¶ … 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…
