Young & MacKinnon

In her essay, "Five Faces of Oppression," Iris Marion Young provides a rubric through which to analyze types of oppression and discrimination, such as gender and sex discrimination. While all five "faces" - exploitation, marginalization, powerlessness, cultural imperialism, and violence - can be applied to sex discrimination, I think Catherine MacKinnon's essay best relates to powerlessness and cultural imperialism. MacKinnon states, "for women to affirm difference, when difference means dominance, as it does with gender, means to affirm the qualities and characteristics of powerlessness" (85). Young defines powerlessness as lacking decision making power or being inhibited to develop one's full capacity. She also cites an example whereby women are not treated with full respect until they reveal a college degree or an equivalent affirmation of their worth or intelligence. These definitions and this example relate directly to MacKinnon's statement; women are treated "differently" than men in an initial meeting, and they have to prove themselves in order to be treated the same. This difference in treatment is powerlessness- women have to earn a level a respect that men receive as a baseline treatment simply because they are men.

Young defines cultural imperialism as "the universalization of a dominant group's experience and culture, and it's establishment as the norm" (59). MacKinnon's use of the example of the human body illustrates this type of oppression. She explains how the standard human body is viewed as the male's body, while all of the "extra" features of a women's body are studied separately. Although the establishment of obgyn's may not seem oppressive at face value, it is another example of the subtleties of cultural imperialism that place men as the standard and women as the exception. Once these differences are established, they are blinding to those who hold the dominant view and are in the positions of power. This blindness is dangerous and can lead to more blatant forms of oppression such as sexual violence.