Anyone who regularly points to social relations of domination will sooner or later be confronted with the accusation of reverse oppression. Melissa A. Fabello summarizes the basic counterarguments in her article “Why Reverse Oppression Simply Cannot Exist (No Matter What Merriam-Webster Says)” on Everyday Feminism.
First, she elaborates on why ‘the lexicon’ is useless as an oft-served argument to prove reverse suppression. She then explains the extent to which it is necessary for established hierarchical vehicles to exist in order to speak of discrimination.
Social oppression, she goes on to write, is a problem that necessarily operates through four mechanisms:
“1. It is Pervasive
2. it is restrictive
3. it is hierarchical
4 The Dominant Group Has the Power to Define Reality”.
Fabello concludes her article with an appeal and a reminder:
“We have to talk about the ways in which people conceptualize their experiences. But when we attempt to do this by drawing false equivalences between experiences, we’re failing at understanding nuance, and that isn’t really helping anyone […].” Why Reverse Oppression Simply Cannot Exist