Running head: PHOTO ELICITATION PROJECT 1

Photo Elicitation Project: A Critical Reflection

Ariel Ropp

Loyola University Chicago

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Photo Elicitation Project: A Critical Reflection

Overview

When I completed the first part of the Photo Elicitation Project, I was already familiar

with the concepts of oppression, social justice, and privilege. I had taken courses on sexism and

racism as an undergraduate student, so I was curious and even a bit skeptical about the new

knowledge I would acquire in this course. In the weeks and months since the first photo project,

I have strengthened my theoretical understanding of social justice concepts, especially in the

arguably lesser known oppressions of ableism and cissexism. Perhaps more importantly, I have

been challenged to explore how my own agent and target identities are linked to unjust social

structures and consider actions I might take to combat these injustices as a student affairs

professional. For my second photo project, I tried to edit and add images to show my growth

from a theoretical mindset to a more integrative view of privilege, oppression, and social justice

in my everyday life. These photos capture a more personalized and intersectional understanding

of social justice concepts, particularly relating to my various identities as a White, upper class,

heterosexual, atheist, temporarily able-bodied, cisgender woman.

Oppression

Prior to taking ELPS 432, I understood oppression in a very abstract and intellectualized

way. Both then and now, I viewed oppression as the domination of people based on race,

gender, class, sexual orientation, and other social identities. I recognized that oppression

happens at the individual, institutional, and cultural levels, and is manifested in both behaviors

and attitudes (Hardiman, Jackson & Griffin, 2013, p. 26). I knew that oppression is multi-

faceted and affects people differently depending on their intersecting identities. I was also

vaguely aware that disenfranchised people are kept in their place by the agents ideology which
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supports oppression by denying its existence, and blames the condition of the oppressed on

themselves and their own failings (Reason & Davis, 2005, p. 9). Each of these theoretical

understandings was rooted in coursework I took as an undergraduate student.

Yet even with my foundational knowledge of oppression, the concept still seemed

somewhat impersonal to me. Oppression was something that other people created or

experienced; I felt mostly removed from the equation. For me, Vaccaros (2013) statement that

oppression is merely something to be learned until participants place themselves within it

(Vaccaro, 2013, p. 33) rang particularly true. Prior to this course, the only form of oppression

that felt real to me sexism was one that I had personally experienced and examined. When I

look back at my original Photo Elicitation Project and my first dialogue post, I am not surprised

that I only focused on my gender. Given my highly privileged background, I had yet to notice

many other forms of oppression or discover the myriad ways I participate in oppression. I also

felt uncomfortable identifying as an oppressor because I saw myself as a supporter of social

justice. As Espy stated during our first online dialogue, It is difficult to see oneself as an agent

of oppression, often times because ofthe commitment we have to social justice, we like to

think we are agents of change (E. Salgado, personal communication, September 2, 2015). Since

that dialogue, I have developed a deeper awareness of my roles as oppressor and oppressed.

Today, my understanding of oppression is more nuanced and personal than it was three

months ago. Through reading and self-reflection, I have come to realize that oppression is not

only characterized by stereotypical villains and victims, but also everyday agents who are going

about business as usual. Oppression takes form not only in slavery and police brutality, but also

in subtle biases and microaggressions that make people with target identities feel unsafe or

unwelcome in agent-dominated spaces. In my own life, I have experienced few blatant acts of
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oppression due to my target identities, but I am becoming increasingly aware of the small ways

that I have been belittled and silenced as a young woman and atheist. For example, in my

previous job I was sometimes ignored or interrupted by one of my older male coworkers, and I

did not feel comfortable expressing my religious beliefs among my Christian colleagues. At the

time, I would not have considered these experiences to be oppressive because they seemed

normal and not a big deal. I did not fully comprehend that I was internalizing cultural

messages that devalued my age, gender, and religious identities.

