This culture jam exudes the idea of the upper/middle class male as "suffering" from the guilty conscience which is associated with being in the seat of power and therefore oppressing the masses...must be a hard days work! I love this idea of the sale of ethic supplement, just in case you were short due to your classist upperhand.....This culture jam really illustrates the appropriation of certain groups pain and oppression by the dominant cultures....how does this fit into feminism? In what way do men appropriate the work and oppression that women experience? Is it fair to say that white, middle to upper class males have a reason to feel guilty even though they were born into that social position.....?
Miss Frizz
I personally do not think anyone should feel guilty about something that is beyond their control. I do not feel guilty for being a white male. If I say, ran a company that intentionally oppressed it's workers, then I may feel guilty about that.... probably not though, because hell... I'd be running a company! That's quite the step up from the oppressed worker I currently am.
ReplyDelete--The N3rd
Discussions about privilege, domination and power need to take into account the way that systems work; so, for example, guilt over something we cannot control but were born into is (and historically feminists have argued this) a waste of time. What is not a waste of time, however, is learning about how we are implicated in systems whether we choose to participate in them or not. E.g.: I benefit from classism because I was born into a class with some money which has availed me opportunities not available to others by simple reason of their birth. I do not feel guilt, but I do understand that classism is an oppressive system which automatically privileges me and oppresses others, regardless of my personal feelings about it all. As someone who is committed to social justice, I work to eradicate social inequalities like classism.
ReplyDeleteIt's not a question of whether or not people should, or do, feel guily. Guilt gets us nowhere; what is crucial is to learn how systems implicate us ALL in one way or another, and then go on some sort of self-questioning process in which we say: 'OK, now what am I going to do about this system that implicates us all'.
For some, the short answer 'nothing'; for others, a more reflective process that will lead to politicized citizenry.
The N3rd, I don't know if it was deliberate or not, but your ironic twist about "running the company!" lack of guilt was a perfect example of the current global hegemonic masculinity - Western businessman: for whom the ends of making money justify the means of oppressing workers.