All of the five faces of oppression exist within the United States. Exploitation exists within America due to the capitalistic society. Workers at the bottom of the work force are not being properly compensated for the work that they do, while those at the top receive exorbitant pay checks. Inflation is currently happening and the minimum wage, at least in Texas, has been $7.25 since 2009. These workers are providing essential services and yet are not reaping any benefits from the increased costs. Marginalization is also present in the US. A good example of this would be the limitation of work for disabled persons. In many job descriptions they will state that a requirement is that the applicant must be able to lift 50 pounds. This is to purposefully exclude disabled people from “useful participation in social life and thus potentially subjected to severe material deprivation and even extermination” (Young 50). Powerlessness is prevalent as well. This seems to go hand in hand with exploitation, for example the use of undocumented persons for labor. With bad pay and working conditions they are exploited, but they are also powerless. They “lack authority or power… [and they] are situated so that they must take orders” (Young 52). Highly prevalent is cultural imperialism which is to “experience how the dominant meanings of a society render the particular perspective of one’s own group invisible at the same time they stereotype one’s group and mark it out as the Other” (Young 54). We live in a heteronormative culture and the discussion to end same sex couple adoption is due to that. They wish the LGBTQ+ community to be invisible, while at the same time stereotyping them that they will be a bad influence for the children. Because being cishet is what they made the norm, anything other than that has been labelled Other. Violence is a huge part of America. Most notably is sexual assault. It is said that 1 in 6 women have experienced some type of sexual assault. This is more than just a few bad people, this is a system that has allowed it to continue, a society that accepts that it is just something that happens.
There are many more examples for each face of oppression, and certain groups experience more than one face all of the time. In this, the United States is in no short supply of oppression.
