Ethical Standards and Power

¶ … intersectionality, power, and privilege, it is impossible not to wonder if it is human nature to seek, gain, and preserve power at the expense of others and lose all concept of the consequences. As an optimist, I believe that we can all change. In The Sneeches and Other Stories, Dr. Seuss also offers some hope for humanity, showing that it is possible to recognize the essential equality of all people and the importance of actively changing our own behavior to create meaningful changes in society. What Dr.

Seuss seems to suggest, and what Johnson talks about in the Introduction and first few sections of Privilege, Power, and Difference, is that it is often up to a few individuals to make the changes that matter. Of course, it really helps to be made aware of the issues first. I think if we take away one thing from this class, it is that systems of power and privilege are usually not acknowledged -- sometimes they are not even recognized by the oppressed or underclass groups.

I truly believe that gender bias and sexism, for example, is something that many women have just taken for granted and continue to take for granted. It is as if the oppressed people internalize what they are taught to believe about themselves.

This is true for any subordinate group -- it happened to the former slaves in the United States, many of whom internalized fear and inferiority and it took great leaders to help empower the people and show them that the only way to remove the bonds of oppression is to (a) recognize that the problem is structural and (b) work together to do whatever it takes to change.

Maybe that example is tricky because the type of power used in overtly oppressive situations like slavery or in other extreme cases is tangible, something that is more obvious. It was worse during Jim Crow, when the law in the country ostensibly said that all men (and women) were created equal, but in practice that was not the case. These kinds of examples show that awareness is only the first step. After awareness comes the hard work of changing the system.

And this is where things get tricky because the people in power first have a hard time recognizing their power and privilege, and then they have a hard time letting it go. Things take a long time to change. Women are just starting to recognize ways they can change the system without pandering to the patriarchal values that perpetuate oppression. We need new ways of doing things, new ethical standards, and new systems. Just changing the law is not enough, although it is important.

We still do not have equal pay in law for women. Blacks in America still have to actually declare that their lives matter, that police brutality and oppression are intolerable -- in 2017! There is a long way to go but as frustrating as the fight can be, I still believe it can be won. Personally, I have always recognized that in some ways I am privileged and in other ways not at all. I am most cognizant of what gender means to my status in the society, in any society.

Having traveled a bit, I can see that gender issues are probably the most universal of all the systems of oppression. There are also universal class-based systems of power and privilege, but gender usually ties into that, too, with women usually being expected to work in low status positions or not get paid at all to stay home and raise children, cook, and clean. It is hard to change the systems of power because it actually requires new ways of thinking about ourselves.

And then once we think differently about ourselves, we cannot expect other people (meaning the people with power and privilege) to look at us any differently or to respect us any more. It takes a lot more than confidence and self-assertiveness to change the system. If the underclass keeps striving to acquire power in the same old system, then nothing will change -- which is exactly what Dr. Seuss is trying to illustrate in The Sneeches and Other Stories.

The story shows how power and privilege create these senseless cycles of striving and then we waste our energy trying to gain privilege and power instead of working together to build a better world. We have a lot of pressing concerns like poverty, malnutrition, lack of access to clean water, climate change. These are issues that require all hands on deck. To suppress the voices of anyone means missing out on all that brain power and all that manpower that could be used to change the world.

If I were to come up with an actual strategy or agenda for change, it would involve both self-awareness and also activism. These are the two ends of the spectrum of change, which begins with ourselves but never stops there. We need to work on examining our values and beliefs, recognizing where we have taken advantage or been unaware of our own position of power and privilege. Then we need to take our awareness into the world and help others who have been or are less fortunate than we are.

As Johnson (2001) points out, it's not that people with privilege deliberately do things to hurt others or purposely step on another person's shoes. People with power and privilege are not necessarily bad people (although some are, of course). It's more about being aware, and realizing that so much of what we have might have been due to luck, circumstances, who we know through our friends, family, and community, our gender, what we look at, or how we speak.

The efforts that are being made right now, by white males and other obvious power cohorts, are actually admirable. I have been meeting more and more men who are sensitive to women's issues and actually are willing to listen to what women have to say instead of talking over us when we are speaking about our experiences with discrimination.

These small steps will eventually add up to bigger steps, such as recognizing the need for changes to company culture and especially in the STEM fields, where women still struggle in a male-dominated environment. I also intend to embody change in my own life. One of the hardest things to do for me personally is to speak up for others, because I am sensitive to the need for maintaining privacy and minding my own business.

But at the same time, when someone is abusing their power, being overtly discriminatory in their behavior or language, I need to step in and say something. This kind of thing does not happen that often, but if and when it does, I hope I remember all I have learned here about the consequences of staying silent. As.