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Iris Young s Five Faces of Oppression and the theories of French philosopher Simone de Beauvoir s The Second Sex complement each other showing how women s subordination to the dominant group can lead them to give in to it and feel that their status as inferiors is something they should never change We explore the limitations women face in society and how they are oppressed in relation to others in de Beauvoir s book Chapter 2 of Young s book Justice and the Politics of Difference proves the various aspects of oppression and their implications for both the oppressed and the dominant power We will examine De Beauvoir s essential concepts and Young s all encompassing framework in the following sections making connections between them When combined their ideas successfully portray female subordination and the resulting sensation of powerlessness By exposing these factors that continue to influence women s lived experiences in society I hope to add to the ongoing conversation about gender power and justice To start off Simone de Beauvoir s book The Second Sex details the treatment of women in society and evaluates women s oppression Contrary to other beliefs during her time she believes a woman is not as simple as biologically being a woman She says If the female function is not enough to define woman and if we also reject the explanation of the eternal feminine but if we accept even temporarily that there are women on the earth we then have to ask What is a woman The Second Sex pg 5 So noting that women are neither just biological nor feminine entities Beauvoir explains that a woman is instead a reflection of the subjectivity and limitations placed on her by others in society She explains this by using several examples one of them being a representation for these two genders man and woman telling how men stand for the positive and neutral aspects of the pole while women stand for the negative Women are everything men are not they are the other in relation to men Essentially humanity is male dominated and man defines woman in relation to himself rather than in her own right The Second Sex pg 5 This viewpoint is a compelling call to action for acknowledging the power and complexity that women naturally have shattering the stereotypes that have constantly tried to restrict them of it Ultimately women can start to believe this inferiority and are convinced to stay conformant in being inferior they stop seeking power for themselves Being classified as the sort of other she explains that women can end up starting to act as such and follow orders from the dominant party in this case men In addition Iris Young s Five Faces of Oppression is the second chapter of her book Justice and the Politics of Difference and it supplies insight into the differences between oppression and discrimination and what sides of oppression people face Her astute observations reveal the stark contrast between power over power with and power to shedding light on the prevelant nature of oppression across social structures The 5 facets that can be seen within her chapter are Exploitation Marginalization Powerlessness Cultural Imperialism and Violence Obviously groups are not oppressed to the same degree or in the same ways In the most general sense all oppressed people share some inhibition of their ability to develop and exercise their capacities and express their needs thoughts and feelings Justice and the Politics of Difference pg 93 Young describes powerlessness as those who lack authority within themselves and have little to no professional autonomy either Justice and the Politics of Difference pg 105 This powerlessness can be seen in a professional setting as well Those in high professional jobs have daily work autonomy compared to those who work for such professionals This can commonly be seen in different scenarios of race gender and or religion Importantly Young s framework not only diagnoses the systemic challenges but also serves as a catalyst for fostering a more fair and just society Overall oppression is not an individualistic concept like discrimination but rather the effects a group of people suffer due to unconscious assumptions and stereotypes Young uses these ideas to explain her concepts of social differences and the nature of justice Iris Young s depiction of their face of oppression powerlessness goes hand in hand with Simone de Beauvoir s idea of women complying to the notion of being identified as the other in relation to men in my opinion Now with powerlessness being identified as having a lack of autonomy in this definition men would be considered those who do obtain this technical expertise or authority in relation to de Beauvoir s ideas An effective way to picture this idea is in terms of religion This is seen in Christianity for example where women have always been inferior to men as they are not allowed to obtain positions of high authority until recently yet still exceedingly rare Women unlike men cannot be priests or deacons cannot lead congregations and often subjected to the position of nuns In addition the story of Adam and Eve depicts that Adam was made first having Eve being made from part of Adam s rib Woman was made after men in relation to man not as an individual herself not in relation to anyone else Though these women in these religious positions can choose to reject and speak out on the misogynist and sexist limitations placed on them within their religion they instead comply and work within the means allowed for them according to those in power With women in religion like in the ideas expressed by de Beauvoir are the other In this scenario I have given the dominant party would be the men who hold power within religion while women are the group who is stereotyped and marked out as the other With women in religion like in the ideas expressed by de Beauvoir being cast as the other is not exclusive to Christianity but is seen across various religions and beyond Aside from this religion example itself Young s and de Behavior s ideas go hand in hand with eachother to illuminate on the conclusion that women in relation to men are inferior and considered the other In conclusion the combination of Iris Young s Five Faces of Oppression and Simone de Beauvoir s groundbreaking work The Second Sex illuminates the complex dynamics of women s oppression inside social institutions Young s comprehensive analysis of the powerlessness face of oppression is closely related to De Beauvoir s


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FSU HUM 3252 - Essay

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