Learning Analysis

Brenda Njinjoh

Women Studies

Due May 13, 2008

Learning Analysis

Women, Art and Culture was a class I signed up for to fulfill one of my core requirements. I did not know anybody who took the course before so, I came to the class curious about what the course going to be about. Personally, since the class was called Women’s studies, I thought the class was probably going to be about the history of women in the world and how the struggles they have been through to in order to make a difference in the world. For instance I imagined in the class, we would talk about famous women such as Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, or even Emelia Earhart. But to my surprise none of these women were mentioned in lecture or in discussion class. As time went by I realized that Women ’s Studies was more complex and deeper than I had imagined. This class was purposely about art by women, feminist art, and the ways women have analyzed and changed everyday life. To help us get more from the class, we read certain books such as Fight Like Girl, by Megan Seely, Feminism is for Everybody by bell hooks and Kindred by Octovia Butler. Further by visiting certain exhibitions solely to do with art, Museums in Washington D.C defiantly enriched our view about feminism and art.. Moreover through the group projects and discussions in class, it defiantly helped our discussion class feel more comfortable with one another and helped us take away something we did not know coming to the class. All these projects, books, trips helped us understand the true meaning of feminism and overall, although the class is almost over, with the new knowledge that I’ve acquire, there are certain things in the world and within my community that I will see and analyze differently or simply will not make assumptions about them because through Women Studies, I’ve grown to become a more educated individual.

I remember my very first week coming to the class and Professor King assigned us to visit various art museums in Washington D.C. Personally, I was a bit reluctant to go because I thought about the weather and how it might be difficult simply walking from one museum to another. Moreover, I thought going to these museums was a bit pointless and a waste of time. I wondered why Professor King could simply just show us slide shows of the art pieces from these museums. Instead of going to the museums with a group from the class, I decided to go alone. To my surprise, I did not regret any moment of my trip to Washington D.C. Being there in person to analyze the works of arts was very different from looking at them on the computer or a slide show. Being there in person gave you the ability and the opportunity to closely analyze the art pieces closely and see details you wouldn’t be able to see from a computer screen. I was able to build felt more closer to the art pieces and made me think about how it relates to my past experiences. Before coming to each museum, I wrote down several assumptions about Art and Feminism. For instance, some included that feminism was a concept that applied only to women, how feminism started after World War II and even how the National Museum of the American Indian would not have a lot display for women. To my surprise the National Museum of the American Indian had a section dedicated to women and the various practices that they did and how their hard work and practices made a difference in the community. One particular artist that I impressed was by is Alexander Calder. I can not really explain the connection I felt when I saw his art works. Maybe it was vivid color or the weird figures with circle on the painting. His painting is the type the at I would hang in my room to admire every day and enlighten my life. Through out my transition from one museum to another, I thought realized that although I grew around this Metropolitan Area, it is a quite amusing how we do not take advantage of the different exhibits around us and maybe if we took our time to simply appreciate them by visiting and talking about them, it will make a difference in our lives and erase several assumptions we have about people, culture, feminism and even art.

The next project was a group project with our discussion class But unlike previous group participations, the feminism group participation was different because it was my first time communicating with all of the members that I really didn’t know. Yet, overall, we had a great discussion about feminism and learned a great deal about the concept through communicating and expressing our thoughts. In the beginning, because we weren’t familiar with each other, speaking out was a something that each member did not really do. In addition, we understood what it is we were suppose to do but felt unsure about how we would be able to form a definition about feminism. At the end our group came up with a fantastic idea that in order to help others in the community to learn about feminism, our organization, Terps for Women, would sponsor an activity on campus dealing with feminism in relation to sport. The event includes both a movie and a baseball in hopes of spreading awareness about Title IX. This event is intended to be both a social and educational for those who participate. Although we came up with a great event, at the beginning it was not so easy. Each group member had ideas that they brought up and I think the fact each group member participated lead to the creation of the final event. During our group discussion I mentioned that we could spread awareness outside of the country because there are so many conflicts dealing with women all over the world. I felt the group project was an important assignment in this course because we got the chance to share and exchange views about certain topics. Moreover, I learned that each person came to the class with a different idea of the meaning of feminism.

Our very last project which required us to work with another member of our discussion class was by far my favorite project. This is because the concept and the knowledge I got from this project helped me analyze and really think in depth about my community, the structure of power structures everyday life, about how art participates in our abilities to make things change and move; participates in our abilities to work with, around, through and against these structures in dynamic ways. In the past I never really thought or analyze the distribution of power by analyzing it through marked and unmarked categories. Obviously, I knew that the world that we live in not equal. There have been conflicts in the past and they are some conflicts that we as individuals, groups, family, the world are dealing with. I enjoyed the opportunity to present our projects about the marked and unmarked issues in our lives to the class. Doing so was a way of telling others class members, people you usually do not talk to, a part of who you are and certain adversities you’ve goon through. Most of the time, people are venerable of judging people simply by looking at time, and they make assumptions that, for instance because she’s a black then, she’s not smart or can not write”. Most people just make assumptions because it is what they portray in the media and unfortunately because are so capable of believing what they see in the media. This is because the media for most people is their primary source of information. A perfect example came about BET and how it is not proper that the name of the channel was titled Black Entertainment Television. Most member in our discussion class felt that calling it Black Entertainment Television was improper because it is biased or one of the things that can spark a controversy amongst races. Unfortunately, what she failed to realized is that the title of the station has a deep meaning. The station is very positive of the black community in the United States because it is place where they can come together and learn about what is going on in the black community because most television station fail to recognize this. So through this class discussion, in the marked category was that BET should not be titled Black Entertainment Television while in the unmarked category, some people fail to realized that majority of television are mostly for Caucasians.

Aside from the assignments, through the books we read in class such as Kindred by Octavia E. Butler, and Fight Like a Girl by Megan Seely in addition to Feminism is for Everybody Bell Hooks are some of the books that made the course more enriching and enjoyable. Kindred was favorite amongst all the books that we read because it covered the abuse of power, the limits of traditional gender roles, and the repercussions of racial conflict. Moreover, the free writes we did during lectures was necessary because they helped us write our reactions right away after Professor King finished talking about a certain topics. Writing our first reaction was beneficial because it helped us engaged with the topics being conversation. Putting our reactions on papers is also beneficial because you can always keep it and look back on what you wrote.

Overall Women, Art and Culture is a class that I had to, would defiantly take again. Also this is a class I will defiantly recommend for those whose have several misconceptions about the term feminism and the true meaning of this term. I enjoyed the conversations in discussion class, exchanging and reading other people works in the blog, the books, the trips and all the other great things this course had to offer.

Assignment Four

Lauren Kessler
5-07-08
WMST250 Sec. 08


I entered this course with an array of misconceptions about feminism and a limited knowledge of its relevance to me and to society. I had never taken much time to objectively think about and define feminism, feminist art, or art in general, nor did I understand the significance of relationships shared among these concepts and the world around me. I took this course both to fulfill a core requirement, but also because I am interested in art and culture, and I desired to take a class in women's studies in order to learn and develop my thinking. My interest developed as the course began and progressed. I immediately appreciated its construction, its emphasis on learning rather than upon insuring good grades, and found the readings engaging and the professor excited to teach. I journeyed through the course as the center of a story about my life in this society as it relates to what we all thought about, discussed and learned together. Now as it draws to a close and my story continues elsewhere, I appreciate the integral knowledge I have gained and the new associations I have formed.

The assignments, readings, freewrites and subjects for independent thought proposed for us in the course have all been vastly essential to our new understanding of women, art and culture. I also valued reading the class blog, which shared a wealth of information and interesting topics for thought and discussion. I had never had a class that went so in depth with what it provided, nor have I had a teacher so eager and willing to teach her subject. In the beginning of the class, I very much enjoyed visiting the art museums and analyzing art in ways I haven't before done. It is exciting to look at something new and evaluate it innovatively, and even more so to look at something I have seen before and see it in a new light, to change my perspective and draw conclusions from that I wouldn't have otherwise drawn. Through this I better learned how to think and engage critically, and was a wonderful stepping stone for the beginning of the course to learn to denaturalize assumptions. Cynthia Freeland's book, But is it Art?, was integral to me for this reason; she reveals to us the vastness of art in all its strange, shocking and ground-breaking ways. This book allowed me to think openly about art and its possible definitions, about my place in the world of art, and how this relates to feminism. I am an artist, as a writer is one in her crafting of words or a philosopher is one in her crafting of theory, and I am free to observe art and to observe how it effects me as a woman and as a person in general. Assignment two asked me to think about a definition of feminism that was objective and all-encompassing, which forced me to dispel previous notions and subjective assumptions of what I had thought feminism was. For the assignment we created an event which would help spread understanding of feminism and appreciation of equality, which was important considering feminism requires action, as Megan Seely and others highlight in their work. In this assignment and in the third, I worked with others and learned a lot about the differences between us, but more importantly about the similarities. We are all in our respective stories that involve our journeying throughout the course, but we are also interconnected and share parts in eachother's stories. In assignment three I learned about the concept of the matrix of domination and was asked to think about the various factors influencing oppression and privilege in our society and the intersectionality of people because of the categories with which they are identified. I spent a lot of time wondering independently about the way power is set up in our society and I thoroughly enjoyed what I learned while writing my paper for assignment three.

