own skin. It is important to show kids love no matter what they seem to prefer.

Schools feed into heteronormative thinking, too. In health class, they only really teach about heterosexuals and their reproduction. When teaching students about sex and prevention of STIs, it is usually geared toward a heterosexual audience. There isn’t really anything wrong with this. Heterosexuals need to learn about their bodies, but so do homosexuals. A lot of students who are not openly gay might be uncomfortable asking questions that a lot of other students need to hear the answer to, too. That is why homosexual sexual education should be embedded in our coursework.

LGBTQA+ people are underrepresented in media, and when they are represented, they tend to get backlash. "I love the gays, but goddamn I don't understand why you guys are, like, so in your face about being gay. Like, what's with all the parades and the rainbow flags and exclusive clubs and making out in public and glitter-glitter-glitter?!" one woman’s coworker said about gay couples in public.

Heteronormativity creates an environment where LGBTQA+ folks are overlooked in important ways. It creates an environment where gay people don’t feel comfortable being openly gay. We need to take several steps away from this, and understand that human beings we are leaving behind.

Sources:

https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/why-heteronormativity-is-harmful

https://www.elitedaily.com/dating/gay-people-in-your-face-sexuality/1559357

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19419899.2013.876444?tokenDomain=eprints&tokenAccess=cCWykDsX7dTH7MV28kss&forwardService=showFullText&doi=10.1080%2F19419899.2013.876444&doi=10.1080%2F19419899.2013.876444&journalCode=rpse20

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Why Everyone Should be a Feminist

Women sure have come a long way since 100 years ago, but there is a lot of work to be done. Women still don’t earn as much as men, women pay more for items used by both genders, women are much less likely to serve in politics, and overall, women aren’t taken seriously enough.

The pay gap is one of America’s biggest problems for women. They still make about 78 cents for every man’s dollar. That gap is wider for women of color. Some of our finest professional women, like lawyers, surgeons, executives, administers, etc. are making much less than their male counterparts. One goal for feminists is to close this gap, which seems like a long and hard journey.

Along with making less money than men, women pay more for everyday items. Razors, shaving cream, deodorant, body wash, hair products, clothing, and so many more things are priced differently for females. This overcharge is referred to as the “pink tax.” This is something manufacturers do to buy into feminine beauty standards. They overcharge us for items that are often less durable just for being female.

Changing issues like this is difficult because women lack representation in politics. Thankfully, women did really well in 2018’s midterm election. It still isn’t enough, though. Only about 20% of women are representatives or members of the senate. This is partially due to the stigmatization of women as emotionally driven and impulsive.

Women were never intended to be active members of society, but now that we are, we have to keep pushing for more. We shouldn’t settle for the tiny bit we have been given. We should be equal, in every sense of the word, and everyone should be a feminist.

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/11/the-g

ender-gap-actually-got-worse-in-2017/

https://inequality.stanford.edu/publications/20-facts-about-us-inequality-everyone-should-know

https://borgenproject.org/examples-of-gender-discrimination/

Rosenblum, K. E., & Travis, T. (2016). The meaning of difference: American constructions of race and ethnicity, sex and gender, social class, sexuality, and disability: A text/reader. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.

https://www.aauw.org/research/the-simple-truth-about-the-gender-pay-gap/https://www.aauw.org/research/the-simple-truth-about-the-gender-pay-gap/

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Race and Wealth

Race as we know it today is a made up concept, “a form of social identification and stratification … whose real meaning rested in social and political realities.” (Smedley: 51) Scientists used physical features to categorize different groups of people in order to justify inequality and slavery. Skin colors are different because of genetics and how much sun the region one is in. Due to our this creation of inequality, African Americans are still stuck in a really bad situation.

African Americans have a lower life expectancy than that of whites in the United States. This is because they generally have a lower income, are less educated, and are often stigmatized as criminals and sent away to prison. Black men born into poorness are likely to stay poor. This is due to educational inequality, neighborhood effects, workplace discrimination, rates of incarceration, and the list goes on.