Indeed, oppression is so deeply ingrained in our institutions and our individual

consciousness that we do not always recognize it as oppression. Young (2013) explained how

oppression is embedded in the unquestioned norms, habits, and rules of ordinary, well-meaning

people and institutions: Oppression designates the disadvantage and injustice some people

suffer not because a tyrannical power coerces them, but because of the everyday practices of a

well-intentioned liberal society (Young, 2013, p. 36). For me, this statement highlights the

pervasive, insidious nature of oppression and reminds me how I have unknowingly perpetuated

social inequality simply by following the status quo. If I hear a racist joke or a homophobic

comment and I fail to speak out against it, I am enabling oppression to continue. Similarly,

Tatum (2013) compared the movement of an airport conveyor belt to racism: Unless

[bystanders] are walking actively in the opposite direction at a speed faster than the conveyor

beltthey will find themselves carried along with the others (Tatum, 2013, p. 67). This

comparison illustrates that oppression is not the exception but the norm, and as such, I am

constantly surrounded by and participating in oppression, whether I am aware of it or not.

Yet, my lack of intent does not mean I am not responsible for my impact. As Tatum (2013)

stated, I may have inherited oppressive systems from my predecessors, but I must examine my
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behaviors and interrupt the oppressive cycles: We may not have polluted the air [with

oppression], but we need to take responsibility, along with others, for cleaning it up (Tatum,

2013, p. 66). As I become more cognizant of my privileges, I feel a new, special responsibility

to leverage my power to create positive social change.

Social Justice

Prior to this course, I knew that social justice was connected to fairness and equality, but

I did not have the full language to articulate or act on my beliefs. After 12 weeks of discussing

social justice issues, I feel more confident in my vocabulary and framework of social justice,

particularly as it relates to higher education. In my new understanding, I view social justice as

both the journey and end goal of a movement toward greater social equity. Social justice calls

for a fair distribution of resources and a society where all members feel safe, secure, and self-

determining (Bell, 2013, p. 21). I agree with Chizhik and Chizhik (2002) that social justice is the

critiquing and dismantling of social structural inequality based on race, social class, gender, and

disability (Chizhik & Chizhik, 2002, p. 792), among other social stratifications. These

structural inequalities are the result of unequal power distributions between dominant and

oppressed groups at both the individual and institutional levels. Like other proponents of social

justice, I believe that a social justice perspective requires us to examine how and why power is

distributed unevenly and challenge the hegemonic narratives that say these power differentials

are natural and deserved.

Before this course, I often confused social justice with diversity and multiculturalism

efforts at universities, which are related but separate constructs. Unlike these models, social

justice goes beyond providing access to marginalized students or helping them assimilate to the

dominant culture. It is not simply increasing representation of diverse people, but actively
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building spaces that are designed for full participation of all members. According to Landreman

and MacDonald-Dennis, true social justice has come to be understood as the development of a

community that allowed for those who had traditionally been marginalized the ability to prosper

without having to forfeit their cultural heritage (Landreman & MacDonald-Dennis, 2013, p. 7).

This quote reminds me of the online dialogue we had about supporting college students of color

without forcing them to conform to dominant White norms. Mark gave the example of his high

school basketball coach teaching Black players to look and act in White-approved ways in order

to get ahead in life: Short of transforming the social fabric of the U.S., he was making an effort

to save young at-risk youth from an oppressive system, even if just by faking it now and again

(M. Hulse, personal communication, September 30, 2015). While Marks coach clearly had

good intentions, his actions ultimately fell short of social justice by reinforcing White dominant

norms. Since that dialogue, I have become more conscious that colleges isolate students of color

and working-class students with our White middle class values, language, and etiquette (Lee,

2011). When marginalized students speak out against unwelcoming campus environments, we

as administrators must validate students concerns and actively work with them to enact change.

As I reflect on the idea of social justice in action, I realize that my view of social justice

at the beginning of the semester was very passive: I liked the idea but did not feel compelled to

act upon it. Whether out of laziness, privileged detachment, or lack of confidence in my

activism skills, I did little to fight for social justice prior to this semester beyond educating

myself and donating to social justice causes. In retrospect, the social justice photos I took for the

original photo elicitation project seem rather disconnected from my own life. Besides making a

modest donation to the Human Rights Campaign and attending Loyola University Chicago, I

have no direct connection to the subjects of my original photographs. In light of my new

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awareness, I decided to add photos of social justice initiatives that I feel more personally

connected to for the second part of my photo project: a Share the Dream training sign hanging in

my office and a newspaper article about the recent anti-racism demonstration by Loyola students.

These photos serve as reminders of the social justice actions that I am witnessing and beginning

to join within the realm of higher education.

