The Oppression Olympics

[InquiringMind]

I'm looking with both curiosity and disbelief at what might be called the Oppression Olympics.  This is where everyone competes for the status of being the Most Oppressed Minority, and who therefore is the most deserving of compensation for the injustices that have been heaped upon them.  

Just a few months ago here in California, an event for students of color was cancelled because fighting broke out amongst the students of color about which sub-minority among them was the most oppressed.  

It really baffles me that when people post on facebook, they try to make their lives look as exciting and glamorous as possible.  But when it comes to politics, people try to show that they're oppressed and miserable and thus deserving of society's help.  

So why all the victimhood?  It's like everyone is competing for the Biggest Victim Award.  I guess maybe there's some motivation for it, and society apparently awards victimhood.  

Here's how the dialogue goes: 

Black Person: I'm oppressed because my people used to be slaves.  
Muslim: I'm more oppressed because my people are being bombed in the Middle East.  
Gay Person: I'm even more oppressed because my people couldn't get married until like two years ago.  
Transgender Person: I'm super oppressed because I don't feel comfortable in the body I was born with. 
White Woman: I'm super duper oppressed because of the patriarchy.  
Colored Woman: I'm super duper ultra oppressed because we get paid 64% of what white men get.  And because of the patriarchy.  
Jew: I'm super duper ultra uber oppressed because like a third of my people were wiped out by genocide.  
Straight White Cisgendered Male: I'm the most oppressed because everyone blames me for a bunch of oppression that happened before I was born and blames me for contemporary oppression that I had nothing to do with and couldn't prevent even if I wanted to.  

So what do you think?  Why are people so obsession with winning the gold medal for being the most oppressed?

[The Grand Nudger]

A desire -not- to be classified as the oppressor, in some cases...or a less disturbing explanation of their own failures....and in others...maybe, just maybe......oppression?
(leaving room for "all of the above", "none of the above", "something else"...and idiots...ofc......)

[InquiringMind]

Everyone is oppressed in one way or another. Here are a few more:

Poor Person: I'm oppressed because of my poverty.
Billionaire: I'm oppressed because everyone is trying to get my money.
Autistic: I'm oppressed because society has negative stereotypes of autistic people.
Republican: The Democrats are oppressing me.
Democrat: The Republicans are oppressing me.
Left-Handed Person: I'm oppressed because everything in society is made for right-handed people.
Tall Person: I'm oppressed because I have to duck through doorways.
Short Person: I'm oppressed because I have to stand on my toes to see the countertop.
Skinny Person: I'm oppressed by a society that drove me to anorexia.
Fat Person: I'm oppressed by the sugar industry and by my slow metabolism.

Everyone is oppressed. So how do we decide who is the most oppressed? And what about intersectionalities: is a straight black Jewish male more oppressed that a trangendered white Christian female?

[The Grand Nudger]

I think that by the time you're done with this spiel it won't make any sense to ask the question, as the term will have lost any meaning it might have.

[dyresand]

Black Person: I'm oppressed because my people used to be slaves.  -
Though we are not slaves anymore the system of racism and bias still exists.
The community in which we are raised  and live in are poverty stricken, high in crime,
have bad schools and lack of jobs and the system continues to work against us even in the
courts. 

They already win the gold medal.. and that is sad  truth even in this day all of what i said is true.

[The Grand Nudger]

They won the marathon.

Though, latinos and muslims are coming up from behind in the sprint.  

[CanOfMountainDew]

Literally the only thing that creates classes and the space between classes, in the US, is money. That's it. That is to say, for example, that a rich black person is more privileged than a poor white person.

[paulpablo]

I'm looking with both curiosity and disbelief at what might be called the Oppression Olympics.  This is where everyone competes for the status of being the Most Oppressed Minority, and who therefore is the most deserving of compensation for the injustices that have been heaped upon them.  

Just a few months ago here in California, an event for students of color was cancelled because fighting broke out amongst the students of color about which sub-minority among them was the most oppressed.  

It really baffles me that when people post on facebook, they try to make their lives look as exciting and glamorous as possible.  But when it comes to politics, people try to show that they're oppressed and miserable and thus deserving of society's help.  

So why all the victimhood?  It's like everyone is competing for the Biggest Victim Award.  I guess maybe there's some motivation for it, and society apparently awards victimhood.  

Here's how the dialogue goes: 

Black Person: I'm oppressed because my people used to be slaves.  
Muslim: I'm more oppressed because my people are being bombed in the Middle East.  
Gay Person: I'm even more oppressed because my people couldn't get married until like two years ago.  
Transgender Person: I'm super oppressed because I don't feel comfortable in the body I was born with. 
White Woman: I'm super duper oppressed because of the patriarchy.  
Colored Woman: I'm super duper ultra oppressed because we get paid 64% of what white men get.  And because of the patriarchy.  
Jew: I'm super duper ultra uber oppressed because like a third of my people were wiped out by genocide.  
Straight White Cisgendered Male: I'm the most oppressed because everyone blames me for a bunch of oppression that happened before I was born and blames me for contemporary oppression that I had nothing to do with and couldn't prevent even if I wanted to.  

So what do you think?  Why are people so obsession with winning the gold medal for being the most oppressed?

I think that's just a personality trait. Going beyond race and gender you see people competing with who has the worst depression, the worst upbringing, who's the most poor/lives in an area with higher crime rate.

If you've had it tougher then anything you've achieved is more of an achievement. 

It's like if everyone finished a race at the same time then afterwards everyone has to argue about who started the race furthest away from the finish line.

[The Grand Nudger]

@Dew
Rich black people get pulled over for driving a car that's clearly too nice.  Is the same true for rich white people?

@Paul
Yeah..that, or, maybe, one or more of them might have a more legitimate claim to oppression and get's sick of people muddying the water. But it's probably what you said.

[CanOfMountainDew]

@Dew
Rich black people get pulled over for driving a car that's clearly too nice. 

No, they don't