Privilege, Power and Its Effects on Iowas Young Women

1
Privilege, Power and Its Effects on Iowas Young
Women

• Diane L. Finnerty
• Diversity Resources Coordinator
• Office of Affirmative Action
• University of Iowa

2
Overview

• Introductions
• What is privilege?
• Social Identity Development Staff, Youth
• Resource Sharing

3
A Cultural Competence Tale

• Once upon a time a monkey and a fish were caught
  up in a great flood. The monkey, agile and
  experienced, had the good fortune to scramble up
  a tree to safety.
• As he looked down into the raging waters, he saw
  a fish struggling against the swift current.
  Filled with a humanitarian desire to help his
  less fortunate fellow, he reached down and
  scooped the fish from the water.
• To the monkeys surprise, the fish was not very
  grateful for this aid.
• Chinese fable as quoted in Foster
  (1962)/Randall-David (1996)

4
Iowa The Home for ImmigrantsIowa Board of
Immigration Publication

• To all Working Men, who live by honest toil, and
  would thereby contribute their part toward the
  development of a free and prosperous state
• To all Landless Men and Women, of both the Old
  World and the New, who desire beautiful homes in
  the fairest portion of the green earth
• To all Good Men and Women, who aspire to
  independence, either for themselves or their
  children after them, and who will contribute,
  either of mind or muscle, to carry Iowa forward
  to her grand and glorious destiny, this little
  book, with the information it imparts, and the
  counsel it gives, is respectfully offered...
• From Welcoming New Iowans A Guides for
  Citizens and Communities, University of Northern
  Iowa

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Privilege

• Unearned power conferred systematically, or
  benefits bestowed prenatally on the basis of
  biological traits. (McIntosh, Peggy)
• Choices, entitlements, advantages, benefits,
  assumptions and expectations granted based on
  membership in the culturally dominant group
  includes the privileges granted by society, as
  well as the assumptions and expectations
  internalized by members of the dominant identity.
  (Olsson, Joan)

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Adapted from Loden and Rosener, 1991
7

• We have long since grown accustomed to thinking
  of (people of color) as being racially
  disadvantaged. Rarely, however, do we refer to
  Whites as racially advantaged, even though that
  is an equally apt characterization of existing
  inequality. Membership, as the folk from
  American Express remind us, has its privileges.
• Reverend David E. Bumbaugh, Unitarian Church
  Summit, New Jersey. November 1995.

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Viewed as

• "Deprived, disadvantaged, deviant, disturbed, or
  dumb"
• Jewelle Taylor Gibbs, 1985, 28. As quoted in B.J.
  Ross Leadbeater N. Way (Eds.). (1996) Urban
  Girls Resisting Stereotypes, Creating
  Identities (p. 2).

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Social Identity Development

• Identity Development
• 1) Premised on social theory of oppression
  Agent/Target based on social group membership
• 2) Psychosocial impact on worldview
• 3) Passive/Active Unconscious/Conscious
• 4) Attitudes Behaviors
• Limitations
• Stage progression not linear
• People dont fit neatly into binary Agent/Target
  categories

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Whats in a name?

• Before I started school in America I was Edite.
  Maria Edite dos Anjos Cunha. Maria, in honor the
  Virgin Mary. In Portugal it was customary to use
  Maria as a religious and legal prefix to every
  girls name.Edite came from my godmother, Dona
  Edite Baetas RuivoThe dos Anjos was for my
  mothers side of the family. Like her mother
  before her, she had been named Maria dos Anjos.
  And Cunha was for my fathers side. Carlos dos
  Santos Cunha, son of Abilio dos Santos Cunha, the
  tailor from Sail. I loved my nameIt was
  melodious and beautiful. And through it I knew
  exactly who I was. (Pedrosa, 1990, p. 34)

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Edite and her well-meaning second-grade
teacher, Mrs. Donahue (Peabody, Massachusetts
1961)

• Your name will be Mary Edith Cunha, she
  declared. In America you only need two or three
  names. Mary Edith is a lovely name. And it will
  be easier to pronounce. My name was Edite.
  Maria Edite dos Anjos Cunha. I had no trouble
  pronouncing it. Mary Edith, Edithhhh, Mary
  Edithhhh, Mrs. Donahuewrinkled up her nose and
  raised her upper lip to show me the proper
  positioning of the tongue for the th sound.Day
  after day Mrs. Donahue made me practice
  pronouncing that name that wasnt mine. Later my
  other teachers shortened it to Mary. And I never
  knew quite who I was.

12
Real Life...

• Describe a recent situation you experienced that
  had interesting cultural and/or privilege
  dynamics involved in it.
• Describe the interaction, including the
  identities of the people involved.
• What were your perceptions of the interaction?
• What did you appreciate about the interaction?
  What do you wish had been different?

13
Motivation

• If you have come here to help me, you are wasting
  your time. But if youve come because your
  liberation is bound up with mine, then let us
  work together
• Lilla Watson, Brisbane-based Aboriginal
  activist

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Resource Sharing

• What are three things you can do as you return to
  your environment to address issues of privilege?
• What will you need to do this work?