It all leads back to wealth. Minorities often end up going to schools alongside other minorities much less funded than their counterparts. Sadly, many minorities are not too wealthy and they end up going to schools in districts that do not fare well in education. The reason minorities often end up in poor neighborhoods is because of an outdated process called redlining.

Racism in reality that is no longer technically allowed is why low-income families, primarily minorities, live where they live today. The Home Owner’ Loan Corporation in the 1930s mapped out with green, yellow, and red for neighborhoods with white people, less desirable white people, and minorities, respectively. White people had some leeway in choosing where to live, but minorities stood no chance in moving up.

African Americans were so heavily stigmatized in the past, and still are to this day. They are treated as uneducated criminals because of their skin color and that isn’t okay. Those of us who are not African American have to learn to share our privileges with them, because that doesn’t mean we are losing them.

Sources:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/03/28/redlining-was-banned-50-years-ago-its-still-hurting-minorities-today/?utm_term=.ad0c408ebe3c

https://www.brookings.edu/articles/unequal-opportunity-race-and-education/

https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-inheritance-of-black-poverty-its-all-about-the-men/

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/04/race-genetics-science-africa/

Rosenblum, K. E., & Travis, T. (2016). The meaning of difference: American constructions of race and ethnicity, sex and gender, social class, sexuality, and disability: A text/reader. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education. Readings 1, 31

Race the power of an illusion: The house we live in

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Rape Culture

Rape culture defines an environment where rape and sexual violence is normalized and justified by society. Rape culture is created through objectifying women, misogynistic language, and romanticizing sexual violence. It is important to be aware of this culture that we live in and how it affects all of us.

We raise our boys and girls differently. Many boys are raised to hide their feelings, to have aggression. They are raised, and continue to live in a society where they have to act “like a man” (Martinez: 256) in almost all situations. Girls are raised to think that boys like them when they are picking on them, or to dress for a man. We are taught that “boys will be boys” and that there really isn’t much we can do about it.

The media is very much to blame for a lot of this. It is consistently seen portraying women in objectifying ways and glamorizing violence. A really good example of glamorizing sexual violence is Eminem and Rihanna's song “Love the Way You Lie.” The lyrics and the video both are very indicative of an abusive relationship. The video actually shows scenes of a boyfriend hitting his girlfriend, moments after cuddling. It glamorizes domestic violence in a big way, which is disappointing because we have kids who watch videos like these, or scenes in moves, songs, advertisements, and so on. Objectification of women is everywhere. 

We also have to take into account that our political leaders are guilty of perpetuating rape culture. I am not accusing any of them of sexual violence, I will just be using a few quotes. Trump, for example, in 2013, he wrote “26,000 unreported sexual assults in the military-only 238 convictions. What did these geniuses expect when they put men & women together?” on twitter, suggesting that men and women working together is of course going to cause women to be violated. This is the leader of our country, saying things like if his daughter were not his daughter he would want to date her. 

There are many examples of of how are society is one that perpetuates rape culture, but I would rather talk about how we can combat the issue. From a young age, we should be teaching our children about consent. We should teach our boys and girls that they can do any activity, no matter their gender. Victim-blaming needs to end. Most importantly, don’t be a bystander! Any time you see something that doesn’t seem quite right, call it out. If the situation isn’t safe, call the police, or alert someone.

Sources:

https://www.marshall.edu/wcenter/sexual-assault/rape-culture/

https://learn.unm.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-4028531-dt-content-rid-26980834_1/courses/XLSVXGKK201880/Richardson%2C%20Laurel.%20%20Gender%20Stereotyping%20in%20the%20English%20Language.pdf

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/politics/donald-trump-sexism-tracker-every-offensive-comment-in-one-place/

Rosenblum, K. E., & Travis, T. (2016). The meaning of difference: American constructions of race and ethnicity, sex and gender, social class, sexuality, and disability: A text/reader. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.