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Oppression is described by the Oxford English Dictionary as ‘cruel or unjust treatment or exercise of authority’ and it can also be described as ‘a situation in which people are… prevented from having opportunities and freedom’ as outlined by the Cambridge dictionary. Oppressive acts are commonly used against people who belong to certain groups and categories. In a modern world-renowned for its diversity and inclusivity, we are still able to see many forms of oppression daily. Oppression comes in many forms. Lisa Young (2004) called them the ‘Five Faces of Oppression’; Violence, Exploitation, Marginalisation, Powerlessness, and Cultural Imperialism. Not everyone is subjected to the same forms of oppression. Violence is a visible face, but it is through the faces of Cultural Imperialism and Marginalisation that Oppression has made its way into our society and social constructs. Social norms and structures have created a culture of power levels, separated into the powerless and those who hold authority. Power structures can be based on race, culture, gender, and class.
Social Identity Theory, originally introduced by Tajfel and Turner (1979), outlines the need for human beings to migrate into groups due to similarities in behaviors and circumstances. Humans use this idea to relate to and recognize other humans. These mental constructs create social norms, and expected behaviors and create the foundations on which social interactions are based. The human mind is attracted to what it perceives as normal, this is a bias, a perception built upon one’s position in society. ‘Within the social realm, this human tendency to search for patterns naturally results in the creation of in-groups and out-groups’, in many situations this division of people directly correlates to other labels; the oppressed and the oppressors, the uppers and the lower, the in-groups and the out-groups. A simple explanation of this social system is of people who are like you and people who are different from you: We are, and They are. It can be as simple as supporting Manchester United and supporting Liverpool in the English Premier League. This human behavior gives rise to many prejudices and biases towards what is perceived as the out-group (the others).
Tajfel and Turner in 1979, divided their theory to encompass three processes; Categorisation, Identification, and Comparison (McLeod, S. A., 2019). Social Identity Theory outlines how oppression has originated. It is in these divisions of people that we begin to see comparisons between differently identified categories of people. In these comparisons, social constructs form the idea of uppers and lower. Power and authority lie with the in-group over the out-group and so the out-group is unfairly subordinated. However, it is essential to acknowledge the complexity of the role of people who become the oppressors in many cases, as many oppressive actions aren’t deliberate but are the results of a series of restrictions in law created by institutions to implicit stereotypes. Oppression is a negative concept that holds serious consequences for peace and inclusivity in our society, yet it is not always a cruel deliberate action by a group. As a middle-class – Irish woman, with a friendship with a middle-class – Sudanese woman, there can be a distinct comparison made between ethnicity and skin colour. These differences are used daily to describe experiences and opinions, but this can also contribute to such social ideas becoming mainstream and approved ideas.
Letty Cottin Pogrebin (1992), a known journalist and social activist, acknowledges how our history has shaped our oppressive nature when she said “When men are oppressed, it’s a tragedy. When women are oppressed, it’s tradition.”. Many people in our society are oppressed. They are restrained, lacking freedom, and subject to someone in a ‘higher’ position. Many groups have a history of being confined to the rules created by an authoritative figure. It is within these centuries and decades of lacking freedom, that a culture of oppression has been created. Many oppressed people are part of a minority group, a group of people who hold little to no authority in social standings. In Ireland, these social categories were commonly women, members of the traveling community, people with disabilities, Protestants, and members of the LGBTQ+ community. Groups that were perceived to not fit into the normal ideology of a human being. Yet, not all members of such categories have been victims of oppression. Growing up in a strong, open, and vocal family created an inclusive environment where people with Disabilities, strong women role models, people with different religious values, and people with different sexualities and preferences were a day-to-day norm in my household.
Audre Lorde (1979), feminist, womanist, librarian, and civil rights activist are iswn for her strong voice opposing the oppression of women, people of color, and those in the LGBTQ+ community. She is known for saying “For the master’s tool will never dismantle the master’s house.”. This creates a profound understanding that real change is not created by them for us, but by us for us. To bring about societal and cultural change concerning the daily oppression faced by many, deliberate or not, a stand must be taken to highlight these injustices on a public platform separate from tools used by oppressors. The need for freedom pulls the oppressed from their restraints to stand and march and protest against those who treat them unjustly, even if that is the majority of the society that we live in. Many prejudices become a normal thought process when they have been verified by those in authority. Young-Bruehl (1998) outlines how biases and prejudices are supported by political and legal ideals, created by those with power, ‘prejudice, social distance if it erodes, must be reinforced politically and legally’. To change society, we must create substantial change within these sectors of authority. Power structures have created this history of oppressive regimes and it is power itself that can change this. Power within, power to, power with the people. To have to power to stand up for yourself and against your oppressor has more weight to it than the authority that oppresses.
Ireland has had its fair share of oppressive regimes and ideologies in the past. These social constructs have not all been abolished yet. One prominent example of change and development by the people of Ireland is the progression of women in the state. From 1884-1938, it was a common view that Ireland itself was a woman, in need of protection by her “sons”. Afsaneh Najmabadi (2005) acknowledged that including women in this abstract sense, can exclude women in reality. It creates a further distance between men and women. There is a great sense of achievement from the progression of women in Ireland. Although, there is still much to work for to eradicate oppression based on gender in our society. For women, we still see issues with gender-based violence, gender pay gap, and gender participation levels. As a woman in Ireland, it is becoming easier but also more important to shift the power dynamics in our society. Global movements are contributing to this shift and increased participation can only boost this important change further.
Bibliography:
- Cambridge University Press. (2008). Cambridge online dictionary. Cambridge Dictionary online. Retrieved on November 22, 2019, from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/
- Cuhadar, E., & Dayton, B. (2011). The Social Psychology of Identity and Inter-group Conflict: From Theory to Practice. International Studies Perspectives. (s.l.: Oxford University Press)
- Lorde, A. (1979) The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House.
- McLeod, S. A. (2019). Social identity theory. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/social-identity-theory.html (Accessed November 23, 2019). 3 Social Identity Theory Stages
- Najmabadi, A. (2005) Women with Mustaches and Men without Beards: Gender and Sexual Anxieties of Iranian Modernity. Berkley CA: Californian University Press, pp 207-231. Comparison of the identification of women as abstract ideas.
- Oxford University Press. (2015) Oxford Dictionary of English. (s.l.:Oxford University Press)
- Pogrebin, L. (1992) Deborah, Golda, and Me: Being Female and Jewish in America. (s.l.: Anchor)
- Tajfel, H., Turner, J. C., Austin, W. G., & Worchel, S. (1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. Organizational identity: A reader, 56-65.
- Taylor, E. (2016) Groups and Oppression: What is Oppression? [e-book]. s.l.: Hypathia. Volume 31, Issue 3. http://fh6xn3yd3x.search.serialssolutions.com/?id=doi:10.1111/hypa.12252&sid=wiley&iuid=6861090&date=2016&jtitle=Hypatia&volume=31&atitle=Groups+and+Oppression&genre=article&spage=520&issue=3&title=Hypatia&issn=0887-5367&epage=536 (Accessed November 20, 2019)
- Young, L., Heldke, l. and O’Connor, P. eds. (2004) Oppression, Privilege, & Resistance. Boston: McGraw Hill. ‘Five Faces of Oppression’, oppression forms.
- Young-Bruehl, E. (1998) The Anatomy of Prejudices: Constructing Ideal Types. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, pp 405. Role of Politics and Law in oppression due to the authoritative state of such roles in society.
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