Kylie Kam, Period 2, 2/7/23

Kylie Kam

Period 2

2/7/23

Modern Mythology 2023

Socio-political Consciousness

What are your thoughts and feelings about issues of inequity, oppression, and/or power?

How do you reflect critically on your own beliefs, assumptions, values, and experiences, and how these can influence your perception of self and others?

The world has been plagued by issues of inequity, oppression, and power throughout human history. As a society, we will never be able to completely eradicate injustice, oppression, and power. Since these three factors are interconnected and go hand in hand, they will always be present within our community. The rise of power often results in the oppression of those who are powerless, and the rise of oppression often results in equity as well. Additionally, it can also be attributed to the nature of the human being. A human being is almost always driven by desires, and most injustices and oppressions are rooted in those desires. The idea of a utopian world will never become a reality, since people will do anything to satisfy their desires. It is inevitable that new issues will emerge as society continues to grow, causing an endless cycle of inequity, oppression, and power.

It is not uncommon for society to give in to the prejudice narrative that has been thrown at women for as long as we can remember, from men dictating how women should present themselves to ridiculous hypocrisy portrayed by those who judge women for doing the same things as men do to harmful and unjust standards that women are forced to accept. Women have been stigmatized and taught to stay at home while men go to work for generations, making us think that women are subordinate to men in society. But the capabilities of women are slowly becoming more evident in every phase of life. In the case of oppression, it is impossible to get anything good out of oppression. The system discriminates against some groups while benefiting others because of prejudice and power. The American culture, society, and laws are woven with a system of oppression that is deeply embedded in the very foundations of the nation. This undermines the lived experiences of communities and divides them from each other when they should be working together. It is possible to improve the quality of life as society keeps evolving by acknowledging its problems and working towards improvement. 

The approach to these problems should be based on an open mindset when it comes to addressing them in the right way. As a result, too many people are adamant about their own beliefs and are never willing to listen to other people’s viewpoints. However, the problem is difficult to eradicate and will probably never disappear. Throughout the world, there is a deep-seated hatred that can emanate from anybody towards any group of people. I believe that you can better understand other people’s way of thinking by seeing and learning about different cultures. A new perception can be useful not only in interactions with other people, but can also be useful in reflecting on yourself, since you are now seeing yourself as others do. And hopefully, these new experiences will help people become more open-minded and less susceptible to oppression, inequity, and power imbalances.