Blog Five
Unlike in the Frye piece, where the pride of men was the predominant force holding woman down, Lorde's system of oppression harkens back to the Allan Johnson +5 system of class, sex, and race in trying to explain the oppression problem. Lorde dismiss the idea of a universal "sisterhood" amongst woman as a farce. Instead, the other parts of Allan Johnson's system are what separates white, female, middle class, straight Christians from others. Whereas a white woman would focus on how the female portion affects her position in society, a black woman not has to worry about being a woman, she also has to worry about being discriminated by her race.
In other words, a woman of a minority class would be affected by her gender and her race. Thus, performing her gender may be especially hard. For example, a single black mother may have a harder time than a single white woman in securing a job and taking care of her child. A double whammy that can be multiplied by being poor, gay, or non-Christian.
Thus, the birdcage that Frye talks about in her oppression piece becomes more like an impenetrable woven basket of disadvantages. For those stuck in the basket, being taken equally may not be able to live the "American Dream." Instead, the "American Dream" is lived by those who act as the cover for the basket; being a part of the structure, but not bearing the load of society within, as well as covering those who are stuck within the basket.