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Cultural imperialism is when the dominant group is seen as the universal norm which completely undermines and devalues oppressed groups and their experiences. If you do not fit into the standard, you are othered and seen as incapable, unprofessional, submissive, etc. Cultural imperialism is a way to further create more power imbalance between white oppressors and the BIPOC community.

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Cultural imperialism is prominent within race and gender. For the BIPOC community, white people like to constantly objectify us. Our whole individuality is based on our racial and cultural background through dominant groups' eyes, yet our real life experiences are always overlooked. We are associated with racial stereotypes that create false narratives against us. For instance, dominant groups impose their culture on to us. As a migrant, i always felt forced to fit into an American standard. Even in the Philippines where Western ideals were highly glorified, I wanted to be a "foreigner". To this day when interacting with my American peers, i feel the need to mimic them to the way they speak, to the way they act. When i do not fit into these standards, I will be looked at as a "foreigner" or "fresh off the boat". The same goes for me being a woman. Men expect us to fit very feminine standards, to dress "girly", to be soft spoken and polite. Whenever I stand my ground, answer back to a man who wrongs me, or dress masculine, I am not seen as a "real woman". This is because of misogynistic ideals that continually forces women to adhere to the male gaze. Dominant groups imposing their cultures and beliefs, makes us live in a sexist and racist society making the oppressed fit into the picture they paint for us.

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Because I am a woman of color, I see myself through the oppressor's eyes. Especially in a work place, I always feel undermined by my white coworkers even if most of the time I am more knowledgable and capable of the same tasks that they are highly praised for. Their work is valued more than. mine and oftentimes, they are treated with much more seriousness and respect. This has made me underestimate my own work ethic and capabilities because I believe what people assume of me, that I am not as good as my white counterparts. I view myself as more submissive, when I know I a confident. I also feel the need to prove myself much more compared to my white coworkers so I can be more accepted and respected even when people already acknowledge my work, because I automatically assume my work is not appreciated and valued. My racial identity has made me confused about my capabilities and made me lose my individuality by succumbing to the white gaze.

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Powerlessness is when an individual fully lacks control, power, and autonomy over their bodies and circumstances. People who are considered powerlessness are seen as "useless" in a society where dominant groups use it as a chance to exploit them and put them into a box because they are "no longer fit or worthy" of receiving the same power that these groups have.

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Powerlessness works in all the social categories, but the ones affected most are social class and race. When you are at the bottom of the social hierarchy, belonging to a low income family, it limits your pursuance in education, which also limits the number of job opportunities you have. Most unhoused people are also denied jobs and adequate resources like housing and healthcare. They are put into a category of being "too lazy" or "useless". Meanwhile when it comes to race, the BIPOC community always have to work significantly harder than their white counterpart, because their capabilities are diminished and undervalued. Physical appearance is also a big factor in why BIPOC are considered "unprofessional". For instance, natural afro hair is thought to be "messy", as people who have this hair type are told to cover or straighten it. For people who wear hijabs or other religious face and hair coverings, people deem them as "terrorists", and fear it can "distract" people in workplaces. This takes away their bodily autonomy, therefore their power.

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"the most dangerous form of oppression. A whole category of people is expelled from useful participation in social life and thus potentially subjected to severe material deprivation and even extermination" , (Young 39).

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social categories that are often marginalized are non able bodied people whether physically or mentally. Because their bodies aren't seen as a commodity due to their limitations to performing labor. This completely excludes them from the job market as our capitalistic society chooses to garner more "sufficient" labor power, for more commodity and money. Hiring non able bodied people means they have to spend more money to provide for their "insufficiencies" .This reinforces more harmful stereotypes that non able bodied people are unsuitable to provide their labor.

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Violence is a social practice because oppressed groups are targeted solely because they belong to a certain group. They are automatically subjected to this type of oppression because of the social categories they belong in. People expect it to happen, therefore it will happen all the time. Violence is a reflection of the system of beliefs that allow dominant groups to oppress “inferior” groups. Violence has never been an individual problem, it is because of systemic issues like racism, misogyny, etc., that perpetuate further oppression against these groups.

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The transfer of one's labor of a social group to benefit the other which causes unequal distribution of benefits.
"Transfer of energies whereby the servers enhance the status of the served"

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Relation to exploitation & marginalization

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Relation to exploitation & marginalization

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Powerlessness relates to exploitation and marginalization because when a marginalized group is taken advantage of, exploited, and overworked, this system built on hierarchies and classism takes away their human rights, their power, their individualities to benefit in personal, political, financial, or social gain. Marginalized groups are more vulnerable to this exploitation because of the Capitalist system we live in where those marginalized (especially low income, BIPOC, queer, and non able bodied) groups are more susceptible to exploitation which makes them lose their dominance and power to fight this system of oppression because these groups are seen as "inferior" and more "submissive".

