Kayla Quick
GBS 3298
Tuesday, March 3, 2020
Systemic Oppression Produces Literature
The restrictions and obstacles resulting from patriarchy create a unique experience that women have within producing literature. The novel, essays, videos, and events from this semester in “Women Writing Worldwide” come from a place of experienced oppression. Using the alleged “makings of a female” in Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl,” the choices and definitions of an Indian woman in “The World Before Her,” Ijeoma’s coming-of-age story in Under the Udala Trees, and intersectionality within Kimberle Crenshaw’s “Mapping the Margins,” the presence of systemic oppression throughout women’s literature will be analyzed regarding the institutional structures of religion, family, and government, and the concepts of accessibility and internalization.
Jamaica Kincaid writes “Girl” in an overwhelming tone, which indicates the overwhelming nature of oppression by the family structure, and internalization of systemic oppression. It is naïve to think that patriarchy is not pertinent enough that women do not participate in their own oppression. On page 320, the mother says, “…this is how you smile to someone you don’t like very much…” While this seems like a simple task, men are known to tell women to “smile,” therefore the mother participates in patriarchy because she is telling her daughter to do something that men often tell women for their own personal desires. Within “Girl,” the mother has internalized the idea of what it means to be female and passes it down to her daughter, without thinking twice. The generational transfer of the acceptance patriarchy is exemplified when the mother says “…this is how you behave in the presence of men who don’t know you very well, and this way they won’t recognize immediately the slut I have warned you against becoming…” (321). Part of systemic oppression is the historical antecedents which have created and sustained it, which are manifested throughout Kincaid’s short story with the mother’s advice.
Nisha Pahuja’s documentary “The World Before Her,” depicts government, religion, and family as means of systemic oppression and examples of how that oppression is internalized. It was listed in the documentary that India has a record of about 750,000 girls aborted every year, and the number of girls killed at birth is unknown. The Indian government (and those for the patriarchy) being able to prefer males and get rid of the expected girls, is the most undeniable form of systemic oppression. In the documentary, traditional Indian culture and modern Indian advancements are put against each other. Religion, Hinduism within this documentary, stands as an oppressive force with its patriarchal values regarding marriage and careers. Throughout the documentary Prachi is ready to die by, and for, her religion, but also acknowledging the parts of it that she does not want to follow, like marriage and children. Prachi’s father believes, “a woman is complete only after giving birth.” Indian tradition becomes oppressive through family because Prachi’s father does not care about her preferences but insists she must follow what has always been done. Later in the documentary, Prachi is told “you’re fighting for a belief system that is actually controlling you,” and she stated that she knew that. Along with this acknowledgement, Prachi says “… he never hits me for things that are not wrong by me,” talking about her father. Prachi demonstrated her internalization of oppression when she thinks she deserves punishment because of her own mistakes. However, there is a certain liberation that Prachi has by being able to choose to fight for her country and religion even if others do not think it is right.
In Under the Udala Trees, Ijeoma is confronted with the intersectionality of her race, sexual orientation, and religion. Systemic oppression is presented through religion and family within this novel. The church is a pivotal part of the Black community and often the Black identity, regardless of the country. The irony behind religion being instrumental for the Black community is that religion is another form of oppression because it was used to manage slaves. Throughout Ijeoma’s life in the novel, she is constantly dealing with the beliefs of the Black church. On pages 88 and 89 of Under the Udala Trees, Ijeoma’s mother tries to “pray the gay out of her,” which is oppressive because even though that is what Ijeoma’s mother was taught, at some point, liking the other sex was considered wrong by a person with intention to oppress. The use of religion in Under the Udala Trees hindered Ijeoma from being happy and free. On pages 124 and 125, Ijeoma and Amina were caught together. During this scene, the grammar school’s teacher’s husband pointed at the Bible and yelled “an abomination!” The Bible is used to shame a young girl about her sexuality, but not Christians for owning, selling, and harming people for hundreds of years. In contrast with internalizing systemic oppression, Ijeoma knew who she was and did not feel bad about it. Eventually, Ijeoma embraced who she was because she felt that God would still love her.
In “Mapping the Margins,” Kimberle Crenshaw discusses the systemic oppression of women through language barriers and race, which affect accessibility to resources. On page 204, Crenshaw writes “Despite this woman’s desperate need, she was unable to receive the protection afforded English speaking women, due to the shelter’s rigid commitment to exclusionary policies.” When someone is not able to get assistance based on part of their identity, which reinforces their identity as a minority, and policies, it is systemic because there is something in place which discriminates and hurts an already marginalized group of people. Intersectionality is the idea of having more than one identity, which ultimately results in one being more oppressed. “The need to split one’s political energies between two sometimes opposing groups is a dimension of intersectional difference than men of color and white women seldom confront.” (202). Intersectionality is a channel for systemic oppression built within the institutional structures of society.
Systemic oppression is an overall pattern for the materials that have been covered within this course. Being a woman in this world is an automatic enrollment in systemic oppression because males are seen and treated as the dominant sex. A positive result of systemic oppression is the creation of literature, documentaries, or art that is produced by those who have a voice and a unique experience. What role does every individual play in systemic oppression? How often is experienced oppression discussed within men’s literature? Are things oppressive if it is the choice of the woman? Where is the line drawn between oppressive and liberating? What would be considered fighting systemic oppression? What are some other forms of systemic oppression? A thinking point for systemic oppression is the common acceptance and not everyone questions it.
