Alicia's Matrix of Domination

The matrix of domination is prevalent in our society today. Power and authority are distributed in various ways because of various reasons, some identified, some unidentified. There are people who benefit and others who suffer because of these often unspoken social norms. People are simultaneously part of marked and unmarked groups. Marked categories consist of the visible and unmarked categories consist of the invisible. One may consider being invisible negative but it is not. Being invisible proves domination in this case.
Although there are numerous examples of how certain people are deemed the powerful and others the powerless, I chose one specific event in my life that exemplified myself simultaneously as an unmarked and marked contributor to our society. One night I was driving to my friend’s college apartment in Chester, Pennsylvania. I ended up getting lost and got pulled over by a police officer. At first I was scared that I had missed a stop sign or was going to get in trouble for some reason. However, the officer came up to me and said something of the sense that it was not safe for me to be in that part of town and if I continued down the road I was headed I would have some problems. I then asked this man for directions and went on my way, quite stunned at what had just occurred and the stereotypes that were involved in such an interaction.
In Chester, PA, a predominantly black city, ‘white’ is a minority. Chester has a lot of government-funded project housing as well as run-down houses and cars and so many people refer to the city as the “ghetto” or “hood.” However, when my friends at Widener University invited me over, I did not feel afraid to drive the five minutes from my house to their apartment complex. I would like to account my lack of fear of the area to being a faithful Christian but it could just as well be because of my ignorance of the dangers that do exist in the city of Chester. Anyhow, my fair skin and clear European-American decent seemed to be part of the reason the African American officer pulled me over. It is difficult to know how the officer interpreted my skin color. He may have considered me marked because I was white and white is definitely a minority in that city. Also, he could have considered me more powerful or unmarked, being that as a white person I should be warned before entering into the particular area where I had been headed. The officer could have felt more dominant over me because he was African American and in Chester mostly everyone besides some college students in the area are also African American. Either way, my race was clearly a question of domination. My whiteness made me visible in Chester and because of that, I felt I was marked in this aspect. Not only was my race a cause for being pulled over, the race of the inhabitants of the area I was heading towards was obviously considered along with the stereotypes that go along with those particular persons.
The officer seemed to think that the place I was heading for was not safe for a white person to be in. But why did he think I would be harmed or mistreated in that area? When looking back on the event, I realized that the officer must have had some personal perceptions about the people of that certain block. I obviously could tell that the area around me was predominantly filled with African Americans and to see a white person was a rarity but I did not think I could be endangered merely because of my skin color. The officer may have had experience in that part of town before and reason to believe I would have been given trouble but in any case, he obviously felt that I would be powerless compared to the people I was heading to encounter.
Race was one of many issues, however, that contributed to this incidence. Another reason the officer must have found for pulling me over was because I was female. I honestly think that if I had been a male, I would not have gotten pulled over. Because of this thinking, I believe being a woman was the basis for the policeman even noticing me in the area in the first place. Although being a woman is considered a marked category because we are supposedly inferior to men, I did not feel the officer was disrespectful to me and he certainly did not use any force. Despite this respect that I was given, I did feel by being a female, I was seen by the officer as physically subordinate and unfit to take care of myself. In some sense, I agree. I do not think being a woman makes me weaker or less of a person. However, I am certain that had I been presented with someone who wanted to physically harm me, I would have put up a fight but it would not have made much of a difference. The officer, knowing this, saw that it would be in my best interest for him to pull me over and help me. He felt protective of me for the sole reason that I was a woman and he was a man. He was superior to me because I was not male and he was, therefore, knowing his realm of power, he chose to help me. When thinking back to if I were to have encountered an aggressor, I realized a lot about the males closest to me.
The men I find in my life are undoubtedly stronger than me. I grew up with two brothers, one older, one younger. My younger brother now towers over me and my older brother has always been much taller and stronger. I remember as kids when we would more or less play-fight, no matter how hard I tried, I could never hurt them. Although I never had an urge to truly injure them nor did they want to really injure me, there was always an unspoken fact. Even to this day, they know they are stronger than me and I know that I am weaker than they are. We have a weight-lifting bench in our basement and I took an interest in lifting just for toning. My dad and brothers thought it was the funniest thing that I, a small-framed girl, wanted to bench press weights. Being that my family is extremely close-knit, I did not mind them laughing because when I told them I was going to lift no matter what, they were more than happy to help me remove weights and make sure I did not get hurt. However, they still think it’s humorous every time I go to lift. I know they do not mean to be derogatory but this is just another example of how sex automatically determines a lot of things about a person.
