First we can look to literature for examples. In the short story The Storm by Kate Chopin, we read about Bobint and his son Bibi being caught in a terrible storm while the wife Calixta is home alone. Her neighbor then comes over and the two have an affair while the husband is away. Now while it is not explicitly stated that this was an unhappy marriage, there must have been some sort of underlying factor that drove Calixta to adultery. Most likely there was an unsaid air of oppression in the house, which drove Calixta to having repressed feelings of freedom. This freedom broke free from her soul when the neighbor, Alce Labillire, came over. While in today's society this sort of act is still condemnable, in the 1890's this was a form of extremism. No one in their right minds would normally even think of betraying their husbands in such a way, which is why this piece of literature was not published until much later. Likewise, in The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gillman, you see a different sort of extremism. The author, who writes in a first-person view, describes her tribulations with depression in the beginning of the story. Her husband, while trying his best to cure the disease, decides her best treatment would be the 'rest cure', a popular treatment at the time for depression. The rest cure involved deep isolation and constant sleep and lack of stimulation, which the author described in the slightly fictional story drove her mad. The medical associations brought about this treatment, which ultimately ended up being very oppressive to women. In turn just as the author described, it was repressive of her writing, which she enjoyed so much. This soon drove her to extremism in the form of tearing down all the wallpaper and losing her mind, 'creeping' across the floor like a mad woman.
In today's world, oppression is all around us. From the moment you step outside your door, if you look hard enough, you can spot many minor forms. What constitutes in your mind as over the line in arbitrary to who you are as a person, but nevertheless, there are many forms of oppression. One such example is the ways in which our law enforcement has been functioning recently. The sights of the Ferguson rioting and looting are all still fresh in our minds. This extremist uprising is not necessarily uncalled for, and in many people's mind it is due time. The law enforcement's oppressive attitude on targeting minorities and over-escalation of force is even commonly satired in today's society, so regardless of your stance on police, most could agree they could stand to do a little better. But this oppression leads once again to a repressed people, who like in the case of the Ferguson riots, won't take that repression forever. A very different example is the group known as ISIS, or the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (Syria). These people have strong ideals of a sort of extreme, puritanical view of Islamic law, which they want to implement through conquest. While their goals do sometimes seem hazy at best, we know they want to drive out democracy and the Jews from Jerusalem, and they will stop at nothing to achieve their goals. But why did they come to be? While much can be speculated on that topic, these sort of views would obviously be repressed in modern societies. Through much financial wealth, they have been able to attain the means to implement such extremism, and through an ever increasing social media skill base, their numbers will continue to grow until they have been snuffed out entirely. This example shows that sometimes repression is not necessarily a bad thing, and that we must continue to analyze what we are repressing.
One point to note is that repression does not always result in extreme outbursts. It is true that sometimes the oppressed will ask for their freedom of ideals in a civil manner. However, as I have mentioned this is not a very common case. Generally, we must fight to voice our concerns and break down the walls of oppression. Many people have lost their lives in attempts to give us the opportunities that we have today. If it wasn't for these people, freedom of speech wouldn't ever exist. Oppression and repression can be used as helpful tools if used properly, but we must be careful and take note of what and who we are repressing. It is this delicate balance that sparks so many debates across the world. Like mentioned earlier, law enforcement is a necessity, but there is room for improvement. Their repression of illegal activities is commendable, and a positive use of repression. But when this power is used to repress individuals in a categorizing manner based on stereotypes or profiles, we must re-teach our officers of the responsibilities that come with this power, so that we can continue to enjoy the positive uses without bringing in negative ones.
So we must continue to stay vigilant, regardless of our roles in the world. In the millennial society that we live in today as Americans, it is our duty to use the technology and the resources we have not just for lighting our faces in our beds at night, but also for enlightenment of our minds, lest we be succumbed to oppression through our own ignorance.
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