Identities Social Locations Who am I Who are My People Key Words Privilege Hierarchy Unconscious Social conditions Normative Meritocracy Similar to how forms of oppression are connected forms of privilege are connected White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions maps passports codebooks visas clothes tools and blank checks Invisible is used because privilege goes unnoticed and unchecked by the privileged person Socialization and education do not train the privileged individual in viewing themselves as an oppressor unfairly advantaged person and a participant in the damaged culture Privilege works systematically to oppress marginalized groups Disapproving of the system is not sufficient to cause systemic change Privileged individuals must be conscious of their privilege and work deliberately to reconstruct society Talking Back In chapter one bell hooks describes the different domains in which black males and females dominate the church and home points out that that girls are silenced and seen as having no future in speaking while boys are encouraged to become speakers preachers emphasizes that girls could be threatened with the label of madness for speaking too much Talking back speaking as an equal to an authority figure Right speech of womanhood the sign of woman s submission to patriarchal authority Key quote Moving from silence into speech is for the oppressed the colonized the exploited and those who stand and struggle side by side a gesture of defiance that heals that makes new life and new growth possible It is that act of speech of talking back that is no mere gesture of empty words that is the expression of moving from object to subject that is the liberated voice hooks 18 by Dorothy Allison A Question of Class Key Words Socioeconomic location Class stratification Conditioning Geographic location Myth Internalized oppression In this article Allison addresses the struggles that she faced due to her socioeconomic and geographic locations as well as her sexual orientation The horror of class stratification racism and prejudice is that some people believe that the security of their families and community depends on the oppression of others Primary Lessons o Society creates myths about marginalized groups which are upheld o Members of said groups internalize the sentiments and take part in enforcing them o We negotiate multiple identities that may be in conflict with one another o Resistance to internalization of socially constructed myths is necessary o Healing from the oppressive effects of marginalization is a journey Optional Ethnicities FOR WHITES ONLY Main idea White Americans of European ancestry can be described as having a great deal of choice in terms of their ethnic identities Key Words Ethnicity Racial passing Assimilation Self Identification Symbolic Identifications Note There is a difference between race and ethnicity 1920s Immigration was curtailed and European ethnic groups in the U S were cut off from any new arrivals 1990s Most members of European ethnic groups had a remote link to their ethnic origins Upward Mobility Social mobility and declining discrimination created the option of not identifying Most people of European ethnic origin have mixed ancestry The Result This gives them the option of which ethnicity to identify with Symbolic Ethnicities Define Leisure activities are leisure activities rooted in the nuclear family traditions and reinforced by the voluntary enjoyable aspects of being ethnic Effects The belief that ethnicities are individualistic in nature and without real social cost for the individual Construction The symbolic meaning of an ethnic identity can be constructed by individuals from mass media images family traditions of other social activities In other words for later generation White ethnics ethnicity is not something that influences their lives unless they want it to The freedom to include or exclude ancestries is not the same for those defined racially in society The Problem The symbolic ethnic think s that all identities are interchangeable This assumption ignores the very big difference between individualistic symbolic ethnic identity and socially enforced and imposed racial identity If your understanding of ethnicity is one of individual choice it becomes harder to understand the need for programs that bring about social change There are any social issues and involuntary ascription associated with non White identities Decolonizing Culture Beyond Orientalist and AntiOrientalist Feminisms Cultural continuity Binary Cultural Politic al Self Imperialism C olonialism Assimilation Orientalism Masculinist BY NADINE The Orient describes the countries that are east of Europe Stems from colonial thought It relies on representations of culture and religion as a justification for post cold war imperial expansion in the Middle East Stereotypes a host of social ills unchanging tradition s that exis t outside of history and are incompatible with civilization Label used as a cultural tool and a way to produce capital Throughout my childhood culture was a tool an abstract ephemeral notion of what we do and what we believe of who belongs and who does not Us and Them There is a dichotomous relationship between American and Arab culture that positions each against the other Prime Example Dominant middle class Arab American concepts of Arab Culture is an immigrant survival strategy for replacing U S Colonialist and Orientalist discourses with seemingly positive or empowering concepts of cultural identity Why Decolonize Today anything that is discussed about Arab culture begins with 9 11 What is understood as Arab culture is actually an Americanized monolithic version of Arab culture This form of Arab culture is then commoditized Arab women are used as vehicles for political campaigns They are perceived as upholders of morality and heterosexuality Compulsory heterosexuality patriarchy and male chauvinism become cultural norms Citing her personal experience as an Arab American Naber addresses how essentialist understandings of religion family gender and sexuality among Arab communities has allow ed Orientalist thought to be left intact and activated Leslie Feinberg s Key Words Gender Sex Transgender Trans liberation Cisgender Consciousness Raising It is vital to defend the right of individuals to express and define their sex and gender and to control their own bodies We are All Works in Progress Life in the Binary