Nance 1

Carolyn Nance
WGS 250-02
Dayne Alexander
December 8, 2014
Final Paper
To say that one part of this course has resonated with me more than any other would be a
lie, everything resonated with me on some level. There is, however, a single concept that was
repeated throughout the course that has greatly impacted me. The concept of the other has been
engrained in my mind since the first time it was discussed in class. Maybe it is so important to
me because it seems so obvious; such a simple notion, yet easily ignored. The existence of the
other perpetuates the existence of powers, privileges, and oppressions, as well as the
institutions and ideologies that support them. The divides that are most prominent in my eyes are
those between men and women, whites and people of color, and human animals versus nonhuman animals.
The other is an entity that is perceived as different from a group, and therefore is
excluded from the group. The groups that exclude can range in size, they can be as big as a
society, or as small as a grade school clique. Being inherently different casts the others out of
the crowd who serves as the norm. The dominant group does not necessarily have to be the
majority, nor does the other have to be the minority. Others are seen as lesser for their
differences, and so they are treated as less.
Power is beyond our grasp, though some may have power they cannot possess it. Power
is equal to control, and when obtained can generate a fear of losing said control. The more fear of
losing control there is, the more one tries to obtain control. More often than not men are the

Nance 2
power-holders, women are side-kicks at best. Women are more or less a means to an end for
men, they are necessary to benefit men and little else. Men do not seek affirmation from women,
rather through them. The opinions of other men are the driving force behind men needing to be
powerful, if that means using women or any other lesser entity, so be it. Thus the cycle of power
chasing never ends.
The privileges of the privileged are carry upon the backs of the disadvantaged. In all
social constructions there is an other, in gender anyone who is not a male is atypical, in race
anyone that is not white/Caucasian is the other, in species anything that is not a human is
automatically seen as inferior; if you do not fit the standard you can give up any hopes of
privileges. Privilege is complicated though, those with privileges usually do not even recognized
that they are privileged.
To be oppressed is to be exploited, marginalized, held to an unachievable standard,
violated, and powerless. Oppression cannot be measured; likewise those who are oppressed are
not greater, nor lesser than any other group. Many people are oppressed, but people either have,
or are denied different privileges, therefore it is impossible to calculate or compare the
persecution that one person goes through in relation to someone else.
It is commendable to be white, heterosexual, upper middle class, being a man is just the
icing on the cake. Society is dominated by, centered around, and identifies with men. Malesuperiority is nothing new, being a man has always been accepted as the original. This is where
women are seen as the other, and are punished for something that they have no control over.
Women are defined and judged by men, the dominant group, in relationship to themselves, so
that they become the Other. Hence Aristotle says: "The female is a female by virtue of a certain
lack of qualities; we should regard the female nature as afflicted with a natural defectiveness.

Nance 3
(The Other)" People who do not identify with the heteronormative lifestyle, or are gender
queered are seen as less than the norm. They break the social standard that has been set and they
suffer oppression because of it.
Being the other also makes it possible for women to have the pleasure of being paid less
than men, as well as treated differently at work on a regular basis. In a 2005 poll conducted by
the Wall Street Journal and NBC, 44 percent of working women said they had been
discriminated against because of their gender (Shaw and Lee, 400) Furthermore, women are
mistreated in regards to their bodies on a medical level. Women of color have been sterilized
against their will in the past. Presently, white women are discouraged against sterilization and
abortions. They have no medical rights to their body, and that is fine, after all they are only
women. In this divide men are the privileged and powerful, and women are the oppressed and the
other.
White supremacy is such a sensitive subject. Whites like to deny the existence of it, and
people of color are constantly oppressed by it. Yet, here we are living in a society that values
light skin, as if skin color is anything more than just a color. Skin tones that vary from white are
read as less; less human, less intelligent, less capable, other. The way race is used to determine
a persons worth and value is sickening. How one person judges another person says much more
of the one judging than the one being judged. There is so much controversy right now over the
way in which people of color are so many negative things. This negativity is broadcasted for the
entire country to see. And perhaps most astonishing is that U.S. citizens are actually buying what
the media has to say. They are even taking to social media to speak out against people of color
protesting being oppressed. This is oppression. When people are so blind to the way that other