Through this course I better learned how to read actively, how to cultivate interest in material that was completely foreign to me or was something I would normally not have picked up to read. An example of this is bell hook's Feminism is for Everybody: Passionate Politics, which taught me valuable information about the definition of feminism and the practical ways in which the perspective is relevant to everyday life. I felt the book was written as an introduction to people who knew little about feminism and desired to challenge their assumptions, and this made it easy to understand and enlightening. I learned how to look at social problems such as sexism and racism and basic social existences such as capitalism and class disparity and apply them to feminism to theorize new causes. I was empowered by hook's explanation of true liberation in social, economic, and other arenas. She discussed the meaning of women increasingly entering the workforce and earning more money than in the past, and critiqued the common conclusion that this implies greater freedom, opportunity and equality for women. This was interesting to me because I had never thought about this in regard to class structure, how this opportunity varies for wealthy and poor women, and defined roles. hooks explains that if women are working to make money for greater spending rather than for greater well-being, then the influence of this societal change is void, as liberation is the key. What I learned from this book helped me during assignment three in which I challenged myself to recognize oppression and privilege in my own life with regard to the matrix of domination. I was better able to relate my life's experiences to the inequality inherent in today's world.

Megan Seely's Fight Like a Girl: How to be a Fearless Feminist, was an informative and inspiring book which teaches about feminism for the present time and for the present youth, and forsees its future. I appreciated that her book offered practical solutions and emphasized the importance of taking action rather than simply espousing ideologies like similar books do, and I learned a lot from it. I particularly enjoyed reading about issues of body image and the struggles of women with their bodies, and I felt I could relate to the author's grapplings. It is interesting to think about such concepts in relation to feminist issues, how our perceptions of ourselves are influenced by the gender roles imposed upon us from our parents and from society, and how we struggle with positive self-image despite the array of negative influences by the media and other avenues. Seely's book is essential for all women because we all live in a society where feminist issues are relevant and where women are affected, whether or not we choose to recognize it. She encourages us to defy the defined roles and boundaries imposed upon us and to appreciate the strength and power of women, which helped me to contemplate how I am vastly capable and worthy as a woman and as a person in general.

Kindred, by Octavia Butler, is a fascinating novel concerning racism and oppression, abuses of power, and gender roles. I enjoyed that it is a science-fiction book also interesting feminist readers that challenges our assumptions in imaginative ways. The main character, a contemporary African-American woman, is continually transported back into time in order to rescue her white ancestor. Dana's and Rufus's lives are interconnected and interdependent; he is dependent on her, a black woman, for his survival, and her life in the future depends on his continued survival and his production of a child with Alice. When she is thrown into the past, she can no longer be herself. The threat of harm forces her to act differently, as if she were a slave, and adjust herself to the boundaries imposed upon her by her slave owners and the assumptions of her by others around her. It reveals how simple it is to fall into imposed categories and act accordingly, and is relevant to any occasion in which a person is put into an unfamiliar category or markedness; they must reassimilate and re-examine their circumstances. As she learns about the great struggles of African-American women during slavery in the 1800s, so does the reader, and together they feel, actually and suggestively, what it was like to be a slave. Kindred effectively put me in the perspective of understanding the mentality of a slave, how it hurt and conflicted the mind and body, and what it felt like to be oppressed, persecuted and abused for seemingly no reason.

Upon enrolling in Women, Art, and Culture, I was unaware of what level of fundamental understanding I would leave with or what vastness of knowledge I would gain. I certainly learned about women's culture and art, activism and feminist politics, but more importantly, I learned about the dynamics of the society in which I live and how I am affected by this, my assumptions and then my reevaluations of them, and how all of this reshapes myself and possibilities for myself and others. I was surprised by my readiness to participate in freewrites and to, for example, spend time thinking about what I heard someone say in discussion. This is because the subject matter was important and relevant to me, as it is to everyone. Feminism is about the way our society would ideally be, but also about how it is, and its intrinsic value is evident in everyone's lives if they look for it. This encouragment of independent contemplation is what makes this course essential, and because of it we become part of story. We leave the lecture and the discussion but what we heard and what we talked about stays with us and is directly applied to our lives as we go about them. We are changed by what we learn, we are enlightened by our dispelling of previous beliefs, and we are encouraged to continue in our paths of development.

WMST250 Assignment #4

Assignment #4: The Story Line of WMST250 staring: Andria Bowman

It was December 4, 2007, and one of the latest registration dates for Spring 2008 classes. Being a freshman that failed to bring in any AP credits, I was naturally left picking through left over classes to achieve the schedule that would satisfy my major and CORE requirements. I basically did not have a choice but to register for WMST250. All I could think was about feminism, and how much I did not know about it. Walking in the first day I was surprised because I had never been in a class that contained over 25 people. And to be blunt, when Professor Katie King began introducing herself and the course, I was curious as to whether she was joking or not. The course was more about finding feminism than the actual grades, I was relieved yet confused. I skimmed through the syllabus and became very familiar with the content and our assignments that we would be completing. But I was still wondering a lot about the professor and how exactly she would project feminism onto us and how she would do so effectively. In the beginning I had thought that I had made a mistake in enrolling for this class because I had no extreme passion to burn my bra or protest, but I think now my perceptions have changed and this story explains how.

Reading through the syllabus, I had the impression that this course was going to be difficult and book heavy and that I would not enjoy it. The syllabus was structured in a way in which the readings that we would do out of class would be further explained and related to during lecture and discussion. But after doing a few of the readings and not hearing about them in class or discussion, I became confused as to why they were assigned. Along with the readings I had also noticed that the syllabus and its strict guide of what was going to be done on what days, I found that as a class we had ventured out of the box to discover something beyond paper in our own definitions of both feminism and art. These unanswered questions that Professor King had left us regarding what art was, what feminism was, what feminist art was, or even how these components can be used were troublesome towards the beginning of the class and the early assignments. I did not know how to complete an assignment that needed the answers to what these things were without knowing. But I later found that the answers were with me already, I just needed to find them. I found that these questions left room for the class as a whole and individuals to discover differing answers to unite as one to understand the world around us and to keep an open mind. The syllabus’s structure was not kept very well, but I certainly believe that this was under good reason because of what the course had finally exposed to me as a student.

From the syllabus, a reading that had been discussed through lecture and discussion was the book Kindred that explored science fiction that represented feminist themes throughout. This book’s relation to the class was not clear but as I read, I began to see the numerous relations from science fiction literature to feminism. The fact that this was a piece of literature in itself proves that this is a definite piece of art that not only confronts the role of women throughout history, but also the role of African American women. I connected very strongly to the story as a female with strong views and beliefs like Dana, the main character. Her bravery to understand her place in Rufus’ life and how they become related is a strong representation of how a woman can take charge in her own life. She is Rufus’s only way of survival, and in the time jump that takes place it is a strong point in the book that a white boy can only be saved from harm by this African American woman who is married to a white man and wears slacks.

This book taught me to be open minded in numerous ways that I had not expected. For example, when I began reading the book I had assumed that Dana’s husband was black. But I later learned that he was, in fact, an older white man. When I had later discovered that the rest of my peers in my discussion section had felt the same way, I was relieved. But, I thought a lot about how the media portrays relationships and how rare it is for our society to accept inter-racial couples. In reading this book, I conquered my inability to go outside of the social norm to discover what lies beyond it in regards to things such as inter-racial couples. I also had learned a lot more about males and their role in society and how it has changed greatly from what it had been in days of slavery. Rufus’s father had always seemed to have the need to be in control constantly, and he was mostly angry when the reader encounters him. In adding these new knowledge tools to my overall comprehension of the course, I found to have a new understanding of feminism and its place in my own world and the world around me.