Privilege

When I was in college, I read the seminal McIntosh (1989) article that unpacked the

invisible knapsack of White privilege in the United States. This article opened my eyes to the

unearned benefits that White people receive and marked the beginning of my journey toward

personal awareness about my privileged identities. Today, I am more aware than ever of my

overflowing birdcage of privileges as a White, upper class, heterosexual, able-bodied, cisgender

person in the U.S. My privileges offer me a system of advantage that occurs in society based on

membership and identification with the dominant group (Kelly & Gayles, 2015, p. 4). These

advantages are manifested in many ways. For example, as an economically privileged student, I

did have to worry about paying for college and could instead focus on my studies. Chelsea

provided another example in our dialogue, noting how she waited in line for food stamps: While

it was not a fun experience, I faced no repercussions from the length of the line [such as]

losing my job because I was not at work . This lack of concern is a privilege (C. Metivier,

personal communication, September 10, 2015). This example taught me that privilege is often as

much about the lack of hardship as it is about the presence of benefits.

In addition to making life easier and more carefree, privilege also gives dominant groups

power over unprivileged, or target, groups. These privileges are often invisible to dominant

members like me, who either fail to see how oppressed individuals lack the same privileges as
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them or mis-attribute targeted peoples hardships to their own shortcomings. Privilege allows

people to define the rules, customs, and values for what is considered acceptable, responsible,

or appropriate and, therefore, see themselves and are seen by others as 'normal' (Landreman &

MacDonald-Dennis, 2013, p. 12). As someone who is extremely privileged, I grew up with a

worldview largely based in these dominant ideologies. It would be easy for me as a highly

privileged person to discount the experiences of oppressed people if they do not align with my

own beliefs or experiences. I resonated with Johnsons (2013) explanation that privilege means

being able to decide who gets taken seriously, who receives attention, who is accountable to

whom and for what (Johnson, 2013, p. 20). Privilege also means getting to ignore oppression

without facing any personal consequences. I recently learned this lesson when I failed to attend

the rally for racial justice organized by Loyola University Chicago students in early November.

As an employee of Loyola, I supported the students in spirit but rationalized that I needed to

catch up on unfinished work that afternoon. My White privilege allowed me to go about my

business as usual and overlook students calls for racial justice without a second thought. After

speaking with other graduate assistants who attended the rally, I began to realize that I had

missed a wonderful opportunity to show support to students of color at Loyola. In the future, I

will be more critical of my passive, privileged inclinations and push myself to participate when

these sorts of opportunities arise.

My privilege has also allowed me to ignore two very important forms of oppression prior

to taking this course: ableism and cissexism. When I listened to my Personal Identity

Exploration recording again, I noticed that I talked about my experiences with transgender

people and students with disabilities almost as an afterthought. My able-bodied and cisgender

privilege ran so deep that I glossed over these issues without even realizing it. Through personal
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reflection and class dialogues, I discovered that my privilege made me resistant to making

accommodations for trans students and people with certain disabilities. For example, in my

fourth reading paper, I examined my defensiveness about male and female bodies and

realized that I was normalizing and elevating my own gendered experience at the expense of

trans folks. Before, I tolerated transgender-inclusive language because it was the politically

correct thing to do, but now I feel an actual conviction to use it in my everyday life. Contrary to

what I stated in my initial Exploration, some of my greatest moments of resistance and growth

have occurred in my critical analysis of ableism and cissexism.

Conclusion

Although this course has expanded upon my knowledge of systemic oppression, social

justice, and privilege, it has had a more salient impact on my understanding of my own

intersecting roles as an agent and a target within these systems. By critically analyzing my own

participation in privilege and oppression, I feel a stronger personal commitment to doing social

justice work within my spheres of influence. In my role as an academic advisor, I can integrate a

social justice philosophy into my daily advising by educating myself on campus resources and

growing my capacity as an advocate for diverse students. I will continue to attend trainings to

increase my awareness of specific obstacles faced by various student groups (e.g. undocumented

students, LGBTQ students) and learn ways to support them. I also want to develop stronger

relationships with campus partners such as the tutoring center and multicultural affairs office,

encourage fellow advisors to adopt more gender- inclusive language, and speak out against

potentially oppressive academic policies, such as Loyolas strict limitation on taking summer

courses at cheaper community colleges. Each of these actions are small but important steps

toward creating greater social justice in higher education.

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