Nance 4
people are treated that they begin to persecute the oppressed even more. Thus, whites are
privileged and powerful, and people of color are the oppressed and the other.
It is baffling to think that this country is still stuck in racial inequality. Yes, there have
been improvements since the Civil Rights Movement, but there are still more improvements to
be made. Black bodies, especially those of men, are read as violent. People of color are regularly
mistreated by authorities and often wrongly accused for their skin. The prison industrial system
is filled with mostly black men, so as to keep them out of society and keep them oppressed.
Women of color have been forcefully sterilized to control the population, whereas white women
are encouraged to have babies and often denied sterilization. These things are seen as perfectly
legal. No one bats an eye, people just look the other way and continue with their lives as
injustices happen all around. All lives matter, no matter what color skin a person has. We should
not have to have protests, or riots, or anything else. We should all be equal, there is no difference
between people on the inside. Just because people are not the same color does not make anyone
any less of a person, with any less right to a fair chance at living their life.
Non-human animal bodies have been rendered okay to kill, harm, and consume. Their
bodies are read as already dead, and always disposable. Animal products such as dairy, eggs, and
feminized proteins are doubly exploited. The US breeds and kills billions of animals every year
for consumption alone. Which is viewed as tolerable, because there is such a high demand for
meat, and they are thought of as just animals. The violences are dismissed on the grounds that
animals are incapable of feelings and lack certain other qualities that only some humans possess.
Disregarding the ways that animals are treated and consumed in our own country Americans
frown upon the consumption of certain types of meat in other countries. Cows, chickens, and
pigs are killed here in abundance every day, but perish the thought that anyone eat a cat or dog.

Nance 5
There is sympathy to be had for select animals in select spaces. Still non-human animals are
altogether neglected in terms of being valued and regarded as capable of interests and suffering.
Their bodies are always the absent referent. They are always oppresses, always the other.
Dualism connects the woman with the body, nature, and animals. Likewise, men are
connected with the mind, culture, and humans. Attitudes, ideologies, and institutions aid the
gross connection between women and non-human animals by the sexualizing and feminizing of
non-human animals, and the animalizing of women. Since both bodies are devalued and
considered others the victimization is permitted. Moreover, when non-human animals are
sexualized and feminized it is done in a comical way to mask the caustic motives. The bodies of
women and non-human animals are fragmented in advertising to relate to each other, because it
appeals to the heterosexual men.
In a way these issues are all connected. Women and men are divided on grounds of
gender inequality. Whites and people of color are divided by racial inequalities. Human animals
and non-human animals are divided by speciesism. Women are animalizes and animals are
sexualized and feminized. White men tend to not work in the more gruesome parts of the animal
industry, therefore men of color are often found in slaughter houses and such. Which leads to the
continued oppression of non-human animals. This interconnection keeps the institutions in place.
There is so much segregation and separation that lines are drawn within the groups of the
oppressed. Women are oppressed for being women, yet white women are separated from women
of color. Men are powerful and privileged, but white men and men of color cannot be categorized
as powerful together. Then non-human animals are oppressed as well, but they are of a different
species and cannot be in the categorized with humans. All this separation, it seems only logical to
band together. Women, people of color, and non-human animals, all oppressed, yet not working

Nance 6
together towards their shared goal of equality. That is the sole purpose of feminism. The shared
burdens of different people working together toward the cause of eliminating oppressions. Not
only the oppression of bodies that are valued, but all bodies. Feminism is about the combined
critical efforts of people supporting one another in their fight to end inequalities. Critical does
not mean destructive, but only willing to examine what we sometimes presuppose in our way of
thinking, and that gets in the way of making a more livable world. Judith Butler.
In conclusion, power, domination, and violence are all supported by the identification and
exclusion of others. Some bodies are always deemed more valuable than others; male bodies
are valued over female bodies, white bodies are valued over bodies of color, and human animal
bodies are valued over non-human animal bodies. To be an other is to be an outsider. Women are
exiled by men. People of color are excluded by whites. Animals are outcast by humans. What is
so terrifying about equality? Is it the change, or is it the lack of compassion that we have that is
holding us back? Oppression, power, and privilege seem to be a system that cannot be stopped or
changed. The powerful and the privileged are the oppressors, but the oppressed have a hand in
keeping the system static too. Everyone is so comfortably numb and set in their ways that change
does not even appear to be an option anymore. We maintain these standards through our
relationships and beliefs, and only through changing our ways is it possible to overcome these
standards. There is always a way to improve, though it will not be quick, nor will it be easy, but
it is there for those who are willing to strive for it. Just because we inherited these social
guidelines does not mean we have to endorse them any longer. If our hunger for peace was as
impressive as our hunger for power then I would not have to write this paper. We can no longer
accept the thought that the only people who are people are the ones who look and think alike,
everyone has value; every person, every creature has worth.

Nance 7

Nance 8
Works Cited
Adams, Carol J. Sexual Politics of Meat a Feminist-Vegetarian Critical Theory (20th Anniversary
Edition). London: Continuum International Pub. Group, 2010. Print.
Baumgardner, Jennifer, and Amy Richards. "A Day Without Feminism." Womens Studies:
Perspectives and Practices. (2000): 30-33. Print.
The Other. N.a. Brooklyn College, 4 Feb. 2009. Web. 7 Dec. 2014.
http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/other.html/.
Shaw, Susan M., and Janet Lee. Womens Voices, Feminist Visions: Classic and Contemporary
Readings. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. Print.