This reading related a lot to the overall story of the class through all of the goals that they had tried to accomplish and the messages that they both had tried to convey to the same intended audiences. The various assignments were threaded together to provide the class with an questions. And in my role as the student, it was my responsibility to find the answers, more so for myself than academia. The course and its story are out of the ordinary scholarly world because it is freedom based. It provided an environment that was limitless and free for the students to find their own definitions and thoughts about what feminism and feminist art was and their places in a social and political world. The parts of this story divide into the students, the assignments and readings, the questions that Professor King was leaving unanswered, and the new outlook that each person would walk away with. These all connect together through the thought of an open mind and changed society, one person at a time. Each component educates the one before it through thoughts and opinions that come together to complement one another. I think of this class’s story as one that takes a lot of dedication to understand to reach the ending and its satisfaction, for the story has yet to end, even though the course has finished. This is because the course has provided its students with much more than knowledge but understanding of our social and political world beyond the borders that bound us.

In thinking about boundaries and the components that are placed into this, I think about the enlightening bell hooks, and her book Feminism is for EVERYBODY: Passionate Politics. This book provided a lot of the tools that the class used in assignment three to analyze everyday life. hooks had a wonderful explanation of her thoughts on consciousness-raising and how we as a united people can apply that effectively in everyday life. I found this most impacting because she was not afraid to step outside of the box in order to tell her readers the truth. What was most helpful in our depth into bell hooks and her works as a free feminist was her usage of the matrix of domination. This system was effectively related to the class throughout as I discovered my place in society and how unmarked and marked categories had placed in my life. It helped me to relate much closer to the class as a story because of what I needed from it to complete my assignment, as well as what it provided me in looking at feminist politics from another angle an understanding oppressions. It was meaningful through my journey of understanding the oppressions I face daily, whether I am the oppressor or oppressed. bell hooks is an excellent model for the course because of her thoughts and analysis of our society and how feminism is placed or ranked along with our politics.

Another reading that strongly relates to bell hooks and her visionary stance on feminism and its place in politics would be that of Megan Seely in Fight Like A Girl. I found this reading to be very informing about what feminism really was. It helped me to understand that although feminism was something that a strict definition could not be placed on, it was definitely not what our society initially thinks of it. While informing her readers, Seely also grabs them immediately through her explanation and analysis of the actual word feminism and what the initial reaction of most people is when they hear it. She takes the bull by the horns and faces these issues with a positive and strong attitude. Her book further dives into the feminist movement and its benefits, as well as how I can apply these benefits to my everyday life as a “fearless feminist.” It ties into what Professor King was trying to accomplish and letting us discover what that meant, other than simply lecturing us on it and doing all of the work. Megan Seely’s book was a wonderful choice but I was disappointed that we did not discuss it in discussion because I found it to be the most effective approach to education on feminism and the positives it presents to society and everyday women.

Determining how I fit into the overall story of WMST250, I have reflected a lot on the assignments and free-writes that Professor King had us compose involving our current works in the class and how they reflect feminism and a new artistic view. When I took on the first assignment I had dreaded it at first, but after seeing all of the amazing feminist art and other types of art that D.C. had offered, I was impacted greatly. I felt that this assignment was a perfect way to start out the semester and it had forced us, as students, to explore the possibilities around College Park. It provided me with just a taste of what else I was going to experience through the course and how it might change my perceptions about political and social projections of feminism and art. With the second assignment, it provided me with the ability to work with my entire discussion group in producing a feminist event that would attract a lot of people, yet inform those who are ignorant to what feminism really involves. In reading through my free-writes after this assignment, I have reflected a lot on what feminism meant to me and why this was such a difficult concept to establish for myself. In making this event with my group, I was able to not only establish my own individual definition of feminism, but I could also see it from different angles of those in my group. We established how to approach feminism in a constructive matter that would also be enjoyable through our co-ed baseball game, picnic, and movie screening.

The third assignment involved a lot more heavy thought and reflection upon the self and how I may impact others. I discovered a lot about myself and someone who was very different from me. It was an eye-opening experience because it pushed me into understanding a culture separate from my own and to understand how it is oppressed compared to me. I found that this, in relation to the class, and readings on the matrix of domination all threaded together as a story on its own to set us, as students and as a unit on the right path in understanding not only feminism, but also the world around us and our societal changes. This connected so well with the course and the story that I was in regarding feminism in political and social circumstances. I reflected a lot on this project and related it closely to the lecture that was concentrating on the art of story telling because this project was not only an everyday analysis and comparison of oppressions and how marked and unmarked categories had affected us, but also a narrative. It became a narrative of me and my historical experience and how that related with my partner, Delilah.

I was a large part of this story mainly because of the transformation I have made from the beginning of this course. I started out not knowing any answers to the questions that Professor Katie King had presented to the class, but I am leaving with the understanding of why she had done this initially, and answers to her questions to benefit my lifestyle as a strong feminist. While, at the time, this class was deeply confusing, I found that through discussion, I thoroughly enjoyed learning a lot about artistic influences in feminism and how they are influenced in societal and political movements to make change.

The overall story of this course has definitely impacted me and my place in feminism and feminist art. I have been challenged to face many parts of my life that I had not known about prior to this class. My part in this story of WMST250, I would find, is the main character. Each student is the main character, striving to find the answers to the questions that Professor King had left unanswered. But the class was not just one story, it was a story for each student, for each feminist artist, for each author that we explored, and for each feminist that has paved the way for us. We each have our own story that has begun with the awakening experience of WMST250; my story will not end as the course culminates because I will continue to use the values that I earned towards my everyday life.

PowerPoint Outline

Matrix Of Domination
Alicia Misci
My Purpose
To show the matrix of domination in my life and to also bring attention to the undefined line that determines unmarked and marked categories in different contexts.
My Definition
Never-ending cycle where people are grouped in more than one marked or unmarked category simultaneously throughout their lives.
In some settings, a person may be considered marked where in another, that person may be unmarked.

Significance
Gender
Policeman: Physical Power
Superior
Me: Inferior to Males
Subordinate as a woman
Race
Policeman: Majority; African American
Me: Minority; European American
Not Invisible Now
Typically unmarked categories are “not seen” because they are a majority and they are ‘below the radar.’
However, in a city where a white person, typically an unmarked group member, is a minority, is white turned into a marked group?


Geographic Location
Aston, PA
Drug Stores
Developments of Homes
Suburb
Unmarked

Chester, PA
Drug Deals
Run-Down Stores
Public Housing
City
Marked


Class
Middle-Class
Decent Cars
People start to attain part-time jobs usually during high school
Children Play Safely in Streets
Unmarked because people have jobs and money for necessities and some luxuries.
Lower-Class
Beat up Cars
People without jobs
Street Loiterers
Unsafe for Children
Many People on Welfare
Marked because people feel inferior to those with jobs and money when they are without either.
My Creative Project
Immigration of 1900s
People who had been in America said the same thing about Italians, etc. as they do now about Latinos.
“Dirty Sicilians”
Many Italians were falsely convicted of crimes and alliance with fascism; Sacco and Vanzetti
Underpaid, poor living conditions
Tuberculosis and other diseases and health complications were common
Immigration Today
Much anti-immigration supporters
People have negative connotations of people different than themselves.
Americans do not realize we are primarily descendants of immigrants if not immigrants ourselves.
People are coming to America for opportunities and a better, safer life just like before.

