Friday, September 7, 2012

Oppression

This article was one that was based on oppression.  According to the author, Marilyn Frye, the word oppression can mean many different things.  For example, on the first page of the article, in the first sentence Frye states that "The word 'oppression' is a strong word.  It repels and attracts.  It is dangerous and dangerously fashionable and endangered.  It is much misused, and sometimes not innocently."  To me, this statement shows that Frye finds the word "oppression" to mean something more negative than positive.  Throughout the rest of the article, Frye explains that first sentence more with examples of how the word "oppression" is seen as "dangerous" and also "misused."

There are two quotes that really caught my eye throughout the article.  On the bottom of the sencond page to the top of the third page of the article, Frye states "On the other hand, if she refrains from heterosexual activity, she is fairly constantly harrassed by men who try to persuade her into it and pressure her to "relax" and "let her hair down"; she is threatened with labels like 'frigid,' 'uptight,' 'man-hater', 'bitch,' and 'cocktease.'" "She may be charged into lesbianism."  To me, this quote from the article states that women don't necessarily have a right to choose when they want to be sexually active, and they have to pleasure the man whenever he is ready to be sexually active.  If the woman doesn't please the man when he wants it, she is viewed as those terms, and even as a lesbian.  I completely disagree with this statement.  I feel as though women should have every right to choose when they want to be sexually active with their partner, just as much as the man does.

The third quote that I found in the article is the following; "It is now possible to grasp one of the reasons why oppression can be hard to see and recognize: one can study the elements of an oppressive structure with great care and some good will without seeing the structure as a whole, and hence without seeing or being able to understand that one is looking at a cage and that there are people who are caged, whose motion and mobility are restricted, whose lives are shaped and reduced."  This quote really stood out to me because before reading this article (and still somewhat after reading the article), I was not sure what the word "oppression" meant. I had to look up the definition to the word.  This shows that there is a lot of confustion throughout the world when it comes to understanding the true meaning of the word.  There are multiple meanings and the word can be used in many different ways.  The definition that YOU choose is depending on your views of the situation.

1 comment:

  1. I think you pointed out some good quotes in the article. Especially the article was I toke it as a more intense material read.

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