CRJ 2

Every person in the United States acknowledges that there is a difference between them and other people within our society. Rather it is race gender age or event the way we look. People also know that we need to work on some areas of our society to make it better as whole. We can admit that certain groups of people are disadvantaged within society; however when it comes to admitting that one is over privileged we have a problem admitting this.
Our society naturally recognizes differences among people and ranks people within society depending on there race, gender, class and other characteristics. As the text states the mythical norm is “white, middle class, heterosexual, abled thin and a young adult.” The hierarchy that is created through these rankings leads to privilege and inequality. People would much rather talk about being disadvantaged than to being over privileged.
Why is this? In Peggy McIntosh’s article “White Privilege and Male Privilege” she points out that is one this for a man to be supportive of women’s rights but it is completely another for them to admit that their behavior may need some modification to reach this goal of equality. She says “These denials protect male privilege from being fully recognized, acknowledged, lessened or ended.” Men say that they want equality between the genders but in the end are they really willing to lessen their own status.
Personally I know that I am guilty of not admitting to being over privileged. In the learning activity in the chapter it lists some characteristics of being over privileged and I am five of the six with male being the only exception. As McIntosh states people are taught not to recognize these privileges only to know that there is an opposite of each that puts another person at a disadvantage. People don’t want to admit to it because it may put their privilege at risk.
People not acknowledging their privilege gives way to ideas like the bootstrap myth. This idea, that with hard work and determination you can have any type of economic success that you may want. People that do not of economic successes must be the result of lack of motivation. The bootstrap myth does not take into account the fact the institutions have a set of standards and values that may put a person at a disadvantage because of their gender or race among other characteristics. These prejudices are internalized into our thoughts and people may actually begin to believe that they are not worthy because of flaws within them and not because of the inequalities that are presented in many of the institutions and throughout society.
One other point that the text talks about is the relationship between homophobia and sexism. The book says that homophobia works as a weapon of sexism; heterosexism creates the idea of the norm being heterosexual. Compulsory heterosexuality is the idea that the patriarchal family is what is accepted and is the norm within this society. According to Pharr beginning a lesbian affects all women in society because being considered a lesbian can stem from a variety of things. A woman who is powerful and confident within herself in the work place can be considered a lesbian because she does not need the man to support her and be the head of the house. Lesbian is just simply a nasty word to label women to make them step down and to “step back into to place”. After all most women would rather do this than being considered an “outcast” within society. Two of the three people I interviewed actually did associate the word lesbian with being a feminist. The word lesbian is just another weapon used to hold women down and keep that feeling of inequality. A word to make feminists seem even more outside the societal norm.