How does the oppressing of people affect society?
Personally, I think it's human nature to judge others and categorize them, leading to future oppressing. Seriously, if a magic machine suddenly made everyone on the planet believe that everyone was equal, and that stuff like gender, skin color, or beliefs did not affect the value of a person, I think that us humans would still find some dumb way to oppress some group of people. It's been going on since we were kids--I mean, back in elementary school, I remember watching some really cruel kids making fun of a child with a speech impediment. It was absolutely horrible, but it serves to really emphasize the point; humans are born with the urge to oppress and make themselves feel superior.
Now, how does this really impact society? We had a prompt relating to this this week, and I didn't really agree with the statement that the prompt asked to analyze. Sure, the othering of people certainly leads to the dehumanization of the oppressed; we've seen multiple viewpoints that confirm this, from Alexie's The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven to Staples' Black Men and Public Space. In addition, it's just obviously true--of course you make people feel less human when you're discriminating against them. But what about the oppressors themselves? Are they becoming more or less human? Well, if it's human nature to stereotype and discriminate, like I just argued above, then it could be said that the oppressors are actually more human. And if the othering of people makes the oppressors more human--a word that is often associated with positive connotation--then human nature is just inherently messed up.
Personally, I think it's human nature to judge others and categorize them, leading to future oppressing. Seriously, if a magic machine suddenly made everyone on the planet believe that everyone was equal, and that stuff like gender, skin color, or beliefs did not affect the value of a person, I think that us humans would still find some dumb way to oppress some group of people. It's been going on since we were kids--I mean, back in elementary school, I remember watching some really cruel kids making fun of a child with a speech impediment. It was absolutely horrible, but it serves to really emphasize the point; humans are born with the urge to oppress and make themselves feel superior.
How kids were oppressed back in elementary school. Now, it's a lot more complicated.
Now, how does this really impact society? We had a prompt relating to this this week, and I didn't really agree with the statement that the prompt asked to analyze. Sure, the othering of people certainly leads to the dehumanization of the oppressed; we've seen multiple viewpoints that confirm this, from Alexie's The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven to Staples' Black Men and Public Space. In addition, it's just obviously true--of course you make people feel less human when you're discriminating against them. But what about the oppressors themselves? Are they becoming more or less human? Well, if it's human nature to stereotype and discriminate, like I just argued above, then it could be said that the oppressors are actually more human. And if the othering of people makes the oppressors more human--a word that is often associated with positive connotation--then human nature is just inherently messed up.
I agreed with the prompt, but I thought the same thing as you as far as the word "human" being misleading. Nice post.
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