Sage Stobbart, A02, Week 3

The power of oppression is something in our society that many take advantage of, in a number of different ways. Oppression in simple terms, is basically the concept that there are majority groups that control resources and choices, which in term, greatly affect those of the minority groups. Society has shaped itself in a way that a White, middle- to upper-class man is the top of the food chain in this world as a result of social engineering. In result, making everyone falling into a gender different than that, a race different than that, an economic status different than that, and many other factors, a minority. I, as a woman, have fallen short of opportunities and have experienced oppression in areas where it would have been a completely different outcome if I was a male. Now, if you combine two minority groups together, being a woman, and Asian-American, you begin to face a different struggle.

Source: Laura Doctor Blog
(feminine oppression, October 8, 2017)

Once you bring this oppression into the academy, these begin to become much deeper issues. As discussed in the Introduction of Fight the Tower, we must get to the root of the problem by reversing the preexisting views that society has formed surrounding those groups who are suppressed. Every aspect of our world has been created by the minds of our own kind, and therefore if it can be taught, it should be able to be untaught as well. I know it is not that easy, as these are based off of hundreds of years of oppressive beliefs and actions, but there must come a time where society comes to a realization that we, as human kind, must unite to create a better world. This is so much easier said than done, but I am personally mortified to hear of the horrible treatment that my peers and populations go through, especially in places you would think are "safe" such as the academy. When will people of power step down from their high-horse and come to terms with the fact that our society is seriously twisted in the ways that we treat one another?


References

Valverde, K.-L. C., & Dariotis, W. M. (2020). Fight the Tower: Asian American Women Scholars' Resistance and Renewal in the Academy. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.