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I am a full Canadian Citizen. I am half Italian and Half Indigenous. I was born in Hamilton, Ontario. I identify as a white cisgender female. I am a full able-bodied, young 20-year-old. English is my first language. Although my mom is Italian, and has parents whose first language is Italian, I grew up speaking only English and speak very (very) little Italian. I grew up in an urban area. The neighbourhood years ago was not very diverse. We have recently noticed more and more diversity, as new homes have been built, all different groups have moved in the neighbourhood. I am religious. I am part of the roman catholic church. I have very religious Italian grandparents. My family could be considered middle class. We have struggled a lot financially, but we live in a house that has been updated, my brothers and I grew up playing rep hockey, and we would take family vacations every few years.

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Social Location Within Webs of Oppression 

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Social Location Within Webs of Oppression 

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When I think of my social identity, I do not think it is fair for me to say that I have been oppressed my whole life, but I have faced some oppression being a young, cisgender female. With that being said, I am Indigenous, I am a young woman, and I am white. Although Indigenous Peoples have previously been oppressed and continue to face oppressions, and females for years have faced gender oppression, I do not fit the image of an Indigenous person so I have not faced oppression like someone who may live on a reserve and who publicly practices Indigenous rituals.

I believe that I belong to the privileged group. I grew up playing the highest-level hockey. I have two older brothers who also played rep hockey. My parents both had well-paying jobs and we lived in a safe neighbourhood. Although I had the privilege to grow up playing sports, having a safe space to call home, and parents that made enough to support this lifestyle, we did in fact endure many struggles. My dad was an alcoholic and it really took a toll on my family. We did not share this with anyone, so from the outside we may have looked like the ideal, Canadian, hockey playing family, but on the inside, we were really struggling. This impacts my social location immensely. People can look at me and think that I have never faced hardships or oppressions, meanwhile I have. It is so easy to create ideas of people when looking from the outside. These assumptions that may be made about me effect the way I am treated, the opportunities I may receive, and my standing in society. People disregard others who look like they have it all and have it easy. I may come off as one of those people when that is the furthest from who I am.

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Social Location Within Webs of Oppression continued 

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Social Location Within Webs of Oppression continued 

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As a young cisgender woman, I can say I have faced gender oppression. I worked a job in the summer that was extremely physically demanding. From the moment I started the job, several people told me that I was working a man’s job because it required me to lift heavy, all day long, as well as drive big trucks. People assumed that I was “unfit” for the job because previously only men occupied the position. I can link this to Social Devaluation. “When our identity is defined negatively by those in power, oppressive experiences are highly likely to result. The social process involved has been called ‘social devaluation.’ (Week 9 Lecture Slides). To bring down a person’s social value because of certain attributes one holds, and which may be disregarded by society is social devaluation. This can be the main cause for stigmas in society. These stigmas belittle individuals and put them into certain categories as they share attributes society deems as not normal which stems from their own beliefs and ideas.

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Social Location Within Webs of Privilege

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Social Location Within Webs of Privilege

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I belong to far more dominant groups than oppressed groups, which allows me to hold more social power within the mainstream Canadian Society. I am privileged in several ways. My biggest privilege is that I am white.

Canada was founded on white supremacy. We have systemically created a country where society values white people more than those of colour or of another race. This has put white people in a much more powerful position and standing. I benefit from this power in many ways. Firstly, I face no oppressions regarding my race. I will never face oppression like someone of faces. I also have easier access to healthcare, jobs, housing, and education.

Privilege and power are a form of invisible power. This course has made me realize that I have been blind to my own privilege and power. When my brothers and I were playing hockey, we were the family that only really had enough to get by. We played hockey and made other sacrifices like not going on vacation or staying hotels for tournaments while the rest of the players did, or even not eating out. My mom would pack us food for after the game so that she didn’t have to spend money on fast-food. As a kid I thought that this meant we were lower class. Was I ever wrong. We were upper middle class. Hockey is expensive and we were so privileged to be playing it. I remember looking at all the other players on my team. Their parents drove nice cars and had big houses, whereas I grew up in a small house, my brothers shared a room, and my parents had to work fulltime to stay afloat. I realize now that I live real life and have my own money that there are people that dream of living the life I have lived. I know that there are others who are completely blind to their privileges and take what they have for granted. I think these people hold many unconscious biases. Unconscious biases are certain stereotypes that certain individuals create about others, outside of their own awareness. As someone who has worked terrible minimum wage jobs and who has watched my parents work full time so their kids could do what they love, I try my hardest to advocate for the working class.

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Beginning to Build an Anti-Oppressive Practice

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Beginning to Build an Anti-Oppressive Practice

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I am a privileged white woman. If there is anyone who should be studying Community Work, it is me, as well as most white people. Before entering this program, I was extremely uneducated on human rights and what that means to different people and the injustices that so many communities face. I have become so eager to work in the communities and really see what has been going on and what society fails to recognize. Before I engaged in discussions about anti-oppressive practice, social identity, and social location, I had never broken down each aspect and really took a step back to think about what it really means to have solidarity. I have never looked at my identity and privilege so in depth. I have a whole new understanding of who I am and how important the privileges I have are. I have learned not only a lot about myself, but also that it is important for society to break down their identities and educate themselves on what it means to have privilege. The most important thing I have learned not only from this class but from this program is how to formulate my own opinions and thoughts and share them in an educational and insightful way. I came into this completely uneducated on how to formulate my own thoughts and ideas regarding the government, politics, oppressed communities, even new immigrants to Canada. As I continue in this program, I will continue to educate myself on what it truly means to be an ally. As a future community worker, it is crucial that I understand what allyship entails and what it looks like. It is extremely important that I continue to educate myself as well as those in my life who are also unaware of the privileges they embody.

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Cultural Safety: Module Two | Peoples Experiences of   Oppression. (n.d.). Cultural Safety: Module Two | Peoples Experiences of Oppression. Retrieved November 22, 2022, from

https://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/courses/csafety/mod2/notes3.htm

Identity Politics and Social Location — R-Squared. (2016, December 8). R-Squared. Retrieved November 22, 2022, from https://www.r2hub.org/library/identity-politics-and-social-location

Impact of Social Devaluation on People With Disability. (2021, June 23). AEON Disability Support Services. Retrieved November 22, 2022, from https://aeondisabilityservices.com.au/impact-of-social-devaluation-on-people-with-disability/

Week 9 Lecture Slides

Week 10 Lecture Slides

Enns/Myers, Social Power Analysis Worksheet on BB