Blog Post #3

The Four I's of Oppression with Luna Malbroux

After reading and watching "The Four I's of Oppression" I was able to get a better understanding on what oppression is. While watching the video with Luna Malbroux, something that really stood out to me was the first thing she started with was explaining how when we were in the womb ideas about gender and race were already shaping the way that we would show up in the world. First, ideological oppression is when poeple dehumanize, exploit, or harm other individuals or certain groups. "A common feature in many ideological oppressions is biologism–interpreting the value of human life from a strictly biological viewpoint. Ideological biologism might shape how accepting someone is of others with chronic illness, non-traditional family formations, non-binary gender identities, etc." In the video she uses examples with sterotypes, for example being a "real girl" or "real boy" and how boys shouldn't cry and girls should be pretty, these things are being normalized. Also, internalized oppression, "Addresses the way individuals absorb belief systems that then contribute to feelings of false supremacy or false deficiency within themselves in relation to others–especially those who are not part of the dominant social group." That can lead to people having anxiety, depression, fatalism, self-hatred, or even suicide. In the video she mentions the "dominant narrative", which is telling us that there is a standard/norm and if you aren't that you are considered "other".  Next, there is interpersonal oppression which is when one group may feel they are better than the other and they have more rights then the other. She uses the word "exclusion", and there has all been a time in our lives where we have left excluded or experienced being treated differently. "When expressed across groups, interpersonal oppression can normalize biased behaviors and violence. Such actions seem justified, normal, or reasonable–especially if oppressive values are tacitly or explicitly supported by the group. It is the most identifiable expression of oppression because its impacts are immediate. When someone is a target of interpersonal oppression, they feel diminished, exploited, attacked, and dehumanized; their safety is jeopardized, and their life may even be threatened." There is also institutional oppression, which is demonstrated in how institutions reinforce and manifest their ideology. Luna Malbroux gives many examples on how institutions do that, like the way our neighborhoods are comprised, school systems and how some are funded more than others, or there are still laws for people with different abilities/mental health diagnoses to show up to work and be supported. 

A point I would share in class is something I heard from watching the video with Luna Malbroux, in our everyday lives we should look for the four I's of oppression and see how they show up and intersect with each other. Also, the primary modes of socialization and before we were even born ideas on our gender and race were already "shaping the way we would show up in the world." 

The Four I's of Oppression Link