Another example along the same lines with the power that males hold over females can be seen at our campus recreation center. There are a lot of weight machines that can be used by either sex. I have had many personal instances where I have felt dominated by the guys. A few different times I have been working out on a particular machine and a guy will come up and ask if he can just do one set quickly. Every time I let them because I feel like it would be so awkward to tell them no and that they should just wait their turn. Each time it is a quick set and then they leave, however, I feel like they do it because they know we will always let them. Men feel as though they are superior in the weight room because they can lift more than the girls but this is unfair. They are physically and mentally more powerful in this situation. Often times the weight room is quite uncomfortable. There is always a majority of males and most of the time the workers in the weight rooms are males so they can assist with heavy weights. As a female, I do not enjoy being looked at just because I am the only female in sight. This mental distraction and uncomfortable feelings seems to be a way for the males to show their power over the females.
The reason why I am so noticed in a weight room full of men is because I am visible. I am undoubtedly a part of a marked category in this situation. When other men walk into the room, they receive little attention and are left alone unless they find some friends to chat with. This is because they are invisible, or unmarked. However, every time any girl makes an appearance in the room, unnecessary amounts of attention are directed her way. Because of this visibility, I try to make my time in the weight room at the gym as limited as possible. I feel much more comfortable when I go to the track or to the cardio machines where there are mostly women. An interesting observation to note is that when I go to the track or the cardio machines I do not feel visible. In fact, I feel invisible even though as a woman, I am a member of the marked group. This is because when surrounded by other marked individuals, your visibility is overlooked because they are just as visible as you.
Continuing on with my main experience, I would like to discuss the importance of the geographic location of Chester, Pennsylvania. As I mentioned earlier in the paper, Chester is only a five-minute drive from my house so it is no more than three miles away. My neighborhood is fairly nice. It is a regular, middle-class area but it is predominantly white. Although crime has increased over the years, it is never an overwhelming amount to the point where my area would be considered the ‘hood.’ The occasional graffiti and break-ins are not of significant threat to the inhabitants of our community. With this being said, my neighborhood would definitely fall under the term, invisible. The few mishaps are often overlooked and no one seems to draw much attention or visibility to my neighborhood.
On the other hand, Chester is a completely different story. There is far more crime, including more severe ones such as child battery, rape and occasionally murder. My knowledge of the danger of the area has increased over time with more and more people I know having problems in that particular area. Most drug deals that are likely to happen with people from my area occur in Chester and I know of several people from my high school that became caught up in that scene. With the knowledge of this information, it is no wonder why a police officer who sees a small, white woman driving in a decent-looking car would stop her before entering a part of town where crime seemed to occur more than other places.
In the police officer’s mind, I feel as though the inhabitants of the area in which I was headed were considered marked. They were marked because they were apparently known for crime. The area of Chester is visible because with such high crime rates, it is commonly discussed within the public. Chester is more open to various types of ridicule than an area that has a low rate of crime and receives little negative attention. The news focuses primarily on negative happenings so Chester is known around my area to be dangerous which shows that since residents outside of Chester know about the city, it is definitely marked or visible. The officer acknowledged the fact that Chester was visible and thus unsafe for me by stating, “They’ll eat you up if you keep heading down this road.” I was confused by the comment at first. In the officer’s eyes, they were people who committed crimes and disobeyed the law and because of this, they were visible people and made the place where they live just as visible as well. Since Chester is visible without a doubt, why does crime happen so often in Chester but not five minutes away in my town?
Aside from the discussion of the geographic location of Chester, my own geographic location is of importance when considering the matrix of domination. Where I live is often considered nice for the general location of my home. My neighborhood is one of the nicer ones although my family is not anywhere close to being well off. Just the fact that we live in a safe neighborhood makes me feel as though I am luckier than those living in Chester. Luckier does not mean that I am better or more privileged but it does mean that I am safe within my own home and community and because of this I am grateful. My respectable location includes me in an unmarked category in the sense that I am more powerful or respected because of my location. I do not necessarily agree with this sense of power that I may be perceived to possess but I am aware of it. I understand the shift of power because although my area is considered nice for my town, I have witnessed the aura that can be found in places even nicer. There is another area close-by called Garnet Valley with beautiful, gigantic houses. Everyone has a fairly expensive car and the luxuries in this area far surpass any in my hometown. One would perceive this area as having more power and dominance over an area like my hometown and especially over an area like Chester.
