Allen Johnson’s book, in the selective chapters, gives a complete view of the concept of privilege, and more importantly, barriers that keep the concept from being properly understood. Johnson credits Peggy McIntosh with the most accurate definition: “privilege exists when one group has something of value that is denied to others simply because of the groups they belong to, rather than because of anything they’ve done or failed to do” (21). One of Johnson’s first arguments show that against privilege being due to difference. His main argument consists of the idea that difference is entirely socially constructed and, therefore, lines draw up because of difference only exist to maintain power structures (20). These powers, or privileges are then…show more content… For example, men have the unearned advantage of feeling safe, in most environments, at night; this is a privilege being a woman does not necessarily afford. However, conferred dominance, because it depends on power being taken over one group, would be a man’s opinion being taken more seriously in a meeting, perhaps at the expense of a woman equally important idea. Conferred dominance as a result has the inverse effect of oppression over those without power. Once again Johnson credits a good understanding of the concept to another, “as Marilyn Frye describes it, the concept of oppression points to social forces that tend to ‘press’ on people, and hold them down, to hem them in and block their pursuit of a good life” (38). Johnson also stresses the previously mentioned ideas and their importance to…show more content… Johnson first addresses the matrix of privilege as why many individuals don’t “feel” privileged. Because each individual belongs to a multitude of categories, some privileged and some not, one category can prevent or facilitate an individual from feeling privilege of another category (49). Each individual’s matrix is a combination of their membership in each group that forms a complex relationship with privilege and oppression. The idea that privilege comes from a dialectic relationship between individuals and systems also makes the idea of privilege more difficult to grasp. Individuals help to create social systems, but also systems shape us through socialization and an idea called paths of least resistance (79). Johnson explains that in any given situation an individual has many options for how to behave, but because of social norms we most often follow the path of least resistance because we either do not know any other option or feel the social resistance of other choices (80). People then make individual choices that keep them on paths of least resistance which most often reinforce established privilege and oppression. Both concepts highlight the importance of macro ideas in the understanding of