Matrix of Domination

Lauren Kessler
4-16-08
WMST250 Sec. 0108



The matrix of domination is a representation of those group classifications which simultaneously privilege and oppress us. Society perpetuates these marked and unmarked categories of race, ethnicity, class, age, sexual orientation, religion and the like, which intersect with the lives of others. Created are dominant and subordinate groups which instill in us both greater and lesser degrees of power, and it is from my personal stand-point that I analyze this in my life and in the interconnected lives of others.
I am a white, middle-class, heterosexual, agnostic, twenty-year old, able-bodied female from suburban Maryland. I am classified through the matrix of domination according to that which advances and hinders me. I am generally unmarked in that I am white, middle-class, heterosexual, young, and able-bodied; I am marked because I am not a Christian and am female. Whether these characteristics are marked or unmarked refers of course to the society in which I live, so that is what I will speak of. In certain other geographic areas or certain other life circumstances, the markedness of the characteristic will be subject to change, because it is society that builds and accentuates the matrix.
In general in the United States, a white person is considered unmarked, and therefore privileged, while a minority race would be less so and considered subordinate in terms of the power they hold in society. This is seen in many avenues of life, from the political to the occupational to those prejudices which have been ingrained in us since we were young. The vast majority of people holding positions of political power, such as in Congress or as governors, are white. There is a large disparity in the wealth of a white person to that of any minority race. The percentage of minorities in the prison system, in relation to total national representation, is much greater than that of whites and it's not because they commit more crimes. Rather, it is because they are marked by those with privilege and are treated as such.
In varying degrees in most of the world, men easily hold more power than women, and women are considered subordinate to men on multiple levels. As with other social characteristics, the disparity between genders has bettered with time, but it originates as far back as we have history in times when men hunted and gathered while women stayed home and raised children, cooked and cleaned. Men are the 'default' people, and they are considered stronger and dominant while women are weaker, quieter, and more submissive. In the United States women hold quite equal power to men in comparison to other countries, but they still make less money and are discriminated against now and then. Women are a marked category in groups of men, such as in jobs considered to be for men only and in other circumstances.
The United States suffers a huge disparity in the wealth and socio-economic status of its citizens, yet we pride ourselves on being a 'class-less' society. A tiny, unmarked minority of the population holds the majority of the wealth, and thus the power, and this is true also in the world. The majority of people claim to lie in the 'middle' in politics and in other avenues, and most claim to be 'middle-class'. This is the unmarked category of class because, of course, it lies on neither extreme and is therefore the unnoticed default class. However, the middle class is disappearing as the disparity increases, and the lower class is left oppressed, powerless, and marked as somehow less-than by the rest of society. Compared to other areas of the world, the United States is superfluously affluent. Our lower class represents the highest of other societies, and we struggle to comprehend the poverty in areas such as in sub-Saharan Africa where people go days without eating and die before they are thirty-years old. We abandon these people completely, we forget them, we mark them in our misunderstanding of the way the world works, and we underestimate the ability of the powerful to alleviate their situation.
Christianity is the most followed religion in the world at around 30% of the total population, and it is vastly predominant in the United States. People in our society learn at a young age or from birth that there is one God, and he is a Christian god; we celebrate holidays based on these ideologies, children learn to pledge allegience to the country under Him, and His name is on all of our money. Because of its prevalence it is considered the unmarked religion, as Hinduism would be considered unmarked in India. Other minority religions such as Islam are therefore naturally misunderstood by the majority of people, and this creates prejudice. Too many American citizens think being a Muslim or even being of Arab descent means being a terrorist or supporting terrorism, and there are countless other unfounded conclusions formed about other minority religions or spiritualities. Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, Atheism, Agnosticism, Wiccan and Buddhism are strange and intimidating, but our unmarked Christianity is comfortable.
Our perceptions of age as a marked or unmarked category are conflicting because there are times when being young is both favored and disfavored by society, as is being older. It depends upon the time and circumstance. Young adults are considered an unmarked category in that they are a new, hopeful generation of able-bodied, eager people. They graduate from college ready to enter the workforce and make changes and better the world, and therefore they have all the power. The marked older generations fade into privacy and security and eventually develop disabilities or pass away, and they are therefore the submissive category. On the other hand, youth is at times not a positive trait; older generations like to comment on how different it was when they were kids, how they respected their parents and followed the rules and so forth, as if today's youth were really not the same. This reversal of markedness was particularly evident in the 60s with the rise of a free-spirited hippie generation which generated fear and misunderstanding in the older population.
Given that the United States is essentially a nation founded under Christian beliefs and is still predominately Christian, the issue of homosexuality in regard to its religious and moral implications has been a passionate topic of discussion historically, and even more so recently. Of course, the unmarked sexual orientation would be heterosexual, as the traditional, unmarked family dynamic is that of a wife and a husband of opposite sexes who come together to raise children. People of homosexual orientation are generally accepted as equals by the majority of society, though they are often not understood, as they are still not allowed to marry as a man and woman may marry. Prejudices and misconceptions about gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people abound, as does violence against them with the frequency of that against another race, religion or the like, and thus the problem of its markedness is readily apparent.
In general, I am considered an unmarked category for being white, heterosexual, middle-class, young, and able-bodied, and this grants me privilege and power over marked others. I am rarely discriminated against because of my race or sexual orientation. Assumptions are rarely made about me because I am white and even more rarely because I am heterosexual. I am not looked down upon for being of a low class, and I am not considered pompous or spoiled for being of a high class. I am a young adult with ample opportunity for growth and success in my life, and I am given the power to earn a college degree and work in an admirable occupation. I am mentally, emotionally and socially able and am subordinate to few people based on those abilities.
Though privileged to be unmarked, I am also considered a marked category because I am female and because I am not a Christian, among other traits that arise in various situations. As a female I am viewed as being physically weaker than males in that some strenuous occupations would not suit me and I would not be asked to complete certain tasks more suitable for men. I am viewed as emotionally weaker as well in that I more readily display my feelings and less able to perceive situations with objective reason. Because I consider myself agnostic, or otherwise not a Christian, I am perceived as being less moral than someone with strong religious beliefs though being religious certainly does not imply being ethical.
Throughout my childhood, my father had substantially more influence on me than did my mother. I also grew up with two step-brothers who were close to me in age and with whom I spent a lot of time. I had always noticed that I was different simply because I was the female child, which made me uncomfortable, and I desired to be like my father and brothers. Life seemed simpler and happier for them. I noticed that they treated me differently than they treated eachother. They couldn't joke around with me, couldn't pick fights, couldn't tease, and when we would throw a football or baseball around they didn't expect me to throw it right or catch it. They marked me because of my gender as being weaker and more vulnerable. Similarly, when I was younger I played on a soccer team that was all male except for one other girl and myself. I was a decent soccer player and could certainly match up to most of them in skill and speed and the like, but I noticed I was treated differently anyway. They weren't as rough with me as they were with eachother though I was rough with them, and I didn't get put into games as much as they did. They would become frustrated when I would make a mistake more so than when each other would, as if I shouldn't be playing in the first place so if I play I should be perfect. They deemed themselves dominant to me because I was a female in a circumstance in which I did not belong.
Another instance in which I noticed my markedness within the matrix occurred while attending a conference at my friend's very strict, very exclusive, reformed Presbyterian church. This church does not have many followers on the national level, it denies that humans have free will, and it asserts that you can not choose to follow Christ but that God chooses whether you go to Heaven by randomly predetermining your life path. At the time I believed in a higher power and I was and am a spiritual person, but I was not a Christian. The church members considered me to be sinful, immoral, and arrogant, and they tried to teach me the right path and desired to convert me to their church. I was uncomfortable when they looked at and talked to me and I felt I was castigated by them as a whole for having differing, or rather, uncertain religious beliefs, however open I actually was to receiving their input and learning from them. The pastor seemed to exhibit an extraordinary amount of power and control on the level of a cult leader by representing his group of believers, and he alone made me feel as if I were subordinate and condemned while listening to his sermon. By entering this social group I became a marked category as a non-Christian in which I was a minority in a group of unmarked, oppressive and militant Christians.
Within this church, it was also clear that traditional gender roles were strictly enforced, like in many cults, and the women were powerless over and subordinate to the men. Women were not encouraged to continue schooling past high school, and they were to marry another member of the church and produce children while maintaining the home. Fathers have indefinate authority over their daughters until they are married, and then it is the husband who has indefinate authority over his wife. In this circumstance, the markedness of females as the oppressed gender is seemingly as apparent as that in the Old Testament of the Bible.
There are circumstances in which the marked and unmarked categories perpetuated by society are subject to change or reversed completely based on the situation or location in which one finds himself or herself. A white person becomes a marked minority in a group of another race, as does a man in a group of women. There are several instances in which it has occurred to me that general unmarked characteristics I possess have been reversed by circumstance and put me in a place of subordination and powerlessness.
My boyfriend, his friends and I frequently drive to West Baltimore because they like to collect antiques and the old, abandoned houses on the west end are good for digging bottles and other collectibles. The city, specifically this community, is predominately black and lower-class, and drug distribution and prostitution are visible on many streets in the middle of the day. In West Baltimore I am a brightly-marked category due to my gender, race, and age. When people see a young, white female walking around the streets with a few men they assume I am a prostitute or that we are looking for drugs, and on several occasions people have tried to sell us drugs or have yelled to us to try and get our attention. One man followed us a few blocks asking us if we 'needed anything' though we said we didn't multiple times, and made comments to me about my physical appearance. In this circumstance I am a marked category and assumptions are naturally formed about me by the unmarked, and thus I am put in a position of oppression. Although I may be more privileged than them from the standpoint of the general population as an unmarked category, here I am a minority and am treated accordingly.
Each Christmas I attend a party held by my grandfather in an affluent area of northwest D.C. The vast majority of the attendees are friends of the family member and are wealthy, well-to-do socialites and businessmen and women. This situation always brings forth issues of class difference and socio-economic status. My family is middle-class and my father has a blue-collar job as an electrician; my stepmother manages a chain of grocery stores. We dress up nicely and present ourselves well but always feel out of place there as people chat over wine about yachts and stocks and the like. We usually enjoy ourselves but that is because we are associating within the family, and when talking politely with other attendees we feel a bit awkward despite the forced decency. It seems as if most of the people around us at the party had marked us as a lower class and they do not associate with us as much as they associate with each other. At one time, my stepmother walked up to greet a woman and her daughter and they ignored her completely, the mother said, "Come on, let's go over here", and they walked away, though it was obvious to anyone that my stepmother was speaking to them. Perhaps this is merely my perception, but the fact remains that prejudices and misconceptions naturally exist between people that live in different worlds. I personally felt as if these people deemed themselves more powerful and more privileged than I because of their reputations as such, and treated me as if I were subordinate to them.
When in Baltimore I also notice my privilege of being of an unmarked middle-class. There are many homeless, drug-addicted and mentally-ill people living on the streets whose only control in society is that of their own livelihood. Obviously I exhibit power over them simply because I have a home and a little bit of money. Many people do not empathize with the plight of the homeless that beg for money on the streets; they are strikingly unsympathetic and blaming. They assume that since they find it easy to get a job, everyone finds it easy, so they should stop being lazy and show some initiative and get a job. Again, many of them are mentally-ill and are not capable of getting a job, or are in the grips of an all-consuming drug or alcohol addiction and they have no one pleading for them to get better. If they did apply for a job, many employers would not want to hire a person with a disability or who looks disheveled and has no contact information for their application.
As much as we deny our prejudices and tendencies to judge based on race, class, gender and the like, society and the individual has been long ingrained with the marked and unmarked categories that imply power or submission in our lives. It is through thoughtful evaluation of my life experiences that I understand the matrix of domination and how it effects the ways I am perceived by the world.

