Power, Privilege and Oppression

1
Power, Privilege and Oppression

• Within and Between Families

2
Privilege

• Peggy McIntosh defines privilege as existing when
  one group has something of value that is denied
  to others simply because of the groups they
  belong to, rather than because of anything
  theyve done or failed to do.
• Something of value may be tangible (goods, access
  to education, jobs, etc) or intangible
  (authority, legitimacy, etc.)

3
Two Types of Privilege

• Unearned Entitlements- Things people should have,
  but dont. For example, feeling safe.

• Conferred Dominance- Gives one group dominance
  over another. For example, being viewed as the
  voice of authority.

4
Understanding Privilege

• Privilege is always in relation to others. It is
  a zero sum game.
• One participates in systems of privilege,
  oppression, and dominance without necessarily
  being an oppressive or dominant individual.
• The Problem is structural. We, as individuals,
  operate within structures of Privilege/Oppression
  regardless of our desires, perceptions and
  actions.

5
Matrix of Domination

• Interlocking axes of oppression that stem from
  societal configurations including (but not
  limited to) race, class, gender, and sexual
  orientation.
• It demonstrates the interconnectedness of systems
  of privilege/oppression across social categories.
• Heterosexism reinforces male privilege and vice
  versa.
• One can be simultaneously oppressed and an
  oppressor.

6
Oppression

• The limiting of options.
• Oppression results from the social relationship
  between privileged and oppressed categories.
  Individuals experiences of oppression vary
  widely.
• Oppression results form relations between social
  categories. It is not possible to be oppressed
  by society itself.
• Belonging to a privileged category that has an
  oppressive relationship with another isnt the
  same as being an oppressive person who behaves in
  oppressive ways.

7
The Social Construction of Difference and the
Problem of Privilege

• Privilege rests on structures of difference. As
  noted by James Baldwin, No one is white before
  he/she came to America. It took generations, and
  a vast amount of coercion, before this became a
  white country.
• Social Creations are meaningful and the
  experience of them is real.
• The Power and Privilege of Normal.
• Example Anne Fausto-Sterling, The Five Sexes

8
Power and Privilege Between Families

• Privilege and oppression centers on a number of
  social categories
• Race, class, gender, sexuality, region
• Exercise
• Intersections of Class and Race

9
Exercise

• How do you see privilege and oppression operating
  between families that fall into different social
  categories.
• Be explicit. How are options expanded or limited?

10
Race in The United States People of Hispanic
Origin may be black, white, or Asian. The second
percentage for whites is whites not of Hispanic
Origin.
11
Household Income Limits for Each Fifth and Top 5
of Households-2001
12
Share of Aggregate Income Received by Each Fifth
13
Percent of Aggregate Income Received by the Top 5
14
Mean Household Income for Each Fifth and Top 5
of Households-2001
15
Mean and Median Household Income By Race-2001
16
Poverty

• The Poverty Threshold for a family of three in
  2001 was 14,348.
• In 2001
• 11.7 of all Americans
• 7.8 of whites
• 22.7 of blacks
• 21.4 of those of Hispanic Origin
• 10.2 of Asian and Pacific Islander
• Were living below the poverty line.

17
Educational Attainment by Race 2000
18
Educational Attainment by Race 2000
19
Post-Secondary Education Statistics Race
20
Post-Secondary Education Statistics Race
21
Educational Attainment, Income, Race, Gender-
2001 Census Data
22
Educational Attainment, Income, Race, Gender-
2001 Census Data
23
Inequality Within Families

• Gender
• Age

24
You Tell Me

• Count off 1-6
• What forms of inequality within families do you
  see? Be sure you can answer the following
  questions
• Around what variable does stratification occur?
  (ie. Age, Gender, Sexual Orientation)
• How are privilege and oppression experienced by
  those involved in the dynamic.

25
Gender and Household Inequality

• The Division of Household Labor

26
Gendered Division of Household Labor

• Research shows women today do two-thirds of the
  household chores. Men would have to increase
  their household labor contribution by 60 to
  achieve an equality level with women's work.

27
The Gendered Division of Household Labor

• Husbands with a higher educational level are more
  willing to share in the tasks. Women's education
  level seems to have little effect.
• The strongest single predictor for a husband to
  share in tasks is the number of hours his wife
  works.
• Husbands do a greater share of the household
  tasks when they are the only parent present in
  the home.
• Additional research shows that when a woman has a
  liberal view of the male role, he will share more
  household tasks. Liberal views include men in
  meal preparation, parenting, and house-cleaning
  roles.

28
Recent Findings

• Husbands and wives report lower marital quality
  when they view the division of household labor
  and money as unfavorable to themselves,'' Juliana
  McGene, Pennsylvania State University

29
Intersections of Power, Privilege and the
Division of Household Labor

• The New Man- Hondagneu- Sotelo and Messer.
• The argue the so called new man who
  participates in household labor is a myth. It is
  mostly the middle and upper class who buy off the
  more onerous tasks.

30
Scott Coltrane and Chicano Families

• Examined Gendered Division of Household Labor
  among heterosexual Chicano couples in Southern
  California.
• Gendered division of household labor
• Disagreement over spousal contributions
• Womens work is viewed as secondary.
• Even when husbands help out, they still see it as
  her work.

31
His and Her Experience of Marriage

• Jessie Bernard- each Marriage is two marriages.
• Scott Coltrane- Her world centered around
  keeping track of the countless details of
  housework and child care even though she was
  employed . His world centered around his work
  and his leisure activities so that he avoided
  noticing or anticipating the details of running a
  home. p.561 in Ferguson