300 words Use your Diversity, Oppression, and Social Functioning text to read the following: Chapter 7, "Women and Sexist Oppression," pages 90–106. For this Discussion, your instructor has created a presentation that contextualizes practice with women. After you view the presentation, review the case study of Jean on pages 92–94 of your Diversity, Oppression, and Social Functioning text and consider the question "What do we mean by the oppression of women?" on page 102. Then use your post to discuss one or more of the following: How do you define the oppression of women? How might you apply the empowerment framework in working with Jean or other female clients? What are the key issues to consider when working with women? Jean is a twenty-seven year old half Korean and half American Caucasian woman. She is married to Tom, an American Caucasian, and the mother of three children: Brent, age six; Sarah, age four; and Tommy, age two. She recently sought counseling from a crisis service for battered women. Jean is depressed and withdrawn. She has a very small frame and reports that she has lost ten pounds in the past month. This weight loss, coupled with her flat affect, makes her appear quite ill. She denies any suicidal ideation, although she says that she doesn’t know how she will continue to take care of her children and Tom’s sick mother. Jean’s husband, Tom, is given to bouts of heavy drinking and questionable drug use. He has violent episodes in which he alternately verbally and physically abuses her. He likes to bring his friends home after a drinking binge and make her serve them breakfast. He verbally abuses her in their presence, adding to her humiliation. During these episodes he calls her sexual names and tells her he wants to send her back to Korea and keep the children here. Jean and Tom met and married seven years ago when he was in the army and stationed in Korea. They moved to the United States and settled near his family. Jean wanted to come to the United States to himself. Jean reports to the counselor that the verbal and physical abuse is escalating and she often can’t sleep because she lies awake with fear. Jean sleeps with Sarah on the nights when Tom is angry and drunk. Jean asks the counselor what she is doing wrong to make Tom behave this way toward her. Jean has a high-school diploma but little work experience. Tom went to computer school using the funds from his Army G.I. Bill. Jean always wanted to go to college, but worked during the first year of their marriage so Tom could get his degree. The children came quickly and there was no time for her to go to school. Now, when she and Tom discuss it, he tells her she isn’t smart enough and it’s not his place to watch the children. Her place is at home. Tom’s mother is very sick and Jean makes daily visits to her mother-in-law’s home. She feels it is her duty to care for her husband’s mother. Tom’s family often criticizes her mothering and lets her know .

1. 300 words
Use your
Diversity, Oppression, and Social Functioning
text to read the following:
Chapter 7, "Women and Sexist Oppression," pages 90–106.
For this Discussion, your instructor has created a presentation
that contextualizes practice with women. After you view the
presentation, review the case study of Jean on pages 92–94 of
your
Diversity, Oppression, and Social Functioning
text and consider the question "What do we mean by the
oppression of women?" on page 102. Then use your post to
discuss one or more of the following:
How do you define the oppression of women?
How might you apply the empowerment framework in working
with Jean or other female clients?
What are the key issues to consider when working with women?
Jean is a twenty-seven year old half Korean and half American
Caucasian woman. She is married to Tom, an American
Caucasian, and the mother of three children: Brent, age six;
Sarah, age four; and Tommy, age two. She recently sought
counseling from a crisis service for battered women. Jean is
depressed and withdrawn. She has a very small frame and

