Marilyn Frye Oppression Analysis

Words: 552
Pages: 3
Open Document
Until I read Marilyn Frye’s paper, I never quite understood the concept of oppression. Whenever I heard this word, the thought of shackles came to mind. In my mind, I tied the concept of oppression to total deprivation of free will. Oppression is easy to comprehend in the context of the Holocaust and of slavery, but to understand that over time humans have systemically institutionalized oppression requires an immensely broad perspective. Oppression is the practice of one group having more authority and control of another group in an unjust and cruel manner. There is a common misconception among the masses that merely being unhappy constitutes that a person may also be oppressed. Frye strives to prove this argument false and states “Human …show more content…
Frye defines the double bind as “situations in which options are reduced to a very few and all of them expose one to penalty, censure, or deprivation” (42). One example of the double bind is whether a woman has a “natural” pretty face. On one side, if the woman wears too much makeup others could classify her as a “try-hard” or naturally not pretty. On the other side, not wearing makeup at all could insinuate that the woman is “homely” or doesn’t take care of her appearance. When you face a double bind, “You can’t win. You are caught in a bind, caught between systemically related pressures” (Frye 43). A few years back, I had a personal experience that I didn’t realize was oppressive until I read Frye’s work. I was walking by myself in a grocery store and a man decided to block my path until I smiled for him. I did not owe that man a cheery disposition that day, nor do woman owe men anything else. The majority of people see this situation as If a man is not smiling, another man (and certainly not a woman) would not ask him to appear happier. Humans, especially Americans, are able to recognize racism as a problem only when it is seen as an event of the past. We, the dominant culture of whites, tell ourselves that we are better than institutionalized racism and that we do not participate in it at present time. However, the polls that Tim Wise gives in his speech “Racism, White Privilege,
Show More

Related Documents: Marilyn Frye Oppression Analysis

Feminism: Feminism and Dominant Group Essay

nature to improve the treatment of women. There is a major difference in saying that you support feminism and actually doing something to show that support. To further explain my understanding of feminism, I want to uncover the different layers of oppression that women face. While in the 1900’s the goal of feminism was for women to receive equal treatment to men, feminism is no longer in opposition to just men, but race, class, and gender as well. This is how the intersectional approach to feminism…

Words 994 - Pages 4

Philosophy 241 Lecture Note Essay

feminist reflections by Marilyn Frye. 2. Deontological ethics: Immanuel Kant: Sections 1 and 2 of the Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals; Kant's notorious essay "On a Supposed Right to Tell Lies." Contemporary reflections by existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre and African American philosophers Bernard Boxill, Laurence Thomas. 3. Virtue Ethics (a.k.a. Character Ethics): Aristotle, most of The Nicomachean Ethics. Contemporary reflections on anger by Marilyn Frye. 4. Varieties of Moral…

Words 7807 - Pages 32