Oppression (Talking Point 2)

I have always had this irrational fear of being completely oppressed, of being controlled by others.  Maybe because it's because I'm a female, or because I'm considered to be cognitively disabled and handicapped; whatever the reason it has always been a fear.  I fear the "bird cage" that surrounds us, oppressing certain individuals.  My illness is one of the lines on my bird cage that I have been fighting for the past four years because it has created, "a network of systematically related barriers".  Women have worked to fight off the barriers that have been oppressing us, barriers like the ones listed on page 33 of Johnson.

I disagree with Frye's statement about when a man holds a door for a woman it is oppressive.  She says, "the door-opening and similar services provided are services which really are needed by people who are for one reason or another incapacitated - unwell, burdened with parcels, etc. So the message is that women are incapable (page 177)."  According to freedictionary.com the definition of oppression is:  To keep down by severe and unjust use of force or authority.  Personally I don't see how holding a door open for someone is keeping someone down, in my opinion it's chivalry.

Personally, I think that holding the door open is just the right thing to do when someone is behind you.  I work as a hostess at a local restaurant, and I open the door for everyone, and people are always surprised and taken off guard, as if it has never happened to them before.