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¶ … McIntosh (1988) puts it, the primary issue with privilege and the power that comes with it is that those who are privileged rarely realize or acknowledge it. Denial of power and privilege perpetuates problems, because when men display "unwillingness to grant that they are over privileged," it becomes impossible to engage in meaningful dialogue or generate change (McIntosh, 1988, p. 22). One example of how dialogue is systematically shut down is the backlash against feminism, and the fear of "feminization" of society that is commonly heard among the most powerful and privileged. In the same way, whites fail to recognize white privilege, going so far as to make accusations of "reverse racism" when any attempt is made to reverse structural inequality.
Flagg (1993) also raises a crucial concern about the need for race consciousness, not racial erasure or "color blindness." To be color blind is to deny not only the potency that race has in the public consciousness and in personal identity construction, but also to deny and disavow the continued existence of racism in society. It is important to be racially conscious, for whites to own their own racial identity and acknowledge all the powers and privileges associated with whiteness throughout the world. Color blindness sounds romantic, but does far more harm than good by shutting down dialogue and discourse. If, as Flagg (1993) suggests, "substantive racial justice" is a shared goal among all Americans,...
954).
Consciousness of race means different things to different people. Racial identity depends on race consciousness, not as a means of creating categories of "us" and "them," although this does certainly happen. Another function of racial identity is the willingness to explore why people of color are systematically underprivileged in America, why poverty rates are higher among people of color or why an achievement gap persists. By the same token, gender identity implies the willingness to explore why fewer women than men are thriving in STEM or why the pay gap remains unquestioned in government and policy.
Being privileged is by definition something that feels good, and which makes life substantially easier versus the underprivileged or the unprivileged. The people who are privileged by virtue of their being born in the right place at the right time to the right people sometimes project their experiences onto others, presuming that because it was easy for them to excel in school or get into college or start a business that it should be that way for everyone, and that those who do not achieve their goals simply did not work hard enough. The myth of the American meritocracy persists. Sure, working hard is a necessary factor in anyone's success, privileged beginnings or not. When we consider, though, the single mom who could not afford the best quality pre-schools, who worked two jobs and…
References
Flagg, B.J. (1993). "Was Blind, but Now I See": White Race Consciousness and the Requirement of Discriminatory Intent. Michigan Law Review, Vol. 91, No. 5 (Mar., 1993), pp. 953-1017.
McIntosh, P. (1988). White privilege and male privilege. In Bender & Braverman, Power, Privilege And Law: A Civil Rights Reader.
Pecola Breedlove's experiences in Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye symbolize the internalization of sexism and racism. On the contrary, Anita Hill's willingness to stand up and speak out against a powerful male official represents the externalization of sexism and racism. Anita Hill lacks the self-hatred embodied by the character of Pecola, but in spite of her confidence and poise, lacks the power or wherewithal to undermine institutionalized sexism. Although Hill
Not only do they manage to present a situation which is unfair, making the reader empathize with the female characters under discussion, but they also demonstrate the complex mechanisms through which the social identity of the woman is constructed. The main factors of decision are the belonging to a certain race and a to a certain social class. The implications of these belonging to are fundamental, but the implications are
439). However, Johnson (n.d.) offers an optimistic view showing how patriarchy may be dismantled even in systems in which it appears to be pervasive, such as the military. In "Unraveling the Gender Knot," Johnson (n.d.) points out that it is a myth that gender disparity is inevitable and immutable. In fact, social systems are malleable and changeable. Change begins with "awareness and training about issues of privilege," according to Johnson
The different "isms" such as sexism, heterosexism, and racism are creating very real schisms -- in our minds, and between people. The chasms of communication that are created by hatred and misunderstanding are socially constructed. They can be socially deconstructed too. Such rifts occur between groups of people and between whole cultures. In some pockets of the United States, social conservatism threatens to erase the social progress made since the
57). Coker's article (published in a very conservative magazine in England) "reflected unease among some of his colleagues" about that new course at LSEP. Moreover, Coker disputes that fact that there is a female alternative to male behavior and Coker insists that "Whether they love or hate humanity, feminists seem unable to look it in the face" (Smith quoting Coker, p. 58). If feminists are right about the female nature being
Bright Lights, Bobby Benedicto describes the urban gay subculture in Manila within the context of the "global scene." The points Benedicto makes in Under Bright Lights can be applied to variety of issues related to race, class, gender, and social power. Benedicto provides a sociological analysis of gay Manila primarily through a Marxist lens. The author endeavors to show how the "gay scene" has built itself unconsciously upon a