KINE 1000 Chapter Notes - Chapter 18: White Supremacy, Marilyn Frye, Adrienne Rich
4 Jul 2018
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Making Systems of Privilege Visible by Stephanie M Wildman and Adrienne D. Davis
The notion of privilege, although part of the consciousness of the population, has not
been officially recognized in legal language and text
oThis failure to acknowledge privilege (to make is visible in legal text) creates a
gap in legal reasoning (policies and laws), rendering us unable to discuss issues of
systematic unfairness
The invisibility of privilege strengthens the power it creates and maintains and since the
invisible can’t be fought, privilege is allowed to grow and regenerate
Privilege is systematic
Silence is the lack of sound and voice
oSilent make originate from:
Desire for quiet
Intense mental concentration
Oppression and fear
We need to use language to speak about the unspoken privilege system
oBut even the language that we use, when we do talk about privilege, inhibits out
ability to understand the systems of privilege that make the status quo
How Language Veils The Existence of Systems of Privilege
To begin the conversation about subordination (lower rank/inferior), we sort ideas into
categories such as race and gender
oThe words of “gender” and “race” are part of a system of categorization (and
labeling) that we unconsciously use without even thinking about it because the
words seem linguistically neutral
According to philosopher Marilyn Frye, we ask about the gender of the child when we
hear that somebody had a newborn because we do not know how to relate to this new
being (child) without knowing its gender
We all live in this raced and gendered world, inside these powerful categories, that
make it hard to see each other as whole people
Race is often defined as Black vs. White or “of color” vs. White
The worlds describing racial category (African American, Asian American, Hispanic
American, even White American)
oAll these words describing racial subcategories seem to be neutral but in fact,
these words mask a system of power and that system privileges whiteness
Gender, too, is seemingly neutral but in fact privileges males
Poet and social critic Adrienne Rich writes about a the obligatory heterosexuality is part
of the gender system
oHeterosexuality is portrayed as the norm
Although we must have money to obtain basic human necessities, these fundamental
needs are recognized only as an individual responsibility
The notion of privilege because of economic wealth is a taboo subject as is see a radical
and dangerous idea that is a throwback to the past
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Making systems of privilege visible by stephanie m wildman and adrienne d. davis. The invisibility of privilege strengthens the power it creates and maintains and since the invisible can"t be fought, privilege is allowed to grow and regenerate. Silence is the lack of sound and voice: silent make originate from: How language veils the existence of systems of privilege. According to philosopher marilyn frye, we ask about the gender of the child when we hear that somebody had a newborn because we do not know how to relate to this new being (child) without knowing its gender. We all live in this raced and gendered world, inside these powerful categories, that make it hard to see each other as whole people. Race is often defined as black vs. white or of color vs. white. The worlds describing racial category (african american, asian american, hispanic.
