What Will You Do? Choices

The Johnson reading and the action continuum are good tools to answer the question, what will you do. The action continuum allows us to see how far we have come in confronting oppression. The reading goes a step further, suggesting ways to combat oppression in our actions every day. The first stages of the continuum, actively participating and denying, include those that actively participate in oppression and those that deny oppression exists. Johnson astutely pointed out that there are an infinite amount of world perspectives that ignore the existence of privilege. This accounts for major discrepancies in social status.

Recognizing, no action and recognizing are the stages when you can first acknowledge oppression. In recognizing no action, the individual is still confused and conflicted. Once action is taken to stop oppressive behavior, the real challenge begins. Aster recognition comes education of the self. As Johnson pointed out, learning about oppression is difficult but even more difficult is retaining information that you have learned. As a college student this seems especially pertinent to me. I am taught new information every day, it is all important and valuable but there is no way I can retain everything. I am constantly worried about not being well enough read to efficiently help my clients or keep up with my co-workers. This is another point that Johnson makes, the importance of having an informed opinion. He argues that the best way to educate yourself is through reading. After educating yourself, the next step in the continuum is educating others. If all you have is your own opinion this step is virtually impossible. To change others opinions and to have an impact on oppression you have to know facts. I personally highly value research and having something to back up instincts or “common sense.” I feel this is a critical stage because to progress to supporting and preventing, you have to be able to communicate with others and share the knowledge you have gained.

Support and prevention are a little further from our comfort zones. They involve direct advocating, speaking out to support our beliefs even in the face of adversity. This is not easy for anyone, but especially those of us who have never done anything so bold before.  Johnson says that history has taught us that discomfort is necessary for social change. This is an encouraging reminder, it is good to realize that speaking out may not always feel natural or easy but that is part of the process. Some blanket suggestions Johnson makes for moving towards prevention on the continuum are supporting equal pay, supporting LGBTQ equality, speaking out against violence, etc. These are all things that we can get involved in right now. They don’t require special access or social connections. I think that is the scariest part, because our whole lives we are waiting to take action. This is constantly going on and we can join the fight at any time. Oppression never stops and it will not wait for us to get ready.

Johnson, A. (1997). What Can We Do? Becoming Part of the Solution. In The Gender Knot: Unraveling Our Patriarchal Legacy (pp. 697-708). Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.