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The Matrix Of Domination By Patricia Hill Collins

888 Words4 Pages

The Matrix of Domination
Guy Gross
SNHU IDS-400
Professor Tony Kashani
5/10/2017

The matrix of domination or matrix of oppression is known as a sociological paradigm that explains issues of oppression that deal with race, class, and gender, which, though recognized as different social classifications, are all interconnected (Wikipedia, 2017). Other forms of classification, such as sexual orientation, religion, or age, apply to this theory as well. Patricia Hill Collins derives her own meaning of the matrix of domination. The identity politics of the LGBT movement could be considered a response to the domination of discrimination.
For decades, the LGBT community has suffered the hardships of discrimination in the United States. …show more content…

As it pertains to the LGBT community, sexual orientation can also be considered a social classification which correlates with the sociological paradigm that exists within the matrix of domination. In reading Toward a New Vision in the text, Collins writes “once we realize that there are few pure victims or oppressors, and that each one of us derives varying amounts of penalty and privilege from the multiple systems of oppression that frame our lives, then we will be in a position to see the need for new ways of thought and action” (Ferber, 2009, p. 98). It is evident that the matrix of domination has been set forth and created by man, a man of high socioeconomic status and power. Man, has created the matrix of domination and unfortunately helped form the foundation of inequality which persists today. Inequality of the LGBT community along with the African American population, the Jewish religion and so on have all been victims of inequality due to the domination of powerful persons. Collins says “Currently, we are all enmeshed in a complex web of problematic relationships that grant our mirror images full human subjectivity while stereotyping and objectifying those most different than ourselves. We often assume that the people we work with, teach, send our children to school with, and sit next to…Will act and feel in prescribed ways because they belong to given race, social class or gender …show more content…

It can be concluded that the discrimination in which the LGBT community has faced has also assisted in the establishment of a movement against this discrimination and matrix of domination which persists. In final thought, Patricia Hill Collins expresses “We require new categories of connection, new visions of what our relationships with one another can be” (Ferber, 2009, p.

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