Our essential question is: What is white privilege and why do we need to talk about it?
Defining privilege as unearned advantage or right based on group status, Annie and Hope breakdown examples of white privilege from shopping without receipts to traveling without being stopped. Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not there! Privilege is systemic. IWLs talk briefly about gendered and whitewashed toys, including where you can find some rad Barbies with afros (Etsy). BONUS TRACK: other diverse Barbie-like dolls, because representation matters.
IWLs experiment with a new segment in the show called “pop critical theory.” Today’s segment focuses on intersectionality. Intersectionality originally comes from feminist sociological theory and the work of Kimberle’ Crenshaw, who says that discrimination or criminal behavior against women can be targeted or intensified based on that woman’s race. So intersectionality has the power to compound your oppression, BUT! It can also be a source of personal power, because it gives you the ability to stratify different groups, AKA be in more than one group at a time.
Articles mentioned in the episode that you should go read RIGHT NOW:
- Harper’s Sept 2017 Issue The Rise of the Valkyries
- NPR’s “The Women Behind the Alt Right”
- Lipstick Fascism
Timeless or Terrible: Annie and Hope weigh in on the staples of interchangeable white women everywhere.
Today’s topics–boot cuffs and the obsession with talking about generations (leave those millennials and their avocado toast alone).
Do Your Fudging Homework: Go read Tim Snyder’s book, “On Tyranny.” It’s like pamphlet-small, no excuses. Go Google pictures of the Panopticon so you can get an idea of what it looks like. Go read up on the idea of the invisible or imaginary audience. Take notes and prepare to discuss.
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