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Violence works with the LGBTQ+ community because of how cis gendered and heteronormative our society is. This is why hate crimes are specifically high for queer people and why suicide rates are higher for the trans community. Especially for queer people who physically look like they are breaking a heteronormative norm, and dress against gender norms, they are more vulnerable to violence out on the streets. People automatically see them as a target because they don't fit a standard. It makes them seem more submissive and prone to violence simply because of their sexual orientation and gender expression. This explains why hate crimes against the queer community are often overlooked, because people assume that it is "expected" that they are violated and an "easy target" compared to cis gendered, straight people. I vividly recall my time in the Philippines where my neighborhood has a lot of gay men who like to cross dress. They are always used for entertainment purposes, yet when it comes to their real life struggles of being abused and harrassed in public, the media strays away from that topic.

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Social categories that are definitely affected by exploitation are the working class. People who are in positions of dominance, power, and wealth use this system of social class and hierarchy to exploit our bodies and labor. Because of our society, people from lower income backgrounds and the working class are forced to sell our labor to capitalists in order to get a sometimes not even livable wage. Cost of living is getting higher which capitalists see as a tool to garner more laborers and profit off from them. This system of inequality within social classes creates a capitalistic society that enforces the working class to work under and for them.

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this is relevant to my community because i am working class student with two jobs, just like most of my peers in college. Because of the fact i am a young woman in college, my employers and capitalists see this as opportunity to exploit my labor power. Because we are young, they tend to think we don't contextualize and comprehend working contracts and laws. This makes us more vulnerable to being overworked and exploited, as we work more hours and sometimes are not even given our last 15 minute breaks, or prolonging the time we work and not giving our breaks on time.

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this is relevant to my community because we live in a capitalistic society that makes it almost impossible to survive if we are not wealthy. Most of us are subjected to be a part of this system and sell our labor to afford income, that most times aren't even sufficient enough because of the high cost of livings. The place i live around also houses many care homes where many elders and non able bodied people live. They get paid fees for every person they house which makes me thing that this is most of their last resort to living comfortably because of being excluded in the job market.

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Unionizing is an approach to dismantle this capitalistic system that perpetuates exploitation. If laborers unionize, we can strike and protest the harmful working conditions that we live in. If we come together to understand working contracts and laws we can gain better working conditions, livable wages, and protection.

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a method to challenge marginalization is for the job market to be more inclusive in a non performative way. Most places hire non able bodied people but we don't talk about the harsh working conditions they go through. Most of them aren't given enough resources or access to better help like healthcare. Most of them need accommodations as well, but job places don't cater to them because it might be more costly or a "hassle". They are also met with many harsh stereotypes like not being sufficient enough to work or not being able to amount like an able bodied worker. If we learn to dismantle these stereotypes associate with non able bodied people and give them enough resources to cater to them, then we can live in a more inclusive society that doesn't exclude non able bodied people.

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Code switching only makes me combat powerlessness when i am switching to my mother tongue. In a way, I feel empowered speaking Tagalog publicly because it makes me reclaim the power I lost in between the lines of my American assimilation. When i first migrated, code switching to American English made me feel more in power as people respected me more, but i began to realize it was doing the opposite. Now, when switching from English to Tagalog, I am reminded of the power it brings me to confidently speak a language that others may think is "inappropriate" or "too loud and fast".

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Surrounding myself with people belonging to similar social categories as mine will help me realize that my cultural identity is important to me, and something i shouldn't get lost in between the lines of my American assimilation. Connecting with other people from similar backgrounds can help me learn to recognize that I should be proud of my identity and not let colonial mentality or white American standards ruin my perception of myself. Another way I can do combat cultural imperialism is by not letting myself succumb to the pressure of fitting a standard. Whenever i make a decision, or choose how I want to present myself, I should always ponder on whether i am doing something for the sake of others' views on me, or because I really want to. An example is code switching to sound more "America". When I feel the need to stop using my mother tongue or other slang that is deemed "unprofessional", i should ask if I am changing the way I talk because I fear that people will respect me less. I should ask myself if I am doing so to fit into an "Americanized" and colonized version of myself. Distinguishing the difference between being forced to feed into to the pressure, rather than doing it for my own sake and desire, will help me combat cultural imperialism and stop pleasing my oppressors.

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how cultural imperialism promotes violence as a social practice

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how cultural imperialism promotes violence as a social practice

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Cultural imperialism promotes violence as a social practice because by reinforcing stereotypes and making dominant groups the universal norm, oppressed groups become more at a disadvantage as they are seen as an easy target to be hate crimed, oppressed, and met with violence. People who commit violent crimes think that it is "right" because it is expected that oppressed groups are the right targets to justify their hate and will fulfill their need to maintain as the norm. Because oppressed groups are deemed as "inferior", and many themselves believe they are because of double consciousness, they are subjugated to violence because it doesn't fit dominant culture ideals. For instance with the queer community, cultural imperialism makes cis gendered heterosexuals the norm, so when anyone identifies as queer or gender queer, they will be an "easy target" for oppressors to commit violence against them.