Introduction
The double bind concept according to Marilyn Fyre refers to a situation of reduced options that human being have in their social living. Such options may lead an individual into a penalty or even depression. For instance, being cheerful and smiling is a requirement among oppressed people. If such people comply with these requirements, they signal their docility and acquiescence of their situation. Fyre further argues that, the oppressed acquiesce in their own world hence making them invisible, as they occupy no space in the available social atmosphere. According to Marilyn Fyre, the oppressed contribute to their erasure. In the contrary, anything sunniest countenance makes the oppressed perceived as mean people who are always, bitter or angry. This situation denies such individuals a chance to effectively work with other people.
In the United States, young women abide either being sexual active or sexual inactive. A sexual woman is perceived as being unprincipled and always faces the punishment for such loose behaviors. In most case, such women are regarded as whores. When a woman refrains from sexual activities, men constantly harass them. Harassment is an end result of the persuading actions to get sexual benefits from women. This has an effect of reducing the options that Marilyn Fyre explains as the double bind situation.
A double bind is a situation of reduced options or few options, and all of which carry negative recourses. Double bind may also refer to a choice between two undesirable courses of action or a situation in which a person is confronted with irreconcilable demands. Marilyn Fyre argues that a human condition, in one degree or another, we all suffer frustrations and limitations. People encounter unwelcome barriers that hurt and damage their reputation. Fyre argues further that no human being is free from social structures, so would happiness consist in such freedom. Social structure is used by individuals as an excuse to express oppression. People need to get a clear distinction between what oppression is and what cannot be termed as oppression. It is everyone’s duty to sort out the sufferings, harms and limitations and figure out the elements that entail oppression and those without oppression. A good example is the door opening ritual exercised by men across all classes and races. Some people consider the ritual as being offensive while others disagree with that perception. During the ritual process, a man removes a barrier for the lady’s smooth and relaxed progress. The door opening ritual is seen as an essential service. However, in a critical view, the helpfulness perception is false. The situation is seen at the when able women wait for men to open doors for them.
According to Fyre, men will jostle everyone and get at the door first. Such acts are unwanted assistance. As a matter of fact, men are not helpful in circumstances when women would welcome help. The provided services have very little or no use at all in a reality situation. There is no significant help for women. However, the only common advice they always receive is being indoors at odd hours. The act or perception that a man is a champion to any woman is evil. Ladies should be freed in such conditions and enjoy their independent lives. Furthermore, Merilyn Fyre gallant gestures have little or no meaning in practical life situations but are just symbolic. Such services like the door opening services are services needed for people who are incapacitated. People suffering from physical illness or burdened with parcels also deserve such a kind of assistance. The message being passed across by such services is that women are incapable. Failure to recognize what women need and what they do not need is an avenue of passing a message that women’s needs and interest are irrelevant. These gestures always imitate the behavior expressed by servants towards their master which mock women. The act is a disgrace to women who have respect for the caretakers and servants of men. The point of the fake helpfulness endorsed by men gallantry enhances female dependence, invisibility and contempt among women.
The double bind system condition is applicable in life real life situations. For instance, many females, that is women and girls are indifferent of whether to be sexual active or inactive. The situation is common especially among teenage girls. Depending on the amount of pressure from the environment in which they live, girls take odds options on sexual matters. When women or young girls choose to be sexual active, they are open to censure and punishments for being loose. They also get punished by the negative perception associated whores. Such females are considered unprincipled and have no value in the society. In majority cases, the punishments come inform of criticism, snide and embarrassing remarks. This is where the woman is mostly perceived as an easy lay by men. Consequences involve separation from their more restrained female friends. Women who choose to be sexual active often have to lie to their families and parents about their behavior. They do so with the intention of escaping the society perceptions on their behaviors. However, that is not the only risk situation that faces them. There are many other undesired consequences of such behaviors. Some of the dangerous effects include; early pregnancy and body harm brought by consistent use of contraceptives. Despite being much informed of the health effect on their bodies, they cannot help get involved in such behaviors. Therefore, women always have to find ways to avoid the risk of unwanted pregnancies by using dangerous contraceptives which exposes more risks to them.
On the other hand if young girls in the society choose to be sexual inactive, they are constantly harassed by men who persuade them into it. This type of women will be more rigid and bear very poor perception on men. Most of their behaviors will be characterized by hate and negative thought and attitudes. The parents who are in the fore-front against the idea to allow their daughters to engage in sexual activities will start to worry much on such decision. This is because the behavior will at some point suggest actions of abnormality. The rise of lesbianism which is mostly viewed as sexual abnormal act and other dangers will accompany such kind of girls.
When a sexual active woman is raped, many people will presume that she liked the act. A raped woman is always considered to be sexual active by the society, majority of community members will talk positive about the act. The probability that such an occasion expose men to negative consequences is minimal. Therefore, the act is likely going to dismissing the point that the woman was actually raped. If women are either sexual active or sexual inactive, their situation cannot save them out of the assumption that they wanted to be raped or otherwise. This perception places women mostly in a position where they cannot win such cases of rape in any situation. Sometimes when people look at the environment where raping took place, they turn back and look at the sexual behavior of a woman. When a woman decides to dress in a particular design, people claim that they are selling their bodies through their dressing code. When a rape case occurs, people normally say that the woman was badly dressed and so the man was right to do the inhumane act. They further suggest that the lady might have enjoyed the act of rape because she is sexual active.
The double bind situation by Marilyn Fyre, is a situation that one cannot escape. This is because much of one’s suffering befalls one for the mare reason of belonging to a certain class or category, which in this case it is the woman category. Being a woman is a major factor that contributes the other social injustices. They include lack of equal employment opportunities with men and sexual assaults. It is evident that the jobs that women do are not in men caliber and are considered bad positions. All the disadvantages that women find themselves struggle to eliminate are due to the fact that they are women. Unless a proper defined social system that addresses this issue is put in place, women will always struggle in their lifetime.
