Minority in women classmate response 3 - Essay Example

Sociology Discussion 3 Response Essay I agree with Maria Garcia’s answer for question one, where she explained what Trask (1999) meant when she said she was reading the West’s view of itself. In Chapter 4 of Trask’s book she says that the White man had distorted the truth about the Hawaiians, in history making the group look as if it was primitive. Garcia is also right when she says that perhaps the author also meant that other people were not in the best position to judge other people’s culture.

In the second question, Garcia also defines the term white privilege correctly. To give a proper definition, Garcia has used some of the examples used by the author in the magazines, which makes it easier for readers to understand its meaning. Lastly, in the third question Garcia has properly illustrated what it means to have privileges as a woman. However, Garcia has not provided the examples in form of a list as required in question 3.Similar to Garcia’s discussion, Camille Hutson has also answered the first question using the right examples from Trask’s book.

However, in the first paragraph, first question, Hutson made a mistake when she said that Trask (1988) was referring to how the Western’s ideas get presented in historical books. In my view, historians may have interpreted these cultures using their own perceptions, but this was not only referenced in historical books. There were other historical records, which were not books, such as newspapers and old videos. Hutson has provided good examples when explaining why Trask (1999) believes the Western historians suffer from superiority complex.

Hutson has also referenced several pages, which makes her argument about Trask’s views more powerful. In the second question, Hutson has given the right answer that McIntosh (1988) describes the term “white privilege” as a metaphoric knapsack of special provisions. However, in my view, Hutson fails to give the right description of what it means to have the White privilege. Hutson says that it means a person is ‘automatically free from stereotypes”, which I doubt. A white person may have the white privilege, but it does not mean they are exempted from stereotypes.

For example, Hollywood films have successfully depicted the people in the Southeastern side of United States as a drug using population that regularly engages in incest and inbreeding. This is a negative stereotype because in-breeding can be practiced people from any race or class. Blonde-haired women are also depicted as feeble-minded people who only care about their nails and other physical features. It is a negative stereotype because a person’s hair color does not influence the person’s cognitive processes.

There are also other stereotypes such as: white people are all wealthy, powerful and influential, have giant noses or are always correct when it comes to academics. Hence, even though they get many privileges in different ways, they still face negative and positive stereotypes like all other races. In the last question, Hutson has given her readers some of the best, real-life examples to show the impact of privileges in her life.ReferencesTrask, H. (1999). “Chapter 3: The colonial front, historians, anthropologists and the tourist industry.

” In From a native daughter: Colonialism and sovereignty in Hawaii. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.McIntosh, P. (1988, July). "White privilege: Unpacking the invisible knapsack". Peace and Freedom Magazine, 49-53.