1. According to Collins, race, class and gender are "interlocking categories of analysis that together cultivate profound differences in our personal biographies." Using the three levels of oppression, provide examples to help explain how they operate.
             Collins' article, entitled, "Toward a New Vision: Race, Class, and Gender as Categories of Analysis and Connection," takes a different approach to the subject matter in that it does not necessarily conduct new research but rather looks at how oppression affects people. Collins looks at the three main dimensions of how oppression affects people within society, with those being, the "institutional, the symbolic and the individual." Social institutions such as schools, businesses, hospitals, the workplace and government represent the institutional dimension of oppression. Racism, sexism and elitism all have concrete institutional locations. In her article, Collins uses the issue of slavery as an example. Although slavery is analyzed as a racist institution, Collins thinks that slavery was a race, class and gender institution. However, the institutional oppression can be seen anywhere we go. In our schools for example; unfortunately, elite white men are over-represented among the upper administrators. They are all joined by white women as helpers. In most situations, who are the people that take care of the cleaning in school, bringing the mail or fixing the leaky pipes? Even in a workplace, Hispanic or African Americans are more often the people staying after normal work hours and cleaning up the workplaces. Our environment is just a modern plantation.
             As this article suggests, and as we have observed in everyday life we have a symbolic dimension of oppression which is also known as stereotyping of genders, races, etc. When you hear the words "masculine" and "feminine," almost any group will list similar qualities that come to mind to the qualities tha...