I think Toma’s post is spot on with regards to what is necessary in order to avoid repeating and reinforcing the psychological distinctions of ‘otherness’ that have been instilled in us by history and social interaction. I believe that we can recognize and acknowledge the existence of structural hierarchies that are objectively inherent in our society, while refraining from perpetuating socio-psychological factions and often fictitious and reductionist ‘us vs. them’ mentalities, that serve demean individual worth and contribution and to impede the cooperative and cohesive effort required to dismantle unequal systemic power dynamics.

I think this is where the distinction (for me anyways) between ‘white supremacy’ and ‘racism’, or ‘patriarchy’ and ‘misogyny’, or ‘kindness to the rich and justness to the poor’ and ‘classism’ is important. It is apparent that you can work to demolish rigid power dynamics by affirmatively creating and promoting more opportunities for individuals, passing protective legislation and social policy, and enforcing this legislation through the courts - as can be seen by the reduction in societal ‘patriarchy’ (by which I mean male dominance) through the rise of women promulgated by the feminist movement. However, even when descriptive, institutionalized power dynamics have been subject to upheaval by the legal system, law is a weak form of social control. It must compete with psychological rhetoric latent in the social fabric of human interaction – a much stronger force, which not only serves to bolster and support existing institutionalized legal inequalities but works on its own to maintain separation and inhibit mutual understanding.

While more women have made great strides gaining rights to equal opportunity in education, in the workforce and reproductive freedom, I would argue that misogyny, female objectification and socialized views of male/female power dynamics that disempower women are still alive and well. It is only when we actively work to acknowledge and restructure our conscious and unconscious social-psychic baggage that serves to ‘color’ of view of the motives/skill/contribution/validity/position of ‘the other’, that we truly begin to dismantle both ‘white supremacy’ AND ‘racism’ or ‘patriarchy’ AND ‘mysogyny’. We can enact as many ‘equal protection’ laws or push the court to make as many Brown or Roe decisions as we like, but if we do not consciously work in our day-to-day social interactions to refrain from “‘othering’ needlessly”, and to encourage others to follow suit, the power of social forces will inevitably eclipse and make hollow any ‘legal’ reform we achieve.

-- MeaganBurrows - 11 Apr 2012