Intersectionality

"The Social Construction of Gender," by Judith Lorber, appropriately depicts the idea of intersectionality, at least within this particular quote: "In poorer groups that have few resources(such as working-class African Americans in the United States), women and men are more nearly equal, and the women may even outstrip the men in educational and occupational status." To me, this clearly shows the level race plays in society, when we look at the role of women of color. We need to ask ourselves, "Why do we value a white woman over a black woman, if gender is the only issue at stake?" And, to add to that, it's obvious socioeconomic class is playing a role as well. Which raises the question, "Why do we value the economically prosperous over the poor?"

It is clear that we have, as a society, this "norm" that we go by; we literally structure our entire lives around it. Anything that deviates from it makes us very uncomfortable and, therefore, is considered "wrong" in the eyes of the ones who oppose it. Lorber further explains the multiple factors of intersectionality in this quote: "Both "sex" and "gender" are woven of multiple, asymmetrical strands of difference, charged with multifaceted dramatic narratives of domination and struggle." And, hence, we see this same power struggle and dynamic among the racial divide, when adding and applying the gender card. Women, of color, and lower economic status are thrice damned in today's American culture.

Yet, the media, government(people in power, such as politicians), and pop-culture continue to pervert reality in order to convince us all that we are still the overly-welcoming, non-judgmental, land-of-the-free melting pot of the world. In reality, the United States is much less accepting than it claims. The U.S. assumes a position of unanimity, in reference to race, gender, sexuality, socioeconomic class, etc.-unfortunately, that is just not the case. Yes, we must admit, we have made great strides as a country, when it comes to social biases, however, we still have a long way to go.

Patriarchy

I have to say that, before reading The Gender Knot, I truly believed men (at least the men I've come to know) to be incredibly selfish, domineering, control freaks. Turns out I am indeed correct, but apparently it is much more complicated than that. Okay, so I cannot say that all men have this ridiculous, insensitive nature, however, there is credence to this stereotypical "tool" phenomenon. I have personally experienced multiple relationships (romantic and platonic) where the man's character was analogous to that of the quintessential chauvinist; certain passages in this excerpt really help to explain this bizarre behavior. Knot:

          "If men want to be seen and acknowledged by others, it will be through what they do and how well they live up to the standards of patriarchal manhood. This affects both individual men and patriarchy as a system, for men's focus on themselves and women's focus on others reinforce patriarchy's male-identified, male-centered aspects. These, in turn, support male dominance by making it easier for men to concentrate on enhancing and protecting their own status." (p 6)

In other words, this passage really cleared a lot up for me-in simple terms, it is not the fault of the boys/men being raised. It is the fact of being raised within a society that believes in, and continues to perpetuate, a patriarchal society. And this happens by the older generation raising and teaching the younger generation ideals that come from a time when this attitude was accepted. I realize, now, that anything we opposed at one time will take a great deal of time to completely accept. To this day we still see racism, however, it was 50+ years ago that the movement to end racism began. Sure, we tend to be politically correct, especially regarding the media and pop culture, but underneath the surface it still exists.

Obviously, the same goes for the feminist movement. Knot: "Every social system has a certain amount of give in it that allows some change to occur, and in the process leaves deep structures untouched and even invisible." As a society, we don't want to delve deeper into the root of a problem, because it is uncomfortable and unnerving, therefore, we pretend to "deal" with it while actually ignoring the real truth.