A dystopia is an imperfect society that has multiple forms of oppression that affects at least one group in that society in a negative way.
I want to start off by saying that a utopia society is a perfect society in my eyes because if there is the slightest imperfection in a society it has the potential to grow and expand into other issues. When learning about the contents of dystopias and how many address them over the course of this semester, I have found that Iris Young pointed out effective details that truly align with how societies that we live in posses the multiple faces of oppression that Young talked about. Young stated “oppression refers to structural phenomena that immobilize or diminish a group,” and that has shown itself to be evident in my society because a lot of oppression that I have seen have a huge impact has been systematically structured to hold back one group and allow for the advancement of others.
Another source that I consider to be effective in showing the struggles in society is the song “The Message” by Grandmaster Flash. “The Message” is a conscious rap song that highlights the hardship ways of living that the artists of the song experienced and witnessed. The lyrics “a child is born with no state of mind blind to the ways of mankind God is smilin’ on you but he’s frownin’ too because only God knows what you’ll go through You’ll grow in the ghetto livin’ second-rate and your eyes will sing a song called deep hate” show me that the ones who are born into the world of struggle and oppression are unaware of how the way the world is and must witness it for themselves. I take these sources because they show what society is like with oppression and they define oppression in the world that can apply to any group that fits the definition and examples. They truly highlight the imperfections of the world and ultimately prove dystopian societies.
