Mandatory Essay: The Life Of Homo Sacer

Additionally, modern testing rooms were arranged to separate the threatening underclass so that they can be an evenly manageable force within society. Through his discoveries, Gatto would reveal the intent of required schooling was to, “Divide children by subject, by age-grading, by constant rankings on tests, and by many other more subtle means, and it was unlikely that the ignorant mass of mankind, separated in childhood, would ever reintegrate into a dangerous whole” (152). Consequently, if we as a population can be detached for one another at an early age. Then we have less of a chance at uniting against our dictator’s selective process of establishing a contributing demographic. Nonetheless, as long we can exist within the sustainable idea that our education is not defined through our schooling. We then can achieve a future that was dictated by our own hands and not by a controlled environment. As Gatto would state, “And plenty of people throughout the world

Section 1: Question 1 – The society of Gattaca works to repress rather than to enhance the potential of human beings. Discuss.

The practices of a collective society such as the one in this book disregard all belief in the individual. By doing this, the society and its leaders brainwash the people into having no personal priority or authority. Everything is done with the betterment of the entire group in mind, no sense of self involvement. Their life is fated in almost every

As a society, we feed off of each other for what a proper response to something may be. As children, we first look to see our mother’s reaction after falling down; if she is calm, I should also be. We look to each other for what a definition of things should be, as well. In the 1950’s, it was generally obscene for a woman on television to show her belly button, whereas today we will show nude breasts on primetime programming. This follows the sociological theory of symbolic interactionism, where society and individual social interaction provides a subjective meaning to deviant behavior. Many social definitions change for the better, however some change for the worse. One such example was once viewed as normal, with no second thoughts given to it, but now is seen as an actual social problem affecting some groups aversely. This is the topic of homosexuality, a subject that has been on the receiving end of both accepting and discriminating cultures for thousands of years.

Firstly, Frye discusses the etymology of the word ‘oppression’ stating that it has its elements from the word “press”, 1983, p: 2. She then gives imagery in order to demonstrate that the word is very restrictive in nature as if something were; “caught between or among forces and barriers which are so related to each other that jointly they restrain, restrict or prevent the thing’s motion or mobility”, (Frye, 1983, p:2). Frye makes the point that he first criterion in defining oppression is that the oppressed is restricted or limited in some manner, giving the sense that they have been moulded, immobilised or reduced. She exemplifies this notion with the following comparison using her theory of the “double-bind” theory. According to Frye, in the United States, young women, are locked in a bind where if they exhibit that they are heterosexually active, then she is explicitly regarded as “loose, unprincipled or a whore”, 1983, p:2. The woman may then feel that she must hide her behaviour from her parents who are likely to look down on her for her promiscuity. She will also face criticism by her peers as being an “easy lay” and put down in comparison to her friends who practise more restraint, (Frye, 1983, p:3).

Once a society elects the government they classify as “ideal,” the government that establishes authority will have the ability to set harsh restrictions against the citizens who supported them without any knowledge on their plans. To demonstrate how sinful he has been, Equality describes the kind of life people conform

Individuality arises when an individual encounters and endures a life, taking their first step with their family which is the first society an individual faces. Through their lives, individuals promote their own exclusive originalities, while Ayn Rand’s novella Anthem characterizes a totalitarian society suppressing individualism. In the society depicted in Anthem, individualism is oppressed by the society imposing children live away from their families which is one form of totalitarian dictator’s authority. The intention of totalitarian dictators enforcing the arrangement of children living apart from their families is to impede individualistic society- avert dissimilarities transpiring in the process of family influences in education, forfend the enlightenment of emotions, and the establishment of collectivism.

There is always that one thing, be it small or large, that separates a person from the crowd. In Kenji Yoshino’s “The New Civil Rights” he supports this idea, claiming that “in our increasingly diverse society all of us are outside the mainstream in some way” (552). People are bound to be different, as they each have their own experiences that molds their personality. Therefore, it is impossible for everyone to be “normal” if a population is filled with unique individuals with various characteristics, yet, society seems to always find a way to define normality and set the standard. It decides which traits are unique, eccentric, or quirky, and which are strictly “abnormal,” and therefore shunned. When this occurs, other members of the community have little problems ensuring the “different” individual knows they do not fit in. People do this because they do not take to time to understand individuals who are labeled “abnormal.” It is a result of their own laziness and lack of desire to be educated about them; they decide automatically that those human beings are deemed less without getting a chance to know them. This phenomenon occurs frequently with the LGBTQ community. The population decides that not being heterosexual or cisgender is grounds for bullying, and that being part of that faction is too “different” to be a part of their society.This ignorance blinds them from widening their definition of normality and expanding their views. People have to be better educated to have more accepting views as it not only limits themselves, but also harms individuals around

