History of Feminism
Related: About this forumGrievances vs. Oppression
ttp://everydayfeminism.com/2013/10/lets-talk-about-thin-privilege/?upw
Grievances vs. Oppression
Let me start off by saying this: Having your feelings hurt sucks.
And I would never tell you to just suck it up or get over it.
Because yes, sticks and stones may break your bones, but damn it, words really can hurt you. And so can the general attitudes and behaviors of others.
Im not here to tell you that your personal grievances dont matter.
Rather, Im here to put those feelings into perspective.
Because personal emotional impacts simply are not the same as oppression.
Oppression involves the systematic subjugation of a group of people by another group of people who have access to social power, the result of which benefits one group over the other, and is maintained by social beliefs and practices.
In other words, oppression is a special kind of problem.
Here are four reasons why:
1. It is pervasive.
It is woven throughout social institutions, as well as embedded within individual consciousness.
For example, if you make a fat joke, everyone around you is going to understand it because the cultural belief that fat is something to laugh at is widespread.
2. It is restricting.
Structural limits significantly shape a persons life chances and sense of possibility in ways beyond the individuals control.
Take a look at these examples of thin privilege. By virtue of not having access to these privileges, the lives of larger people are limited.
3. It is hierarchical.
Dominant or privileged groups benefit, often in unconscious ways, from the disempowerment of subordinated or targeted groups.
Think of the example that I gave earlier about not being passed over as a dating prospect. I benefit from fat discrimination because Im more likely to have my OKCupid message opened since I have Thin or Average checked off in the Body Type box. Im more likely to get a date.
4. The dominant group has the power to define and name reality.
That is, they determine the status quo: what is normal, real, or correct.
Take a look at (almost) any store window mannequins or fashion magazine. If thinness is heralded as the status quo, then that continues to put thin people in positions of power when it comes to determining what average (or preferable) is.
ismnotwasm
(41,916 posts)I'm cold like that.
Your four examples just described patriarchy to a tee.
BainsBane
(53,001 posts)A man gets his feelings hurt and decides the attack is on his entire gender. It may in fact be, but it is not part of a systemic structure of subjugation of men. It sucks having one's feelings hurt, and those women who hate all men have issues. That, however, is quite different from a structure of inequality that relegates women beneath men in terms of rights, economic status, and political power. The problem is in mistaking feelings for the production of power and subjugation of a subaltern group.