Marked and unmarked categories

Rhea Torreon

WMST 250

Ana Perez

Spring 2008



Marked and Unmarked Categories

Growing up as a minority causes one to develop a distinctive awareness and mentality. Being considered a minority automatically carries with it certain stigmas of being oppressed and viewed as inferior along with many other social aspects. This assertion and submission of power can be a conscious or an unconscious decision. The matrix of domination illustrates several factors involved in this process through marked (powerless) and unmarked (powerful) categories including: race, gender, class, sexuality, able-bodiedness, language, religion, nationality, and age. The presence of these dynamics are in every relationship and can be illustrated through an infinite number of examples. I have had numerous personal experiences affected by my female gender, middle-class social status, able-bodiedness, English language, Asian ethnicity, and age of 21 years. These specific examples demonstrate the marked and unmarked role I play in society as a young, Asian American adult.
I will present two smaller incidents as succinct examples of my role in a marked category. While eating at a local restaurant in Annapolis I got up to throw away some trash. A woman happened to be walking towards my direction at the same time. When she noticed me she held up her paper cup and asked if I could refill her coffee. I was taken aback and replied, “Excuse me?” Fortunately, an employee was walking by at that point and took care of her request. I could not believe that someone had mistaken me as “the help” for several reasons: I am an English citizen, I have a good education, I was well dressed, and despite all this the only determining factor was my Asian ethnicity. A similar example of this particular assertion of power took place at a nail salon where my Filipino friend was also mistaken as an employee. My friend was getting her nails done when a white woman walked in, greeted the employees, and then turned to her and asked, “You work here too, don’t you?”
The simple error committed by the woman in the restaurant has a myriad of complex implications. This woman appeared to be upper middle-class to upper class indicated by her designer apparel, manicured nails, and styled hair; this translates into the assertion of power as a person of wealth. On the other hand, my appearance was no less indicative of a comfortable lifestyle. I was dressed in brand name clothing, I appeared healthy or more specifically well-fed, my teeth were straight due to braces during childhood (a subtle indication of past financial background), and I wore expensive jewelry. Overall, my appearance was that of any young adult from a supportive, well-off family not uncommon in Annapolis. I tend to dress on the preppy side resulting from the influences of growing up in Annapolis- an area associated with a substantial amount of wealth. It was astounding that these obvious signals and connections held no weight with someone whose financial comfort was just as evident as my own.
This woman was around 40 years old, married, and most likely had children translating into the assertion of power as an adult. In contrast, I was 20 years old, single, and had no children. There was no obvious indication of my relationship status other than the absence of any jewelry signifying marriage or commitment. The fact that I was not married at such a young age speaks of a type of affluence. In conjunction with this—whether she thought I was single or not—there was no evidence that I had children. The supreme amount of care and attention required to raise a child tends to take a toll on the parent emotionally, spiritually, and physically- all of which was not indicated by my appearance or manner. It is probably safe to assume she did not think I had children. This is significant because just as my absence of a marriage ring indicated a type of affluence, my avoidance of an early pregnancy is a determinant of social status as well.
This woman was at least 20 years older than me. Her age contributed to her misperception. Had she been my age, the chances of the same mistake occurring would be considerably less. Someone my age would not have the same ability to leverage age and would have viewed me more as a peer. As an adult mother she is accustomed to being in a position of power over her children. As an adult she is accustomed to being in a position of power over young people in general. The stereotypes that led her to misperceive me as an employee may have been more heavily ingrained with time as well. Despite all the indications that I was of a certain social class and that I was old enough to be lawfully independent, I felt belittled to the state of a child that does not know better than to do what is instructed. I was clearly a young adult, but the fact that I was so much younger than her in conjunction with my Asian ethnicity dually allowed her to assert power in these ways. The details of my appearance earlier illustrates that I clearly had an affluent background while the details of my appearance just mentioned illustrates that I was clearly not of lower-class standing. The overwhelming evidence of the influence of money in my life reflects this woman’s ignorance which was facilitated by how much older she was.
This woman spoke English, which translates into the assertion of power as a U.S. citizen. I spoke clear, fluent English without a trace of an accent. There was no indication that I was anything other than a U.S. citizen. My skin was not even particularly dark at that time (I get much paler in the winter). Her misperception was not only insulting on the surface level, but it was degrading in its implicative questioning of my citizenship. It is a misperception influenced by the large population of immigrants and illegal aliens that comprise a large part of the working class. Consequently, the generalization that all minorities have lower level jobs is common. She may not have specifically thought I was an illegal-alien, but the stereotypes attributed to lower level jobs was implied in the quick assumption that I was the help rather than the customer. Even though I spoke the same language as this woman she was able to assert her power as a natural born citizen by implying that I may not have been.
Most importantly, this woman was Caucasian, which translates into the assertion of power as a white person. Having grown up as an Asian I am not unused to this behavior inherent in today’s society. All the above examples were ultimately dependent on the judgment of my ethnicity. It did not matter that I was not working class or even that I was of middle class, it did not matter that I was a young adult or that I was actually independent at that point, and it did not matter that I spoke plain English and was born in this country. The overarching assumption that superseded everything else only held race in account. Seemingly small actions such as this one have deep, long-lasting impacts that people (in my experience generally white) do not consider and are not aware of in their ignorance. One of the only advantages I can attribute to this ignorance is when using a fake identification to get into bars. I had a real Maryland identification, but it was of my Filipino friend. She was Asian, but did not particularly look all that similar to me. It is a testament to the fact that white people can not tell the different between Asians. It worked so well that I never had to use my backups (inactivated credit cards with my friends name on them). Even this may have negative consequences- I may very well have to hold white people responsible for my alcoholism.
The experiences of minorities being mistaken as a second class citizens are not uncommon in today’s society. It is interesting that in this instance power was being asserted by a woman. That in itself might be considered a characteristic of the dominance of males inherent in today’s society. Nonetheless, I found it interesting that even though women are suppose to be more in touch with sympathetic or compassionate feelings anyone is capable of asserting power over others in many different ways.
A second example of my role in an unmarked category involved me getting robbed. On a Thursday night I went out to the bars in College Park with two of my girlfriends. After last call the two had to stay behind for reasons not pertinent to my story. I walked back to my building with a pizza that we were to eat when everyone returned. My building is only five minutes from the bar and there were plenty of other people out so it wasn’t a particularly dangerous situation. As I was nearing my building, an African American male snatched my pizza from me and ran away. I was so shocked I stood there agape fully expecting him to turn around and explain the joke was over. As the distance between us continued to increase I realized it was not a joke. I proceeded to take of my heels and run after him. He was not expecting a chase so he panicked and ran into an enclosed parking lot. I threw my shoe at him when he was somewhat cornered, but at this point I was heavily winded and unable to continue the pursuit. He got away with my pizza that night.
When I explain this story to my friends it is of course humorous and highly entertaining, but on another level it is somewhat frightening. It has caused me to be much more cautious with my possessions when I walk alone around College Park areas. I repeatedly got the same reaction from my friends to the effect that I should not have run after him. This is an interesting aspect of the aftermath of the situation. This man did not appear particularly strong; in fact he looked pretty goofy. He was tall, on the skinny side, and dressed in a t-shirt and pants. I would not call him intimidating by any means. I did and still do not believe I was in any danger in chasing him. However, many of my girlfriends reacted similarly and the same questions ensued: What if he had a gun? What if he tried to fight you? What if he was really dangerous? What if you had gotten hurt?
This caused me to think about the implications of these questions and assumptions. It is pretty well-established that the predominant generalizing view of African Americans include that they are dangerous, vandalizing, ghetto, and violent. My friends assumed that he most likely had a gun. They assumed that he would try to inflict harm on me; that he would choose to over power me by force. In this way, my friends have asserted their white-minded mentality over this black man. The only thing they can attribute the level of danger is the fact that he was black. I acknowledge the validity of their concerns, but they did not see this man. They solely base their judgments on the generalizations associated with African Americans.
On the other hand, they have also spoken for the power he asserted over me. Albeit, I was slightly intoxicated and even though I ran all year-round for fours years in high school and continue to run recreationally today, I was extremely out of shape. He was able to outrun me because he had better endurance and stamina than I did. The fact that he felt he could steal my pizza without fear of consequence illustrates the power of the perception, and often reality, that males possess superior abilities over females. The assumption is two-fold: he knew he could outrun me and if that failed he knew he could overpower me. Physically I was much shorter and I weighed a lot less. However, I feel that I could hold my own in many situations and that my weight and size causes people to underestimated me. At the time, I did not really believe this man was a threat. I felt that if I was able to confront him one-on-one he would do the right thing and give back the pizza.
While I may have recklessly placed myself in danger, the pursuit of this man became more about the principle of the matter than the actual action. It was important enough to me that I not go down without a fight; that I make it clear petty theft was not acceptable. Most importantly, I wanted to make it clear that just because I am a female does not result in absolute submission to male authority; that females should not necessarily be viewed as a weaker subject. This man did not even expect a chase. With this in mind, I tried to use the element of surprise to my advantage. I did manage to catch him off guard which caused him to panic and run into a dead end parking lot. At least I was able to achieve a small triumph with hitting him with my shoe. The expectation that I would just give up right away demonstrates his assumption of my submission to his superior abilities.
Just as it was important to demonstrate that being a female should not be underestimated, the ease of stealing from a child was important to prevent as well. I am old enough to be independent and take care of myself. I would be disappointed if I were to act helpless in any circumstance. I was able to put up somewhat of a fight so that at least it was not just like stealing candy from a child. In stealing my pizza this man asserted his age over me- he was at least two years older than me. Had he been my age or younger, the chances of succeeding in the retrieval of my pizza would be significantly greater. In this situation, the pizza stealer asserted his gender and age. The ramifications of such an action perpetuate the stereotypes that African-Americans are held in regard to. It will cause me (and my friends) to act with more caution around African males even if it is unwarranted and even if there is a conscious effort to put aside such sentiments. It is a sad reality that there is a small population out of the whole that demonstrate validity in the negative cultural perceptions in today’s society.
A broader example and one that demonstrates my role in an unmarked category is my experience waiting tables at Outback. Almost all the serving and managerial staff are white while almost all of the kitchen and lower level positions are comprised of Hispanics. Only a few of them are able to speak fluent English and it is this language barrier that allows the native speakers to assert power over the non-native speakers. By contrast, I recently had dinner in Georgetown in a seafood restaurant where the entire staff was Hispanic. My waiter had a heavy accent and did not have complete fluency in English. However, his ability to speak the language proficiently enough allowed him to have a better job. I have seen numerous exchanges between servers and bussers, dishwashers, etc. To belittle or treat the Hispanics rudely was not uncommon. It is easy for the English speakers to assert their education, citizenship, and thus their higher station in life over the employees who could not better themselves due to this lack of knowledge.
Even the management staff displayed instances of indifference towards the Hispanics. When they had questions or an issue about scheduling the manager would sometimes direct them to someone else in order to get them away temporarily. I catch myself thinking in accordance with the group mentality at times. I always try to keep in mind that these are extremely hard-working, intelligent people. I usually always immediately make friends with the kitchen staff and I like to practice speaking Spanish with them. I find that it is a good connection into their perspective and culture. Language is the major contributor to the assertion of power in this situation and can work positively and negatively.
My three specific examples illustrate the influences of marked and unmarked categories in our everyday lives. All the characteristics of the matrix of domination—particularly race, gender, class, and language—contributed in the assertion or submission of power. I have a unique experience of this in light of being a young, female, Asian-American adult from a middle-class family. Being such has caused me to be mistaken as a menial worker, as a weaker, inferior being and as an oppressor. All the intricacies of the matrix of domination helped explain the complex dynamics in relationships. I got a feel for how and why people behave certain ways and am now aware of the impacts of these actions.

