Subordinates actively cooperate in their own oppression

Evidence

Traditional theories of prejudice argue that group-based hierarchies are a product of oppression by members of the dominant social group. Through both individual acts of discrimination and institutional discrimination, dominant groups can subjugate others and maintain their status differential. Other theories such as social dominance theory (Sidanius & Pratto, 1999) and system justification theory (Jost, Banaji, & Nosek, 2004) take a different stance and propose that members of groups at the low ends of the status hierarchy are also active contributors to their own oppression. By supporting policies that favor dominant groups and adopting ideologies that justify the hierarchy, subordinates contribute to the formation and maintenance of these hierarchies. — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 852 (#expands, via linked claim)

Following the Allportian tradition, seminal gender prejudice research centered on antipathy toward women’s civil rights and negative female stereotypes. Although this approach has been productive, it has not been able to account for the positive attitudes and beliefs that people possess about women, or why women themselves might unwittingly perpetuate gender hegemony. … Because Allport overlooked the power of benevolence to reinforce the status quo, it is fair to say that he was not “supported” because he did not think beyond hostile prejudice, or consider how subordinates might be wooed into supporting their own oppression. It is even possible that these oversights contributed to his blind spot with respect to sex discrimination, and thus, to his dismissal of gender conflict. — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 772 (#expands, via linked claim)

In particular, Jackman (1994) argues that benevolence toward subordinates in general (not only women) serves to reinforce the dominant group’s position of superiority and control. Whites in the American Old South once stereotyped Blacks as cheerful and loyal, but also as ignorant, submissive, and in need of protection. Most perniciously, these beliefs were internalized by Blacks, and resulted in their helping to maintain a system of own-group oppression. Similarly, stereotyping women as nice (but weak) and treating them in a benevolent (but patronizing) manner serves to maintain gender hegemony, in at least two ways. First, it undermines perceptions of female competence and authority, relegating women to low-status, nurturing roles. Second, it may lead women themselves to uphold the status quo. Certainly oppression is more palatable for subordinates when it is “sugar-coated,” compared with when it is overtly hostile (Jackman, ch. 6 this volume). — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 768 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Oppression alienates the subordinate into viewing herself through the master’s eyes — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 674; Shared complicity in oppressive systems sustains them through everyday banal gestures of conformity. — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 930; Reciprocal need always works in favor of the oppressor, never the oppressed — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 57 (+19 more)

Broader Connections

• Subordinate groups can actively contribute to their own oppression by endorsing hierarchy-justifying ideologies. #expands (0.95) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 852
• Benevolent, sugar-coated treatment of subordinates enlists them in their own oppression #expands (0.92) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 768
• Benevolent prejudice explains why subordinates collaborate in their own subordination. #expands (0.92) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 772