Oppression (Frye, Marilyn) Flashcards
From the book "The Politics of Reality" (20 cards)
What is the purpose of this paper?
To define the term oppression, its concept as well as its effects.
Frye uses the root word of “oppression” to understand the effects of oppression. What is this root word? What is the analogy used to better understand the effects?
- -press
- Something “pressed” is something caught between or among forces and barriers which work together to restrain, restrict, or prevent the things motion or mobility.
- The experience of those oppressed is that the living of one’s life is confined and shaped by forces and barriers which are not accidental or occasional therefore avoidable, but are systemically related to each other in such a way as to catch one between, among, restrict, or penalize motion in any direction.
The experience of oppressed people is the experience of being caged in all avenues, and in every direction. Frye uses the analogy of a birdcage. What is this analogy?
- When looking at one single wire of the cage, you see no other wires.
- Even if everyday you were to inspect a separate individual wire, it would still not be clear as to why the bird would have trouble leaving the cage.
- It is only when you step back and look at the wires as individual elements which form one full cage, it becomes clear why the bird does not go anywhere.
What is the purpose of Frye’s birdcage analogy? Explain.
The purpose is to understand one of the reasons as to why oppression can be hard to see and recognize.
- One can study the elements of an oppressive structure in great detail without seeing the structure as a whole therefore, - they are unable to understand that they are studying a cage and there are people whose lives are being shaped, reduced, and restricted
There is a reference to the traditional male door opening. While this action seems helpful, there is an alternative perspective explained within a heterosexual perspective. What is this perspective? Explain.
This act masquerades as a helpful service, but the helpfulness is false. It is false because the door will be opened by a man whether it makes any practical sense.
- Generally men make fuss about being helpful through providing small services when help is often not required, but when substantial assistance is actually wanted, there is no substantial help received.
- The door opening has no practical meaning, the meaning of the action is symbolic.
What is the ultimate messages of the false helpfulness scene in male gallantry of opening doors?
- Female dependence
- The invisibility/insignificance of women
- Contempt for women
The analogy of the bird cage helps to convey one aspect of the systemic nature of repression. What is another aspect of the systemic nature of oppression? In identifying this additional aspect, what is also helped to be accounted for?
- Selection of occupants of the cages
- The analysis of who occupies the “cage” helps to account for the invisibility of the oppression of women
Why is the selection of occupants within the “cage” relevant in understanding the oppression of women?
If an individual is oppressed, it is because they are a member of a group of people which is systematically reduced, molded, and immobilized.
What is not common among all oppressive structures?
- Physical confinement
and - Segregation
What is an example of one of the policies available to an oppressing group in its effort to reduce/annihilate another group?
COERCED ASSIMILATION
ex. federal government treatment of indigenous peoples
There is a women’s place (a sector), where women of all races and classes are together, however it is not defined by geographical boundaries, rather it’s defined by function. What is the function?
The function is the service of men interests, as men define them (includes bearing and rearing of children).
Regardless of economic class or work situations, women’s service work always includes three things. What are these three things?
- Personal service (i.e. work of maids, butlers, cooks, personal secretaries)
- Sexual service (i.e. servicing his sexual needs, child rearing, being “nice,” being “attractive” for him)
- Ego service (i.e. encouragement, support, attention)
How is women’s service work characterized everywhere? Explain.
The fatal combination of responsibility and powerlessness.
- Women are held responsible and hold themselves responsible for good outcomes for men and children
- even though women oftentimes have no case power adequate to complete that goal
When understanding the women’s sphere, there is a similarity in power dynamics between men and women across every race and class level. What is this constant?
At every race/class level and even across race/class lines, men do not serve women as women serve men.
What does the paper conclude regarding how to determine whether someone’s suffering is part of someone’s oppression?
An individual has to look at the suffering in context in order to tell whether the suffering experienced is an element of an oppressive structure.
A set of social and economic barriers and forces separating two groups may be felt by members of both groups and yet may mean different things to each one. What may these groups feel?
Group 1 - confinement
Group 2 - liberty and enlargement of opportunity
The service sector is essentially exclusively a woman-only sector. Men reference the service sector to prove that they are also oppressed by gender roles, however there is a key difference between men and women in this regard. What is the difference?
The boundary enclose women, but the barrier is erected and maintained by men for the benefit of men.
- The boundary that sets apart the women’s sphere is maintained and promoted by men, generally for the benefit of men, and generally men do benefit from its existence because the barrier protects his classification and status as a male.
To determine whether a barrier or force means that a person is oppressed there are questions to ask. What are some examples of these questions?
- Who constructs and maintains it?
- Whose interests are served by its existence?
- Is it part of a structure which tends to confine, reduce, and immobilize some groups?
- Is the individual a member of the confined group?
Men often reference how they cannot cry and women often hold cramped physical postures, making themselves smaller. Both sexes must show restraint in some regard whether emotional or physical, what is the difference?
Men - Men’s emotional restraint is required by men and is rewarded by men as well
Women - Women’s physical restraint is required by men but is not rewarded.
Women’s restraint is part of the structure oppressive to women, the man’s restraint is part of a structure oppressive to women.
The paper concludes with one sentiment in relation to how men and women experience oppression. What is concluded?
Women are oppressed as women, men are not oppressed as men.
