3a. Internalized Oppression

In sociology and psychology – and as explained in RADICAL PSYCHIATRY, The Second Decade, edited by Beth Roy and Claude Steiner – internalized oppression is an “arbitrary set of messages which has been internalized and is now being listened to and followed as if it were, in fact, one’s own best judgment.” Here’s how it works.

The ruling class, or power structure, is in possession of certain instruments of power. (Power being a central theme of this blog, its instruments, uses and other aspects will be examined as we go along.) They have an agenda and a set of ideas to which they both want and need us to ascribe. For instance: capitalism is necessary; liberalism or conservatism is morally superior; the Third Reich will last a thousand years; Islam is the one true religion; women are inferior to men. They transmit these ideas and feelings while exercising, building and/or maintaining power (through force, persuasion, promise, propaganda, threats, isolation, creating a sense of belonging, doling out favors, skewing media opinion, etc.).

The intended oppressed, or victim, incorporates these ideas and feelings into his or her mental framework and perceptions of reality. In turn, this picture of ourselves and the world carry “with it a set of moral injunctions about right and wrong, and a powerful set of accusations about those who digress.” Power is converted into fear and we come to believe and act as if the oppressor’s belief systems, values, and way of life is the true reality. Once this happens, little help is needed to keep the submissive in submission.

“... the peculiar chemistry between authoritarian and powerless people produces a polarization in which those in a one-down position collude with an authoritarian person to develop a symbiosis in which power is relinquished by the many to one who willingly takes it from them.”

RADICAL PSYCHIATRY, The Second Decade,
Edited by Beth Roy and Claude Steiner

And who would know this better than women? This has worked to keep us subservient for five thousand years of recorded history. It has also worked to allow the powerful to exploit and corrupt the planet and threaten the life of everything on it to extinction.

But over the past fifty years women have changed things for the better. Now we have a history (albeit brief) and the experience of protesting and combating bad ideas. But mainly our success has been the result of expanding our personal and collective consciousness which has turned our behavior and action into politics. We were able to understand the workings of male power in terms of our own oppression. Now we must expand our knowledge of power to understand how the world works and why we are massively failing Mother Earth.