Brenda Njinjoh

Power: Marked and Unmarked

The word power, a five letter word has a lot of meaning. It is a word that is familiar with all generations and definitely has a huge impact towards the future. Previous conflict such a war, slavery, money is a result of particular a group desire to have control over another group. Power comes in different dimensions and can either have a negative or positive impact upon our lives. The interesting thing about power is that it could be used in many ways and can its influence can be seen in all types of groups big, small and communities for instance religious or nonreligious. For instance in a small family, the mother could posses more power over the family. While globally, among all the nations, the United States apparently is the greatest nation. It is a word that we can not eradicate because its force is very great and regardless of our opinions and beliefs will always influence of lives. Those in power or who strive to obtain power always have a reason and intention for their action. At times, some certain characteristics they posses to enforce power is innate, they might feel it is their mission or their duty to convey their action. As I have matured all over the years, I’ve witnessed how power functions and the effective it has on religion, race, the world, class, language, and age, thus, even though at times they are marked and unmarked, they still have an effect upon the our lives.

Religion is a practice that has been around for a very long time. Countless individuals including myself are very religious and cannot live with a divine intervention. The only problem about religion is that there is not one god that every body worships or a single bible nor commandments that people follow, the truth is every religion has its ways and beliefs. Due to the diversity of religion, throughout our history religion has sparked many conflicts between many nations. A tragedy that we are quite familiar with the attack that occurred on September 11, 2000, the bombing of the TwinTowers and Pentagon. From what I remembered, the United States owed Osama Bin Laden money for purchasing oil but he did not get his money back so he decided to attack the United States. Obviously the attack was absolutely wrong specifically because so many innocent people died who had absolutely nothing to do with the main conflict. This crisis left many scars among many in the society. For instance the fact that Osama Bin Ladin is Muslim and his actions were governed in his belief that it was an action that his government wanted him to enforce, other Muslim around the world have to face discrimination. The marked problem in the United States is that Muslim are evil people who dislike American and Christians. For instance there have been countless incidence in the news about how students in school are being tortured by their peers simply because of them being Muslim. This get to show that the certain actions that people perform can leave others with the notion that they have the power to torture other religious groups. In the unmarked category, people seem to forget about the media tend to diminish how other religious groups have conflict. Another example of religion in the marked category is the Catholic Church. Over the years there men and little boys have confessed how they were molested by priest of Catholic Church. The incident is very tragic and undeniable wrong and because of this crisis, they the Catholic Church has a bad reputation. They crisis made people focus more on the bad deeds about the Catholic church and drift away from the positive side of the church. Although there were more than one cases of priest molesting little boys, people will have an assumption that all Catholic priest are the same. Overall, it seems to be that people tend to put more emphasis on towards the negative deeds about religion and seem to forget the good things. In the Muslim community, although Osama Bin Ladin committed an unnecessary act because he believed in his religion that was the proper thing to do, on the other hand, not every Muslim will support and oblige to Osama action. This is the very thing with the Catholic Church, people tend to forget that sin is a common act and every will sin. Although religious are suppose and expected to maintain a proper image, it does not mean that they can not make mistakes too.

Another example of marked and unmarked categories about power is the welfare program. In the United States, there is a group of citizens and immigrants that do not have sufficient money to feed their children. The government decided to help by giving these families, majority of the time, single mother homes a certain amount of money to help buy groceries for their children. In this situation, the controversy has always been that it is unfair that the government is wasting a large sum of money each year to parents that are too lazy to work. The stereotypes of families on welfare are usually Hispanics, immigrants and African Americans. The marked category in this situation would be the Hispanics, immigrants and African American and this is because these are the oppressed group in American society. The media portray African Americans, immigrants and Hispanics as lazy people who can not work hard to support themselves. Since they are lazy, they only want money from the government every month instead of working. The marked categories are the white people because the media does not really portray them as individuals who need or would depend on welfare in order to eat. Instead, in the media, what we see are happy white family who have everything, the money, car, house, perfect family and all. But realistically, the reality is that there is a huge amount of white families who depend on welfare. The amount exceeds the amount of African Americans and Hispanics put together. Also, along time ago, welfare was introduced after the Great Depression when white families did not have enough money to purchase food. The government stepped by making sure that those eligible could receive money every month. As years passed, things changed, there was more equality in the society African Americans, Hispanics and immigrants were also eligible to receive welfare if they qualified. But unfortunately there has been a misunderstanding that only African American, Hispanics and immigrants are taking the government money instead of working hard. What people fail to understand is that every body situation is different, and unfortunately those who depend on welfare do not have the opportunity to progress in society because of the so many other problems that I can not understand.

