Oppression by Marilyn Frye is a fierce article the pushed a lot of buttons for me. Like the title submits this is about maltreatment, the abuse of women that is the normal in our societies. Frye points to how we live in a hypocrite society, where women are abused for most any decision they make and then abused again if they do the opposite. If a women is open about her sexuality she is labeled and shamed, if she is closed about her sexuality she is pressured and humiliated. I agree that this is a wide spread wrongdoing. Listening to a lot of urban music will easily highlight this, or even looking at women politicians dressed. This is unhealthy, abusive, irresponsible, wounding, hurtful, and cowardly. Society has been like this for as long as time, women have walked over for thousands of years.
While Frye also shares that both men and women contribute to the problem, she does not offer a great reason as to why this has happened in the first place. Her assigning the responsibility (or blame) on men who are phony for opening doors for women but not standing up for women's rights is not pointing to the bigger issue. She mentions that people look at the bigger picture (the micro) and not the smaller details (the macro), but she ends up missing some of the picture too. Both genders have
incredible problems, from men's history of war and emotional trauma to women's history isolating themselves and shaming each other and everything in between. We are dealing with some very screwed up people within both genders in society. We are all wounded, dazed and confused, it is no wonder most people do not act in more loving and respectful ways. Frye holds men (and to a lesser extent women) to some degree responsible for their behaviors. I agree that it is appropriate to hold others accountable accordingly.What I don't agree with is when dealing with the sick (of mind, emotion, and spirit), poisoning them with unfair shaming, that is being part of the micro and macro problem. Tough love is not necessarily harsh love, and justice is not punishment. We need to continue to gain more clarity as we move forward.
Here is a vid of Jed Bush saying women should be shamed to control them:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOkV60edVZE
I liked this a lot. I like that you point out the irony in the author's arguments, which is something I noticed too. She does a good job of pointing out that both sides suffer, but I feel like she isn't really getting into detail as to why, or at least not as much as she should be. Everyone should be on equal footing. It doesn't mean people won't experience issues and struggles, but at least everyone will have a "fair playing field" as far as handling those issues.
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