This weeks reading by Peggy McIntosh really moved me in two main ways. She explained how men may support women's rights, but as soon as they have to give up some of their power they no longer want to support the issues. For some reason my mind has never saw it as men giving up some of their power and giving it to women, but now that McIntosh shed light on the fact I can't believe I didn't realize this. Immediately after reading that paragraph I thought of a perfect example of this in my household. My mother normally makes dinner so when my brother and I got home from sports practice, and when my dad got home from work we could all eat together. Then after dinner we would all help clear the table but she would always be the one doing the dishes and whipping down the table, taking care of the rest of us. My dad would sometimes tell my brother and I to do the cleaning, which we would. But once after my dad told my brother and I to clean so mom wouldn't have to, my mom said to my dad, "Why don't you do the dishes." My dad giggled and laughed and said because I have to change my clothes and watch T.V. My father was all for taking my mom out of the stereotypical role of a traditional stay at home mom, but once he had to do the work he no longer cared. As I type this I realize it is making my dad seem like a horrible human, which he is not. He does the dishes all the time, not more than my mom, but he puts in his work around the house. But I just remembered this specific innocent because it matches what McIntosh is speaking to so perfectly.
Lastly, the way McIntosh speaks so candidly and honestly makes me have a lot of respect for her. A white person talking about their whiteness is a hard thing to do with out sounding ignorant. But she does so in a way that does not make me question her opinions because she is speaking from her own truth.
Hi Emily,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you brought up McIntosh's piece and I was a bit disappointed that we didn't get to discuss in class. Reading the bit about how men often don't want to go as far as actually giving up their power to women in the name of equality actually resonated with me a lot. I see this instance often when speaking about social justice issues to groups that experience more privilege than others. There is a common saying along the lines of "when you have lived with privilege your whole life, equality feels like oppression." I didn't notice this segment that much while reading it myself, but I liked that it was included in the essay. It makes you think about how we examine privilege and what must be thought about or given up in order to create a society that is truly "equal".