Eleven years ago, my family and I moved to the United States from Cameroon, a country located in West Africa. The year was 1996 and I was almost 8 years old. Coming to a foreign country and leaving a Cameroon where I understood the norms was very difficult. When I was in Cameroon, I was so anxious to come to America because everybody always said great things about the country. They said how everyone is friendly and how life is so easy there but the truth is when we moved to America, it was very hard. While growing up, I experienced the distribution of power simply because of the way I spoke and by the clothes I wore. I families had extend family members who had established in America. They had children who were very familiar with the norms and what was “cool and uncool”. During family gatherings my cousins would avoid and make fun of me because of the way I spoke. The marked category in this situation would be my accent because coming from a different country, the new people around me did not pronounced the word the very way I did. Since the majority of the kids, spoke and slang and spoke the same way the majority of the kids spoke, they had more power over me. The fact that these kids spoke the way people in America speak would fall in the unmarked category because it is the way everyone speaks. Since they knew they could speak better or proper than me, they felt they were superior and better than me. What they did not understand is that if one of them went to Cameroon or any other foreign country, they would be made mocked at or be suppressed simply because of the way the way the spoke and pronunciation. Also in school, I soon realized the clothes kids wore defiantly had distinguished who more powerful. I remember in Cameroon, we kids wore uniforms so it was very hard to separate the “better and cool kids” from the “poor and uncool kids”. For instance in middle school, the group of kids who wore the named brand jeans, shirts, and the the boys who had the latest Jordan’s and all sort of named brand gears had more power. Then you had a group of kids who couldn’t afford name brand gears, and so at times, they wore ordinary jeans and shoes. The group of kids who could not wear fancy clothes do not choose to dress that way. One of the reasons why they wore ordinary and uncool clothes is because of financial obstacles in the family. In this situation, marked category are the group of kid that could not afford the fancy shoes, or jeans. This is because since they couldn’t afford, these things, they are being mocked and made fun of because of the way they dress. Instead of treating others based on other important things such as personality, kids are being treated simply because of the way they dress. In the unmarked category, the kids who could afford all the fancy shoes, and the most fashionable girls fall in this category because in school they were regarded to have the most power and privilege. Through the clothes they wore, and the group of people they associated with, it was a way of telling others that they were better and superior than others.

Although there a big controversy about race, in the United States and all over the world, it is important to realized that in the African American community there are many ways power is dispersed. For instance, one problem that most black girls face is embracing their natural hair. This is because it is very course and in the media good hair is suppose to the nice, long, soft and sleek type of hair. When black girls put chemicals in their hair, at times, the procedure is not done properly, ones hair can break. So the marked category of the situation are the girls with long hair, while the unmarked cateogory are girls with short hair or girl who wear extensions. This is because they do not fit in with other girls with nice hair, or it could also be that they are trying to be something that they are not. Another example of power in the African American community is the color of one’s complexion. People of color that are light skin versus people that dark skin often face discrimination. In the marked category, dark skin people in media and in the society are perceived to be as unattractive. This is because their complexion is darker than the rest of the people in the society. Due to this adversity, they face discrimination when applying for jobs. Also, socially, black guys are usually attracted to light skin girls because they think they are prettier than dark skin girls. People of color with light skin represent the unmarked category because they society and the media makes them feel that they are better than dark skin people. For instance, in the music videos and in the fashion industry, producers always favor light skin girls over dark skin girls.

The world that we live in is governed by power, it many ways. Through the marked and unmarked category it is obvious who has more power over the other. For instance, the controversy about welfare, dark skin versus light skin, rich versus poor are some of the way power is divided. Perhaps the best way to get rid of the marked and unmarked distribution of power is to educate others and fight for a change.

Analysis of Everyday Life

Assignment 3: The Analysis of Everyday Life

Where exactly is power located in everyday life? Power is located in various places, within different people, groups and societies. It does not affect everyone equally nor does it affect everyone in the same ways; however, everyone in one way or another is affected directly or even indirectly. This notion of power has created the idea of the matrix of domination as well as marked and unmarked categories. At first, these two concepts were a bit confusing and hard to grasp. I wasn’t sure how to relate them to my life because I was not sure how to interpret them and incorporate the concepts into my own experiences. I began by breaking down the meaning of the matrix of domination and realizing that it is a way of examining and defining one’s own privileges and oppressions. This idea is more than just recognizing blessings and hardships but rather realizing how one person may be intertwined in both categories of being the oppressed and the oppressor. Many, including myself, tend to forget that “our privileges are the effects of systematic structures in which others are oppressed.” In order for one to be considered privileged, they must be compared to others who are less fortunate. In our society, we have formed both marked and unmarked categories which make an attempt at categorizing individuals based on specific characteristics. The unmarked categories tend to describe the generic or dominate groups, while the marked categories represent those considered to be subordinate and powerless. Throughout this paper I will analyze my own matrix of domination, acknowledging which marked and unmarked categories I fall within, while also comparing it to my partner Andria’s matrix of domination.

I was born into a Christian Orthodox family, both of my parents originating from the Middle-Eastern country of Palestine. I was born in Maryland and have lived the entirety of my life in Rockville, MD. I live with both of my parents, three older sisters and one younger brother. Though my parents are still together and I never moved from location to location like most of my friends, I had other issues to deal with. Unfortunately, my father never played a significant role in my life or the life of my siblings, in a loving aspect. I never quite understood how someone could be surrounded by such a loving, happy, laid-back family, yet be so miserable and negative. At a younger age, I had a hard time dealing with this but as I grew older and realized I couldn’t change anything, I began accepting the relationship or lack thereof with my father. However, my relationship with my mom was the exact opposite. She managed to raise five children and try her best to provide us with a stable and meaningful life. Though my relationship with my father was not strong, both he and my mom wanted my siblings and me to be better off than they were. My father came to America at the age of 16 and chose not to attend high school or college. My mother came at the age of 9, graduated from high school but was not allowed to attend college because according to her father, as a female she was not allowed to. Though neither of my parents attended college, they idea of doing well in school and succeeding in life was upheld to high standards in my household. My parents tried providing us with a stable household, however, finances were often a hardship and we were considered to be a lower- income family. In such a situation, I would be categorized as being the oppressed. Because I come from a low income family, with parents who did not attend college, I am expected by our society not to succeed. Due to the fact that others maybe better off and have educated parents, I have unwillingly and systematically been placed beneath others as the oppressed. However, I disagree with such ranking of power and chose to live my life differently than what was expected. At the young age of 13, I began working with a friend’s mother and by the age of 14, I was attending school and had a stable job working at a hair salon. I worked all throughout high school and though I had to give up playing basketball, I needed to make the money. I managed to maintain above average grades, while relieving the stress of my mother now that I was employed. At a young age I was paying for my own clothing, expenses when I went out, my cell phone, my vacations, and even my braces. Many of the things I had to pay for were things that my friends did not have to pay for and I often despised this. However, I soon realized that if I was helping my mother, it was all worth it and in the end I learned responsibility and independence. I soon began to appreciate that I was employed at such a young age, had my own money and though I matured much quicker than my peers, I look unto it as a positive experience. Though I worked all throughout high school, I managed to take honors and AP classes, graduating with a 3.85GPA and getting accepted to the University of Maryland, proving those assumptions to be false. Another aspect of my life that seemed to vary greatly from my peers was the fact that I was a Palestinian Christian and my parents wanted to make sure I did not lose any culture or religion. They raised my siblings and me in a rather strict household. I was not allowed to wear certain clothes, I was not allowed to have a boyfriend through my teenage years, could not stay out late, nor attend parties in high school, just to name a few. Growing up in my household, I thought was torture. I just wanted to be like all of my friends. Though I chose to allow religion to play a significant role in my life during my early teenage years, it was not until later in high school that I began to appreciate the morals and culture my parents instilled in me. The life I’ve lived is my normal; I am content with who I am and all that I’ve encountered. However, through examining my life I have realized that I am both a member of multiple dominant groups and a member of numerous subordinate groups. The following table will effectively sum up and display some of my own marked and unmarked categories, which will be the foundation for explaining my matrix of domination:

Marked(Subordinate)	Unmarked(Dominate)
Female	U.S. Citizen
Middle-Eastern(Palestinian)	Christian
Lower/Working Class	Young Adult
Arab Speaking	English Speaking
Employed with two jobs	Heterosexual

This table defines me as an individual, however, the categories and what falls within each has been determined by the society in which I live in. The unmarked categories are the more accepted and dominant traits, however, they only explain the surface of who I really am. Many of the traits that fall within my marked category truly define who I am as an individual and though they are deemed less powerful by others, some of these characteristics are what I am most proud of. I have encountered many experiences where a simple word that falls within one of these categories has worked against me and overpowered who I truly am, what I stand for, and how I contribute to the world I live within.