The society that Equality lives in tries to live in complete uniformity. This society is controlled by a council of elders. They dictate every aspect of a life for a man. This is supported by the quote “Councils are the voice of all justice, for they are the voice of all men.” (Rand 22) Society’s beliefs are exemplified through the hymns of brotherhood, equality, and the collective spirit. There is no concept of self and the book is written in first person plural. Collectivism is the belief the group has higher priority than each individual in it. This is demonstrated by the quote “there is no transgression blacker than to do or think alone.” Equality starts at the youngest of age. Starting in school students are taught not to be any different and any who are physically or mentally are reprimanded by the teachers. Even so, there is scientific development and new technologies are developed mainly by the Home of the

Equality is pushed upon each citizen. But with this equality, comes aforementioned characteristics: submission, hopelessness, detachedness, conformity, and isolation. Superiority is punished. As written in chapter I, "It is not good to be different from our brothers, but it is evil to be superior to them" (21). In this way, uniqueness is repressed when it should be

In Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, the state quite literally ensures that all members of the same social class are created nearly identically. In an effort to ensure that all within the same class are equal, fetuses are given inhibitory drugs to prevent the full development of their mental and physical faculties. In order to further homogenize members of the same class, all children are raised and indoctrinated by the state, creating full equality of body and mind within a class. This eliminates the potential for internecine conflict.

Ever since its inception, human civilization has been run by a pecking order; a small group of elitists on the top of the chain of command dictate the social norms for the remaining individuals on the antithetical end of the spectrum. Individuals with traits outside these norms are ostracized and looked down upon by the hierarchy. Cathy Davidson’s, Project Classroom Makeover, promotes the use of customization in the education system to accommodate every students’ learning habits over the current use of standardization and curriculum based teachings. On the other hand, Karen Ho’s, Biographies of Hegemony, is about how one’s environment is engineered by institutions, which in turn establish hierarchies who set standards for society. However, Son by Andrew Solomon describes how horizontal identities, traits influenced by peer groups that separate individuals from their families, are seen as abnormalities and those with such identities are on the bottom of the said hierarchy. Based on Davidson’s, Solomon’s, and Ho’s works, individualism does into question because society forces individuals to conform to the standardized norm in which they are not allowed to have unique identities.

He draws a picture of two children through the utilization of symbolism, hence showing that segregation immoral and unnecessary. In paragraph fifteen, he makes a quotation of St Augustine, saying, “An unjust law is not law at all.” He further expounds of the negative implication of segregation, saying that it does distort the soul and damages personality of an individual. He gives Biblical examples of how Christians did break the unjust laws secondary to their beliefs in God. For, example, he quotes the case of Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego, and how they faced Nebuchadnezzar courageously. He also reminds them of Hitler’s acts in

Durkheim argued, ‘to become attached to society, they will come to see that they are part of something larger themselves; they will develop a sense of commitment to the social group’. Durkheim also claimed that the school serves a function which cannot be provided by the family the peer group. Individuals must learn to cooperate with those who are neither their family nor their friends. In this way, children learn to respect authority figures, such as teachers, and get along with other members of society they would be forced to interact with in later life such as bosses and colleagues. These social interactions are essential for keeping society harmoniously balanced and functioning. Durkheim claimed that along with teaching us to interact with different social groups, education serves to strictly reinforce school rules and ensure that children realise that these should be followed. Punishments should reflect the seriousness of the damage done to the social group by the offence and teach individuals that it is wrong to act against the interests of the social group as a whole. In Durkheim’s words: ‘it is by respecting the school rules that the child learns to respect rules in general, that he develops the habit of self-control and restraint simply because he should control and restrain

Having discussed the issue of inequality and its interrelationship with both discrimination and oppression, the essay will, at this point, focus on what factors actually influence these matters. Society, of course, holds a key role in promoting and not abolishing unfair treatments through constant marginalization, disloyal competition and social comparison. Socialisation is another process that influences the way we conduct ourselves towards certain groups of people and reinforces stereotypes – for instance, some raised in a religious environment that does not agree with or recognises homosexuality, might develop a prejudice against gay people. The “rules”, the norms and the values that shape us since childhood, set the background for social inequality and lead to a