Handy Reference Guide to Identifying Oppressive Silencing

To assist you in identifying and resisting dominant and unequal power relationships in your life, we’ve compiled a list of common phrases people in historically dominant roles have been conditioned to and may use to try to silence oppressed others, particularly when they perceive their dominance to be challenged.

The quotations below were used by men against women and are thus patriarchal; however, one could expect to find similar strategic dismissals and silencing of the accounts and concerns of people of color, working class and poor people, queer and LGBTQI people, young people, fat people, disabled people, and other marginalized folks in the discourses of those who discriminate against them. The simultaneous and intersecting nature of oppression is also considered here.

These strategies, and others we may have missed, can be found in any order, but from our experiences attempts to silence us commonly go something like this:

Assert authority
Question your knowledge/judgment
Delegitimize your response
Delegitimize you
Enforce dominant point of view
Shut down debate or conversation

How to Tell if Your Man is Cheating: Part 3 – Psychology

To complete our How to Tell If Your Man is Cheating series, Sisters of Resistance have compiled information on the psychological and emotional profiles of men who cheat, based upon real-life experiences collectively referred to as relationship field research. In this article, we answer the questions:

         “What kind of man cheats?”

         “How does the cheating show up in his emotions?”

         “What are the structural inequalities that enable men to cheat?”

         “What does this mean for me?”

We hope these insights will help our readers to identify cheating men, as well as reveal why, if they have been cheated on, it is not their fault.

Part 1: LIES

Part 2: Behavioural Patterns and Other Evidence

How to Tell if Your Man is Cheating on You: Part 1 – LIES

It’s really difficult when you find out that the person you care about is cheating on you. The first thing to remember is that it is never your fault and you have done nothing to cause this. Men who cheat are taking advantage of their dominant role in society and availing of male privilege that enables them to cheat easily and without repercussion. However, we believe that if women can identify, avoid, and stop enabling this behaviour, men will have to change.

Anything anyone says could potentially be a lie; but based on our personal experiences and field research, we have compiled common LIES used by cheaters in the first of a 3-part series revealing the habits and behaviours of men who cheat.  Part 2 is BEHAVIOUR PATTERNS & OTHER EVIDENCE, followed by the final part, PSYCHOLOGY.