Archive for the ‘Opposites’ Tag
Just to be safe I checked the definitions of the words I’m about to use. I challenge you to find definitions that contradict what I say here.
And why should we care? Because we live in a society where we want the comfort of clear dichotomies: divisions or contrasts between two things that are or are represented as being opposed or entirely different. In other words, we like to think in terms of opposites like male-female, good-bad, honest-dishonest, you name it.
Politicians propose laws that require oppositeness, literally enforcing differences that don’t exist in nature. In other words, there are areas where we must distort the truth in order to live legally. Or maybe even to live at all.
So what, really does opposite mean?
Adjective: diametrically different; of a contrary kind; completely different.
Noun: a person or thing that is totally different from or the reverse of someone or something else.
Right now I’m thinking of the political inaccuracy of pretending there are only two sexes: male and female. It’s just not true. Like everything else you can think of, the characteristics exist on a continuum. So, I repeat, in order to live legally one has to behave like a round peg trying to fit into a square hole. If we lived without such control – i.e. were truly free – differences could be dealt with in healthy ways with full understanding.
Oh but, you’re going to argue, at least black and white are opposites. Look it up. They aren’t.
What you see as a pigment with a black color or a light with a white color actually contains various light or dark colors. Nothing can be pure white or pure black, except unfiltered sunlight or the depths of a black hole.
What a free world it would be if we lived with reality instead of imposed dichotomies.
I am a Democrat and I really want to help, but I can’t afford to waste my money on ineffective commercials and interviews. For some reason that I do understand, (but don’t like), no one wants to hear my psychologist’s eye view. But here goes anyway
Reason Number One: People want to see strength in their leaders, and we in the US live in a society that equates strength with masculinity. So electing a masculine person to office is a no-brainer. And Masculinity, for fairly obvious reasons, is equated with maleness. Therefore females still don’t qualify in our culture. Besides we have a long history of thinking in terms of opposites, especially opposite sexes. So, the assumption goes, if men are strong, then by definition women are weak. So women are out because they are seen as the “opposite” sex, i.e. weak as opposed to strong. Moreover, our frontier culture tends to think of strength in terms of physical ability so the support of violence in language and actuality feels good. And the elderly are out because, quite literally, aging does reduce physical strength.
To tell the truth, I think it would be fun to sit with some Ad men and turn some of that information around to appeal to folks who want to see good stuff get done.
Reason Number Two: There is another strong side to the US culture. We see it in the daily stories of people rushing to the aid of their neighbors. Physical strength is good, but so is the strength of shared community, kindness, gratitude, forgiveness, and peace. I waited during the whole campaign to see stories of real people suffering or enjoying victories. Instead I got numbers and generalizations. I’m not a political scientist or politician, but I do know about jargon and I often find it boring. In this election the opposition did a great job of using plain, ordinary language and applying it to things folks care about in their personal lives. But what I saw in Democratic commercials were jargoned intellectual arguments – boring (and effeminate?). How about stories of effects on real people, like women suffering the agony of pregnancy denied the aid that health workers are not allowed to give, or mothers trying to find an apartment they can afford with the two jobs they hold down while raising three kids, or the joy in a child’s eyes when being recognized for something they did well, or the grief in losing one’s home to flood or fire. It’s an old rule in creative writing, “Show, don’t tell.” Make me see what it looks like when people in poverty suffer expensive illness because they’ve been denied regular preventive care. Tell me the stories of the people and families seeking shelter on our borders. Give me a reason to see the very real strength in seeing the positive that can be done. Don’t just leave me with the opposition’s lies told with confidence – no ifs, ands, or buts — denigrating other people. Most folks don’t really get excited by explanation of the process of scientific method or polling procedures. Show me.
Oh my gosh. Do I really dare publish this? I guess so … I can’t just sit around and watch tragedies happen.
monagustafsonaffinito 