White Women Research Paper
Kyla Price
WGS Exam 1
October 5, 2010
Categorizing or erasing an individual’s identity in today’s society based off of gender, religion, race, as well as sexuality is a common occurrence. It is difficult to grasp the concept of a society that is completely devoid of robbing an individual’s humanity or even falling victim to the process of stereotyping. Although, change is a must, will people follow through to obliterate the everyday stereotypes or fall blind to the assumptions that lurk through our society? Woman everyday must leap through the rings of insularity that shape our society’s expectations of how a woman “should be.” Therefore, women all have multiple identities that are shaped through either systems of power or oppression …show more content…
Men “…say they will work to improve women’s status, in the society, the university, or the curriculum, but they cant or wont support the idea of lessening men’s” (McIntosh, 278). In relation to intersectionality, all women have the common junction of being oppressed under a man’s higher status, however, being a white woman in comparison to a black woman; there is now a change in status. While white privileged feminists fought for increased access to professional jobs they ignored the fact that women of color and women of the working class were being overworked. “Eventually, it became a matter of women being divided by forces of labor because of how society’s conformities shaped them. Rather than fighting to change men’s oppressive dependence on women at home, they instead focused on the fight for higher status among races” (Student Article). Because these gender differences shaped how a woman should act, it caused a rift between women. They ultimately fell prey to the “divide and conquer” strategy causing women not to realize that they all share the same oppressor. However, in the article “When Mom and Dad Share it all”, portrays couples who overcome opposite sides of the spectrum and share equal roles in the household. They ultimately defied the stereotype of women staying at home while their husbands were out working. This is a problem because as we continue on, “either we engage in racism/sexism or play a role in supporting to help because there is no neutral in this matter” (Class Discussion). Not only that but Audre Lorde stated “…we must recognize differences among women who are our equals, neither inferior nor superior, and devise ways to use each other’s difference to enrich our visions and our joint struggles” (Lorde
WGS Exam 1
October 5, 2010
Categorizing or erasing an individual’s identity in today’s society based off of gender, religion, race, as well as sexuality is a common occurrence. It is difficult to grasp the concept of a society that is completely devoid of robbing an individual’s humanity or even falling victim to the process of stereotyping. Although, change is a must, will people follow through to obliterate the everyday stereotypes or fall blind to the assumptions that lurk through our society? Woman everyday must leap through the rings of insularity that shape our society’s expectations of how a woman “should be.” Therefore, women all have multiple identities that are shaped through either systems of power or oppression …show more content…
Men “…say they will work to improve women’s status, in the society, the university, or the curriculum, but they cant or wont support the idea of lessening men’s” (McIntosh, 278). In relation to intersectionality, all women have the common junction of being oppressed under a man’s higher status, however, being a white woman in comparison to a black woman; there is now a change in status. While white privileged feminists fought for increased access to professional jobs they ignored the fact that women of color and women of the working class were being overworked. “Eventually, it became a matter of women being divided by forces of labor because of how society’s conformities shaped them. Rather than fighting to change men’s oppressive dependence on women at home, they instead focused on the fight for higher status among races” (Student Article). Because these gender differences shaped how a woman should act, it caused a rift between women. They ultimately fell prey to the “divide and conquer” strategy causing women not to realize that they all share the same oppressor. However, in the article “When Mom and Dad Share it all”, portrays couples who overcome opposite sides of the spectrum and share equal roles in the household. They ultimately defied the stereotype of women staying at home while their husbands were out working. This is a problem because as we continue on, “either we engage in racism/sexism or play a role in supporting to help because there is no neutral in this matter” (Class Discussion). Not only that but Audre Lorde stated “…we must recognize differences among women who are our equals, neither inferior nor superior, and devise ways to use each other’s difference to enrich our visions and our joint struggles” (Lorde