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Nine: What's your power-ism?
Some traits give you power or advantage over those who don't have that trait. Some traits give you a disadvantage or strip you of power.
Some traits are inherited and some are not. Some come and go, and some are lifelong. Few people live out their entire lives without experiencing being the underdog in one of these pairings:
- Ageism is likely the easiest to understand, because at different times in our lives, we move in and out of the power position.
- Sexism might seem one that is established at birth, but with gender confirmation, people can change their power dynamics.
- Ethnic and Religious power relationships occur in populations when there is a subordinate group defined by these cultural identities.
- Classism is one that has some fluidity in our country, compared to a culture like India where castes can still control your lifelong position.
- Ableism is the general situation where able bodied people are given preference over people with disabilities like hearing or vision loss, mobility issues and birth defects.
If you have ever tricked a bouncer with a fake ID or changed your hair to pass as younger, you have experienced a need to be in a different age class. We have outlawed asking for certain traits on employment applications to help prevent hiring discrimination, but there are some that are not so easy to keep a secret.
People have a great capacity for establishing a pecking order based on arbitrary guidelines. It is easier to maintain these pecking orders when it is obvious which group you belong to.
What groups do you belong to that are the subordinate group of a power-ism? You may not sit around complaining about them, but you know they exist. You may have been taught from birth that it is just how things work and you should make the best of it. Or were you that kid who acknowledged your position in a subordinate class and set out to change the system? Did you prove the world wrong that a kid from your background could get ahead? Do you feel that no one understands or acknowledges your struggle?
Reflect on your own journey and that of your parents and your children. Which classes are you stuck in and which did you work to get out of? What laws have changed to help you and what is left to be done?
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By Edie Milligan DriskillSome traits give you power or advantage over those who don't have that trait. Some traits give you a disadvantage or strip you of power.
Some traits are inherited and some are not. Some come and go, and some are lifelong. Few people live out their entire lives without experiencing being the underdog in one of these pairings:
- Ageism is likely the easiest to understand, because at different times in our lives, we move in and out of the power position.
- Sexism might seem one that is established at birth, but with gender confirmation, people can change their power dynamics.
- Ethnic and Religious power relationships occur in populations when there is a subordinate group defined by these cultural identities.
- Classism is one that has some fluidity in our country, compared to a culture like India where castes can still control your lifelong position.
- Ableism is the general situation where able bodied people are given preference over people with disabilities like hearing or vision loss, mobility issues and birth defects.
If you have ever tricked a bouncer with a fake ID or changed your hair to pass as younger, you have experienced a need to be in a different age class. We have outlawed asking for certain traits on employment applications to help prevent hiring discrimination, but there are some that are not so easy to keep a secret.
People have a great capacity for establishing a pecking order based on arbitrary guidelines. It is easier to maintain these pecking orders when it is obvious which group you belong to.
What groups do you belong to that are the subordinate group of a power-ism? You may not sit around complaining about them, but you know they exist. You may have been taught from birth that it is just how things work and you should make the best of it. Or were you that kid who acknowledged your position in a subordinate class and set out to change the system? Did you prove the world wrong that a kid from your background could get ahead? Do you feel that no one understands or acknowledges your struggle?
Reflect on your own journey and that of your parents and your children. Which classes are you stuck in and which did you work to get out of? What laws have changed to help you and what is left to be done?