Chapter 8

In this chapter i think that Johnson's thesis is that people of "dominant" groups will go out of their way to not be connected with someone Else's problems, and make sure they save themselves from potential embarrassment. This concept he calls "getting off the hook". One of the concepts related to getting off the hook is denial. In order to walk away from a problem with out feeling remorse is to pretend like there is no problem to begin with. Some of the examples Johnson gives is the American dream is available to everyone now, and that "racism and sexism used to be a problem, but they aren't anymore." People deny that these things like sexism and racism exist, because they don't want to deal with the consequences. Another one of the examples of this Johnson talked about was how a white female felt "jealous" or felt that a female of color was "better off" than she was. It is known that privilege and envy often go hand and hand with eachother. Johnson says "as she defends herself against seeing what she'd rather not see." (110) Racial stereotypes is also another thing Johnson talks about, he relates this with blaming the victim. One example he uses is that "if blacks were smarter or worked harder or got an education, they'd be okay." You can call it what you want, stick a different name on it, deny it, or blame someone other than yourself, but instead of getting yourself off the hook, why don't people get ON the hook, and help solve the problem and make it better instead of just pretending it's not there.

So how do people, especially women, live in such close quarters without confronting the reality of a male dominated society? Men can find ways to lighten up a situation, and make it seem like what it's not. They make jokes, and excuses for why they intrupt a female during a conversation, they make excuses for why a female did not get the job and a male did. Johnson says, "Instead, it is because gender inequality runs so deep in our lives and has such serious consequences that we must go to great lengths to make it appear normal and so avoid seeing it for what it is." (112)

This article was okay to read. Johnson gave more real-life situations, instead of comparing it to a board game or to something unrelated like in the last chapter. A lot of the things he mentioned about the male dominated society I knew before, but i didn't recognize how I do it myself. Being in a relationship for 4 years, and watching my parents talk, you recognize the little things like when a guy intrupts a female in a conversation. It really makes you think about how much things have NOT changes in society, and that people literally just ignore them or just put them aside so they don't have to deal with it. I find that a bit interesting. Overall this article made me open up my eyes, and recognize the things that i do in my everyday life that Johnson tries to say in his articles. It almost scary, how "natural" it is, or how much it is engrained in us to just make excuses. Overall it amazed me.