Oppression
By: Marilyn Frye
Quotes:
"The root of the word "oppression" is the element "press." The press of the crowd; pressed into military service; to press a pair of pants, printing press; press the button. Presses are used to mold things or flatten them or reduce them in bulk, sometimes to reduce them by squeezing out the gases or liquids in them. Something pressed is something caught between or among forces and barriers which are so related to each other that jointly they restrain, restrict or prevent the thing's motion or mobility. Mold. Immobilize. Reduce."
When I read this quote I understood that oppression means when women or men are forced to act or be a kind of way because of fear to get judged. For example If a women is sad but she does that show her true feelings in public because of fear of what others will think about her that makes her part of it. Also a person who is afraid to express their real sexuality but know that they will not get accepted by the family that I consider oppression as well. This is relevant to the text because the text its about oppression and I feel that this helps us understand oppression a little more.
"It is common in the United States that women, especially younger women, are in a bind where neither sexual activity nor sexual inactivity is all right. If she is heterosexually active, a woman is open to censure and punishment for being loose, unprincipled or a whore. The "punishment" come in the form of criticism, snide and embarrassing remarks, being treated as an easy lay by men, scom from her more restrained female friends. She may have to lie and hide her behavior from her parents. She must juggle the risks of unwanted pregnancy and dangerous contraceptives."
When I read this quote I understood from this quote that younger women especially that if they were heterosexually active they would get punished. Which means if the young women is wants to be with the opposite gender for intimate purposes. Basically they were treated as if the young women or women were whores just because they were heterosexually active and they would have to hide their actions from their parents. This is relevant to the text because I feel that in the text it does talk a lot about how women and young women have to be very careful of everything because they will easily get judged or punished.
"If one dresses one way, one is subject to the assumption that one is advertising ones sexual availability; if one dresses another way, one appears to "not care about oneself" or to be "unfeminine." If one uses "strong language," one invites categorization as a whore or slut; if one does not, one invites categorization as a "lady" - one too delicately constituted to cope with robust speech or the realities to which it presumably refers."
When I read this quote I understood that one is judged by the way that you dress and talks. It seems that one cant express their self through speaking or dressing because they don't know if one will be judged and get called something that they are not. This quote is relevant to the text because in the text it talks a lot about how people get judged quickly. Even if the other person does that know about each others life judgment is always key in the problem.
Hyperlink:
I feel that this article about oppression of women is perfect to understand a little more about oppression. It talks about the origins of women oppressions, oppression through history, Material Basis of Women’s Oppression and the Reproduction of Labour Power, and Women and Socialism. When I read this article it really help me understand oppression more. I was a little confused about oppression but this article did make it clear for me to understand it a little more.
Questions/Comments:
One thing that I would like to ask would be what do you guys think oppression is? Also I would like to talk a little about how in the article it talks about how people are getting judged because of the way that they dress and talk. Sincerely I think that everyone has different lives. Just because of the way that you dress or talk doesn't mean that you should be judged just because of that. But unfortunately even today that still happened. What do you guys think? Do you think that's fair?
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