Some people by virtue of their power status,
income level would have advantage over others.
In a global context, and if we bring in the racial dimension, I would say
that is probably generally true, not universally true, but generally true.
Let's say for example white people, by virtual of being white,
would have certain advantage when they're negotiating relationship
when we're looking at interracial intimacy, or
interracial love relationship.
I can say with a certain level of confidence that
that being white has some advantage but of course it's not uniform.
If you are factoring your income level, then if you're white but you're poor and
you live in the rural context.
Then you may not have as much advantage as someone who's living in
the city who is high income.
So you would take in all this intersecting dimensions
and I would say some people are sort of more privileged
and some people are more disadvantaged.
>> Do you think it helps to be cognizant of one's,
where they kind of stand in this spectrum of intersections.
So if I'm a female and I'm a minority in terms of race or
things like that, does it help to be recognizing that in order
to navigate sexual relationships?
>> Yeah, I think awareness is definitely useful if you understand where you are and
your chances. That is a good starting point.
But I think from a SSLD perspective,
you always want to work towards empowering whoever we're working with.
It can be done individually, it can also be done collectively.
So I think helping people to achieve a higher level
of self-efficacy, developing strategies and
skills to help us increase our chance of getting what we need in life,
is a core concept in SSLD.
And then, in the world of intimate relationships,
we understand, for instance,
that in western cultures they're for
example pretty rigid
conventions regarding what is physically attractive.
Say for example, if you're sort of a bigger, heavier woman,
you're generally considered less attractive by most people.
And in order to deal with that reality, we have to help people to
appreciate the dynamics of interpersonal attraction a little bit more.
To help people understand that yes,
physical appearance does play a role, we're not denying that.
But then interpersonal attraction that is not 100% dependent just
on physical attraction alone.
And if you have learned how to interact with people in
a manner that would be more effective in addressing the other person's
N3C to get to know the other person better.
You understand what the other person's needs are, characteristics,
preferences and capacity.
And you learn more effective communication skills and relationship skills.
It will up your life chances of developing or
negotiating a gratifying relationship.
Although we also understand the limitation of this, it doesn't solve every problem, it doesn't help everyone,
but I think it helps to some extent.
Yeah.
A. Ka Tat TsangFounder of the SSLD System; Professor and Factor-Inwentash Chair in Social Work in the Global Community
