Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Chafetz and Collins

Janet Chafetz and Patricia Hill Collins are on the poles of a balance since the first thinks people unwilling conform to social arrangements. The former believes living oppression has made black women especially aware. Chafetz feels attitudes exist that tend to perpetuate gender disparity, “Gender inequality usually functions without coercion. This implies that women cooperate in their own oppression… ‘People of both genders tend to make choices that conform to the dictates of the gender system status quo’” (Allan 2008). Chafetz’s affirmation makes the oppressed responsible for the oppressor’s actions. Collins recognizes there are intersecting oppressions making it difficult for people to think about the alternatives. She considers once people become aware of inequalities they develop a skeptical view about the status quo.

Is experiencing oppression a way to conform to social norms or a way to become aware of them?

5 comments:

  1. I agree with what Chafetz mentions, because according to my point of view, it is one who allows or does not allow oppression from those belonging to the other gender. Women have all the power to change this, and in recent years, the role of women in society has drastically changed, especially if we compare it to how it was 40 or 50 years ago. Still, there are many women in this country that conform to the status quo and let their husbands and other male figures rule them without questioning their actions. Examples like this tend to happen in rural areas but even sometimes in big cities, especially if the culture of those involved is very conservative. Overall, as mentioned above, I believe that it is up to us as women to change the status quo and play important roles in society.

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  2. I think it really depends on the person and situation. If an individual has suffered oppression their whole life and know nothing differnt, they are more than likely to be seen as simply conforming to norms by outsiders. If an individual leaves the censored environment then they will likely become aware of the oppression because they are able to see the difference. This of course would be different for someone who has experienced more societies and different cultures because then they are aware that oppression is not necessarily the norm but are a form of oppression.

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  3. To begin, I believe experiencing oppression may simultaneously cause an individual to conform as well as produce awareness within an individual. An individual, for example, may become aware of inequality if his/her socioeconomic status or "material circumstances" is inferior to another's (Ritzer 2008). This in turn, according to intersectionality theory, elicits a response wherein individuals "create interpretations and strategies for surviving and resisting the persistent exercise of unjust power" (Ritzer 2008). That is, an individual is aware of oppression and wishes to challenge it. Conversely, experiencing oppression may influence conformance. Given the intensity of the dominants' ideology, oppressed individuals may internalize rejection of difference (Ritzer 2008). The internalizing rejection of difference causes individuals to devalue themselves as well as reject those not from one's group (Ritzer 2008). If one devalues oneself, one may conform to oppressive practices, believing one is inferior to X because one is Y.

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  4. I think that experiencing oppression can lead to both conforming and/or becoming aware. Most people who are oppressed do not know that they are. An example of this would be a woman who just wants to get married so she can cook, clean, have children, and care for a man. She doesn't know why, but she has always wanted that rather than do the other things that might benefit her (like get an education). This woman does not feel whole unless she goes along with the social norms that oppress her. Even so, I don't think that one can really become aware of oppression unless she/he experiences it, sees others close to them experience it, or reads about someone who has experienced it. So experiencing oppression does not necessarily make one aware of it, but they cannot become aware of it without experience with it.

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  5. I agree with Collins' and Chafetz's argument because it is not that women are oppressed by males, they are actually the ones that chose their own path into oppression. We as a society agree that women are the ones that have to cook, clean the house, and care for the husband and children. This leaves women with no choice but having to belong and have responsabilities at home and work too. I think that once people become aware of the oppression that exists they become disbeleiving of the view of the status quo.

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