| This study examines the impact of internalized oppression on relationships with female diversity workers of different social identity groups. The study extends existing theories and current research. Informed by literature on feminism, theories on power and dominance, internalized oppression and social identity, the study seeks to explore the impact of internalized oppression on relationships with women across different social identity groups, with particular reference to race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation.; This is a mixed methods study informed and inspired by phenomenology as the primary research method and personal construct psychology as the secondary research method.; The research design involved 16 women, 8 representing the United States and 8 representing the United Kingdom. The diversity of the women includes Caucasian, African American, Hispanic, Asian, and Black British, heterosexual, and lesbian. In the first phase, each woman was asked to write three stories describing the phenomenon being studied. These stories accounted for their first remembered experience of the phenomenon, their most poignant experience, and their most recent experience. The data were analyzed looking for themes, patterns, similarities, and differences. Recognizing that it is possible to be a victim and an oppressor, in Phase two, both perspectives were explored. George Kelly's Personal Construct Psychology was used as the basis of a repertory grid survey to identify the hierarchy of gender biases held by each individual.; In Phase three, I integrated the analysis of the stories from Phase one and the results of the survey from Phase two. I interviewed 4 participants in depth. I shared the findings, themes and patterns from the analysis with each of the women interviewed, together with the results from their stories and survey. My goal was to search more deeply for the meaning behind the life world experiences of internalized oppression.; Findings suggest that the women in this study have developed creative survival mechanisms to cope with the continuing presence of internalized oppression. They acknowledge that so long as structural oppression continues to exist, so will internalized oppression and that their best defense is to be aware of how it manifests and act to dissolve its power. |
