Connie Whaley's experiencesConnie Whaley experienced a lot of oppression. She was born into a dysfunctional family in a small town in Virginia called Newmarket. Connie is a white woman, born with white privilege but not much other privilege. A patriarchal household has built her life since she was a child, and she passively and seemingly unknowingly allows the cycle of sexism and patriarchy to continue. Connie has experienced oppression in terms of class, gender, and race.CLASSConnie was born into a very poor family. She describes herself as having lived in poverty for the first eighteen years of her life. She often found herself without food, shelter or financial support. Connie's mother worked extremely hard to provide for the household; she worked in shampoo for just $50 a week. Connie's father didn't work at all, he was responsible and demanding, but didn't put effort into any aspect of the family. Connie was the first in her family to graduate from high school. It was more common for women to become pregnant and marry young rather than complete high school. College wasn't even an option for Connie due to lack of means. Subsequently, she followed in her mother's footsteps; and the cycle of poverty and worked for many years in low-paid and unfulfilling jobs. “Not all Americans have equal opportunities to succeed, and class mobility in the United States is lower than in the rest of the industrialized world” (Mantsios 200). It is very difficult to break out of the cycle of oppression when the system is created to keep the poor in the same socio-economic status. Connie remained very poor until she was about eighteen. At nineteen, she married and moved to Las Vegas. His world was turned upside down; she went to middle of paper......intense racism and discrimination from her father so she hid the relationship at all costs. Connie realized that she could never marry an African American because of her father's racial intolerance. If she were to have a mixed child, that child would be heavily discriminated against due to their hypodecency. One day, Connie's father heard rumors about her relationship, so he drove his car to the middle of nowhere and wrecked it. Then he took his shotgun and went looking for Connie and her boyfriend. Connie was tipped off before her father found her and she was forced to leave town for over six months. Connie's father burned her clothes, so she had to leave town with no car, no clothes, and no money at the age of sixteen. Connie lived in poverty her entire life, but when she was evicted, she learned to live without shelter and sometimes without food at all.Conclusion