Oppression- Marilyn Frye

According to Frye, the word oppression needs to be more carefully used. Her article isn't about saying who is and who isn't oppressed, but rather, what is and what isn't oppression.

Oppression, for her, is about having one's options regularly and structurally limited, often with the idea of the double-bind... meaning that one may have a few options, but all have serious disadvantages. Her examples for this include the idea that oppressed people generally are made to think that they have to have a cheerful attitude, else they're bitter nasty people.

She also expands upon the idea of a bird cage- her preferred metaphor for oppression. Individual acts of oppression don't appear so when examined individually, but when looked at in context, it is clear that the oppressed is trapped. She says we all need to "take a macroscopic view" in order to truly see what is oppression and what isn't.

An example of the micro- vs. macroscopic view of oppression involves door opening. It looks nice, an individually, it is. But Frye argues that this is a symbol of something bigger- that this service is done to those who can't do for themselves, implying that women are incapable. Furthermore, when and where women really need help (child care, house keeping), men aren't helping... so door opening shows a true disregard for the needs of women. Finally, Frye says that it mocks women and their predicament, because usually servants open the doors for masters, and this tradition is more of an inverse of the typical male-female relationship.