This shows that the geographic location of a person’s inhabitance can make an effect on if they are considered unmarked or marked. A law-breaker or dangerous person is not valued in society. Although this is true, what is not true is that all people living in the one part of Chester were marked. This example relates to one of my teachers. Her family lives in an area predominantly inhabited by Latinos and because of this she had an instance of where a police officer put her under arrest for throwing a house party for completing her master’s degree. This reinforces the fact that the assumptions that police make could often be wrong and prejudice. I do not know if the policeman I came in contact with was being prejudiced or wrong nor am I trying to say that I would have been perfectly fine had the officer not stopped me. However, I do believe that he made a judgment about the inhabitants of that area based on generalizations. They were, in his opinion, a marked group of people of African American background, low economic status and poor geographic location.
Along with the geographic location of Chester, many people who live in Chester are of the lower economic class of society or the working poor. Their class in society portrays them as powerless. This is because a lot of the world is run by and on money. If these people do not have money, they are considered marked and subordinate to the people who are fortunate enough to have money. A lot of assumptions go along with people of low economic status. Unfortunately this is just a process of domination that occurs in society every day. This relates to me being pulled over by the police officer because the police officer saw me as unmarked. I have a 2002 Rodeo Sport, which I bought myself and pay car insurance and gas completely on my own. The policeman probably saw this decently nice car and automatically realized that I did not belong in the neighborhood for which I was headed. I am unmarked in the sense that I do possess a car and that I have a job that supports my car expenses. However, I am also marked because of the car in this situation since it made me visible. Most people in Chester would not have a car as new or as nice as mine. I do not mean to say that I am better because I have a nice car but I obviously stood out in a neighborhood full of struggling people. This shows that class can determine where a person lives and also how a person is perceived in society.
I witnessed a supporting experience with my cousin who is seventeen and has a one-year-old daughter. She does not work because she goes to high school and then takes care of the baby on her free time. Unfortunately, my aunt and uncle are not in a position where they can afford to help my cousin or the baby and so she is on the WICK program, which provides food and milk for her baby. This cousin is on my mother’s side of the family. When my father’s mother found out about this, her reaction was of sorrow and disbelief. She could not imagine needing government aid and felt sorry that the government was supporting a my cousin and her daughter at such a young age. By this attitude, it is clear that my cousin’s dependence on the government puts her in a marked category. Her class in society also goes along with her geographic location, which is a type of suburb of Chester. Class and societal standings are very important in this world. I have noticed through other instances of how class is a major factor in the matrix of domination as well.
Living very close to Philadelphia, I have encountered several homeless people while walking through the city. This is a prime example of how I have power over them merely because of my economic standing and my position of having a job and making money even if it is only enough for food. Homeless people on the streets do not have food, proper clothing or a place to sleep. They are a prime example of the matrix of domination. Although some may be men, white, Christian, or part of any other unmarked category, their major problem is that they are part of such a prominent marked category of being jobless, homeless and foodless. With this going against them, they are unlikely to be seen as possessing any type of power. Homeless people are open to public ridicule and visible to passer-bys thus reinforcing the fact that they marked in society.
Class and money also becomes a subject of domination when dealing with paying for college. As an out-of-state student and paying for my college education solely by myself, I feel powerless compared to the majority of students who have their parents to pay for college for them. A lot of students I have encountered do not have a care in the world about where they are going to live or if tuition increases or not. This is because they do not have the financial or mental burden on them. However, I already indebted for my first year and will continue to become further in debt for the following three years here. This is the school of my choice and I do not want to change, however, it is awful to feel so powerless compared to people that clearly come from backgrounds of higher class that their parents can afford to pay for their education.
Through my particular examples, it is clear to see that a person can be easily considered marked and unmarked at the same time. Throughout one experience with the police officer pulling me over in Chester, I was considered both marked and unmarked in various ways. Being European American, or white, makes me unmarked normally because I supposedly do not stand out in society. Whites possess power that is granted to them without being spoken or confirmed verbally. However in my particular situation in Chester, it is up to interpretation whether I was marked or unmarked in the eyes of the policeman. I am marked in the sense that I am a woman. I am considered inferior to the male sex because of physical and even emotional abilities that I may be perceived to lack. My class and geographic location make me unmarked because I am a member of the middle class and my home is located in a decent area right outside of Philadelphia. The matrix of domination really came alive while doing this essay. Not only did I think about myself in terms of unmarked and marked categories, I thought of others and my surroundings as well.