What's the difference between oppression and repression?

Question

The time in my life my dictionary has failed me.

Answer 1

Oppression is when someone keeps you "down" or controls you. For example, slaves are oppressed because they have no freedom or control over many of their actions. Oppression is usually referred to when talking about social groups that the powers of society try to keep from becoming "equal" such as homosexuals, women (at one time, though it's improved a lot), minorities, and so on.

Repression is when you personally keep things "down," like feelings. It's common for a lot of people to just push emotions or memories away because that's easier than really dealing with them. Repression is almost always a subconscious thing, meaning you don't even know you're excluding the item from your memory or conscious mind. It seems your brain just does it. For example, people abused as small children often have no clear recollection of it as adults until something triggers the memories. Repressed feelings will almost always come back in painful ways if they are not brought to the surface and dealt with in a healthy way.

Oppression is a Sociological element.

Repression is a Psychological one.

Answer 2

oppression is when someone or something keeps you down

(ex: n***s oppressed Jews in the Holocaust)

repression is when you keep a memory or emotion buried

(ex: Suzie Q keeps the memory of almost drowning repressed)

Answer 3

Oppression is when one force exerts its will over another, usually in a cruel manner.

Example sentence: The king oppressed the starving peasants by forcing them to build a castle.

Repression is typically used as a psychology term to describe the willful denial of a state of mind. In modern psychology, it's a nonsense term with little or no meaning. In psychoanalysis, it has been used to describe the willful act of refusing to acknowledge a desire, fear, or event that might cause mental discomfort. Simply put, when an individual represses a thought, they are refusing to acknowledge and deal with something.

Example sentence: John repressed his feelings about being kidnapped when he was a young child.