As I stated earlier, I am from a hard working family where finances have always been an issue. And when I got accepted to a great university, joy and accomplishment were at the forefront of my mind, while the thought of having to pay for college lingered right behind. I am simultaneously caught between being marked and unmarked in this situation. I will soon be a college student working towards receiving a degree in Communications. Yet I will have to deal with the struggle of having to take loans and pay for my own college tuition. I ultimately feel powerless and subordinate to those who do not have financial difficulties and whose parents will be paying for the entirety of their college tuition. It is unfortunate that the privileges of others being more well off has resulted in me being categorized as the oppressed in such a situation.

Another example in my life that defines my matrix of domination is the relationship of power between males and females. In my life, I have always had male friends and male cousins who have taken the responsibility of watching over me and acting as my protector. My male friends will make sure to walk with me at night and my male cousins have always shown power over me by being a bit over-protective, as to ensure that I do not get hurt. Though I would love to feel powerful and act as if I can stand my own ground all the times, there are certain situations, such as walking alone at night, where the presence of a more dominant male figure is appropriate. I have learned to appreciate this sense of domination for it is for my own good.

However, there are many instances that I have encountered where the domination of men over me is a bit unsettling and treated in a different aspect. Ever since I was a young girl, I loved to horse-play with the boys, challenge them to arm wrestling and most of all, play basketball with them. I have played basketball for over 10 years and though I will admit that some guys are better than me, I have always taken the risk to play pick-up basketball with them; however, the thought of a girls being able to play with guys is humorous to some. A prime example that I have recently encountered, which is similar to past instances I have dealt with, has taken place at the CRC here on campus. I will say that there is an equal ratio of men to female overall at the gym; however, one will notice that the weight room and basketball courts are predominately occupied by men. About 2-3 times a week, I choose to walk into the CRC and into the basketball court area. The court area is typically filled with about 40 or so guys, some playing on one of the two courts, while others waiting to play the next game. And every time I walk in, I receive the same reaction; all the guys waiting for the next game, stop, look over at me and then turn to their friends with a confused look- wondering if I’m there to watch, or actually plan on playing. I then proceed to say, “I’ve got next game.” While some of the guys agree and keep their thoughts to themselves, others ask “Are you sure you want to play?” And though not all the guys make comments, often times some will also say “don’t worry, I’ll take it easy on you.” At times, it is uncomfortable enough to be the only girl surrounded by over 40 guys but then they tend to make comments displaying their perceived dominance over me. Though I always manage to get playing time, this is a clear example of how falling into the marked category of being a female automatically makes me appear to be subordinate to the male gender.

After September 11, 2001, being an Arab/American in the United States only became harder, especially as a teenager. I grew up being proud of who I was, where I was from and the culture I had within me. I knew I was of a different background than others, but we were all human in my eyes, so it did not make much of a difference. I soon began being questioned about my background, often times dealing with various altercations and misconceptions by those who viewed me as being the oppressed compared to them. On numerous occasions, people assume that I am of Hispanic decent and I must explain that I am actually Middle Eastern. People are often confused and in disbelief, as if Middle-Eastern people are not supposed to look ‘normal’ or at least the way I do. Other times, people walk away while giving me dirty looks and comments because I am of Middle Eastern decent. Many people automatically assume that I must be a terrorist, know a terrorist, or even hate all Jewish people because I am from Palestine. The one misconception that seems to constantly resurface is that since I am Middle-Eastern, I must also be Muslim. I am often asked numerous questions that just prove people’s ignorance and lack of knowledge. Many times people will ask why my head is not covered and if my parents will be arranging my marriage. When I refer to God, some people will ask why I use that word if I am Middle-Eastern (meaning I must also be Muslim). People assume that I am not allowed to eat pork and other types of meat. And sadly, when I respond to these comments with a simple “I am actually Christian” people either simply do not understand how this is possible or assume that I must have converted to Christianity. Though many people just generally have a lack of knowledge on this topic, I also feel as if the media plays a large role in portraying Middle-Eastern people as a marked category. The media represents most Arabs as having heavy accents, men dressed with turbans and women fully clothed with their heads covered. Marriages are often arranged in movies, with the men dominating over the females. And worse of all, Middle-Eastern people are always the terrorists in movies and on the news. I have always been and will continue to be proud of my diversity, heritage and culture; however, such stereotypes cause other’s to often perceive me as someone I am not. Not to say that some Arabs do not have heavy accents, cover their heads or are actually terrorists, but this is not the case for all of us. But rather many automatically perceive all of us to be powerless compared to the unmarked white man in today’s society. This aspect of my life truly defines the matrix of domination in which I am located within. Though I am marked as a Palestinian, many tend to forget about the dominant categories in which I also fall within. I was born and raised in the United States and though I am Middle Eastern, I am also a US citizen. I am also privileged in the aspect that I am in the unmarked category of being a Christian. Although I am very proud to be a Christian Palestinian, it is unfortunate to know that those who may be Muslim Palestinians or of another religion in general are considered less powerful in everyday life.

Working with my partner, Andria, has proven to be beneficial in completing this assignment by helping me grasp a better idea of the meaning of matrix of domination. As I previously explained, I had a hard time understanding the matrix of domination at first and how it would pertain to my life. However, Andria and I worked together prior to beginning our papers and mapped out each of our marked and unmarked characteristics. Though we appear to be different on the outside, it interesting to stop and examine how similar two people can be in regards to marked and unmarked categories. We are both marked by society as being females of lower/working class. As a female, we are expected to be subordinate and less powerful than men and unfortunately we have both encountered experiences where we have been oppressed solely based on our gender.

Though we come from very different family sizes, we both face financial difficulties which has impacted our college experiences in ways that others more fortunate have not experienced. Andria is also from Baltimore, a city filled with violence; however, this does not define her as an individual, what she is worth or what she will amount to. Unfortunately, those above her, who may be from an area considered to a better living environment, feel the need to act as oppressors. They seem to ignore the positive aspects in her life and rather use her geographic location as means to portray her as subordinate to others. Likewise, I am expected not to succeed because I am marked as lower class with parents who did not attend college. I am the oppressed compared to those who are wealthier with educated parents. Unfortunately, those of lower class, with financial struggles in our society are automatically marked as subordinate to others who are of better economic status. This is just another example of the ongoing matrix of domination that exists in our everyday life. Nonetheless, Andria and I have both proven the assumptions about us to be wrong; we have both come from two different worlds yet met on common grounds as students in the same women’s studies class at the University of Maryland.

We are both marked as females, lower class, speaking another language, and employed causing us to equally be dominated by the male gender, those wealthier than use, and those who may only speak English. On the other hand, we are both unmarked as able-bodied, US citizens, heterosexual, young adults and also English speaking; our privileges also cause us to be the oppressors over others. We are both simultaneously the oppressor and the oppressed in the same aspects.

However, we both differ greatly when it comes to our ethnicity. Andria is unmarked, as she identifies herself as white/European. I, however, fall within the marked category as I am Palestinian/Middle-Eastern. It is a bit difficult to know that someone who I look to as my peer, my partner and friend, whom I relate to in so many aspects may also be considered more dominant and powerful over me. Andria has never once acted as if she was more privileged than me but rather we took the time to discuss our own matrix of domination and understand one another for the person we want others to perceive us as. It is unfortunate that our society is structured in a way that Andria’s own privileges have caused my classification as being oppressed.

This analysis of everyday life has allowed me to realize that power has two notions, emphasizing optimism and privilege on one hand, but also limits, strain and oppression. It is evident that everyone embodies both marked and unmarked characteristics simultaneously, this creating a matrix of domination. I have personally identified with my own marked and unmarked categories, accepting them and comparing my matrix of domination with my partner Andria. The matrix of domination has allowed me to understand others and have a broader perspective on the world around me.