i can open the door for myself, thanks.

After reading Oppression, written by Marilyn Frye, the first thing I did was Google the definition of oppression.  This article really confused me. But I did get the main points of it.  Ms. Frye is definitely arguing the point about male and females, and how there is an unwritten rulebook for both of the sexes.  She explains how oppression is hard to see, and used the analogy of a birdcage, and how you wouldn’t understand how a bird couldn’t get out of its cage by looking at just one wire.  all of the wires would need to be looked at in order to figure this out.  Same with oppression.   I really liked this analogy because it was simple for me to understand, and the way Frye wrote everything was in such detail.  Another thing that Frye is arguing is something I feel so strongly about--how teen girls are so pressured into being sexual, and if they aren’t, they’re made fun of.  It is a loose - loose situation for young women, because if they do too many things with too many guys, they get called names, and if they do nothing with anyone, they still get called names.  This is like a personal experience for me, since one guy was told not to talk to me because I was considered a “prude.”  So  I agree first hand with everything she says here.  Another thing that Frye brings up to push her argument on the unwritten rulebook even further is when she brings up how males always open doors for females.  It was like something that their father always told them to do.  She says that no one helps a man with his “4:00am paper, mediating disputes among relatives, or doing his own laundry,” so why is it that women need help opening a door for themselves?  “So the message is that women are incapable.”  She writes on page 177.  Frye is a very strong writer, and while she tries to make her points, she has lots of back up points for her argument.  No doubt she is a great feminist. I really could not pick out one main point in her argument because she stated so many good points, and three in particular which made me agree with her strongly. 

Questions for class:
(as a female) How do you feel when a male opens the door for you?  Are you surprised or offended when they do not?  What is everyones own definition of oppression?
Comments for class:
I still am a tad confused with the actual meaning of oppression.  
I really liked this reading.