2. reports that she has lost ten pounds in the past month. This
weight loss, coupled with her flat affect, makes her appear quite
ill. She denies any suicidal ideation, although she says that she
doesn’t know how she will continue to take care of her children
and Tom’s sick mother.
Jean’s husband, Tom, is given to bouts of heavy drinking and
questionable drug use. He has violent episodes in which he
alternately verbally and physically abuses her. He likes to bring
his friends home after a drinking binge and make her serve them
breakfast. He verbally abuses her in their presence, adding to
her humiliation. During these episodes he calls her sexual
names and tells her he wants to send her back to Korea and keep
the children here.
Jean and Tom met and married seven years ago when he was in
the army and stationed in Korea. They moved to the United
States and settled near his family. Jean wanted to come to the
United States to himself.
Jean reports to the counselor that the verbal and physical abuse
is escalating and she often can’t sleep because she lies awake
with fear. Jean sleeps with Sarah on the nights when Tom is
angry and drunk. Jean asks the counselor what she is doing
wrong to make Tom behave this way toward her.
Jean has a high-school diploma but little work experience. Tom
went to computer school using the funds from his Army G.I.
Bill. Jean always wanted to go to college, but worked during the
first year of their marriage so Tom could get his degree. The
children came quickly and there was no time for her to go to
school. Now, when she and Tom discuss it, he tells her she isn’t
smart enough and it’s not his place to watch the children. Her
place is at home. Tom’s mother is very sick and Jean makes
daily visits to her mother-in-law’s home. She feels it is her duty
to care for her husband’s mother. Tom’s family often criticizes

3. her mothering and lets her know that they wanted Tom to marry
a Caucasian American.Jean feels very bad about herself, her
mothering, and her place in the family. She blames herself for
Tom’s drinking and possible drug involvement. She thinks she
is causing him to abuse her. She has no family in this part of the
country and feels that she doesn’t fit with the Korean
community and isn’t really an American. She had one Korean
friend whom she met at church, and with whom she discussed
spiritual concerns. That friend recently moved away and Jean
doesn’t feel comfortable discussing her beliefs with others.
Therefore she has no one with whom to discuss her problems
and feels culturally isolated. She feels completely dependent on
Tom, who is getting more and more angry and drunk. In
addition, he is missing so much time at work that his job is now
in danger.
page 102
What Do We Mean by the Oppression of Women?
To be conscious of external oppressive forces is the beginning
of a sense of empowerment. Bartky (1990) states, “feminist
consciousness is a consciousness of victimization” (p. 15). This
consciousness is a divided consciousness in two ways. First, it
is an awareness of unjust treatment of women by the
surrounding environment that enforces an often stifling and
oppressive system of sex-role differentiation. Victimization is
impartial, and occurs on a macro, societal level. The damage is
done to each one of us personally and is felt at a familial and
individual level. Understanding this sense of victimhood raises
one’s level of consciousness, and, through this increased
awareness, one can begin to release energy and begin a journey
of personal growth. Second, women of different colors and
classes are privileged in ways that are uneven.

4. Lacking a culture of our own, we adopt the culture of our men
and therefore subscribe to a truncated definition of the self,
which either conforms to cultural stereotyping or sets parts of
us struggling against each other. This is true for Jean, who leads
her life through rigid cultural and gender role stereotypes. Her
(1) lack of education, (2) economic dependence, (3) cultural
proscriptions, and (4) lack of cultural and social supports
inhibit her from articulating and meeting her own needs.
Linnea GlenMaye (1998) describes three general conditions that
all women share as a result of being subject to psychological
and structural gender oppression: (1) profound alienation from
the self, (2) the double-bind of either meeting one’s own needs
or serving the needs of others, and (3) institutional and
structural sexism (p. 31).
Closely tied to gender roles and economic status is a term that
emerged in the national consciousness in the 1970s and remains
true in the 2000s. The feminization of poverty posits that
women are poor because of the effect of their traditional gender
roles on their ability to accumulate economic resources. The
traditional coverture (femme coverte or covered woman)
common-law marriage contract reinforces patriarchal structure
and is reinforced by many social and economic institutions.
This preferred family form fosters the woman’s economic
dependency in the family. If she is divorced, a teen mother, or
over age sixty-five, she is likely to be living in poverty. Women
earn less than men for the same work, their share of national
income is less, and income is stratified by both ethnicity and
gender with African American and Hispanic/Latina women at
the bottom—women’s job status is lower than men’s. If married,
they earn less than their husbands. If single and the head of a
family, their family income is lower than that of comparable
families headed by men (McBride Stetson, 1997, p. 333).