The Tyranny of the Majority - Essay Example

? The Tyranny of the Majority The Tyranny of the Majority The society is an that has perfected waysof discriminating and condemning those who do not abide to the values and norms that the majorities ascribe. The society subjects all behaviors to the tyranny of the majority and will punish anyone falling outside the boundaries of the norms and values that the majority holds. In other words, those who do not abide to the rhythm of the society in a respecting and holding values that others believe are the right values for humanity to hold are punished, discriminated and in some cases, such discrimination involves mental, emotional, physical and spiritual harm. In other cases, the repercussions are so grave that physical harm may to the death of the victims. Therefore, in the world today, there is a growing tendency for people to be subjected to the tyranny of the majority and those who do not abide to the values of the majority considered as outcasts, with severe repercussions that may even costs their lives. Gayism and lesbianism are two practices strictly prohibited in the Arab world, and any one seized in the practice or openly advocates to have practiced it face dire consequences. Massad observed that the supporters of gay international movement have produced literature used to disseminate information about gays and lesbianism in the Arab world. 1Moreover, Mossad noted the oppression in which most gays and lesbians leave in the Arab world, and most of them do not dare come out, though there are reported numerous cases of male homoeroticism. The fact that people fear coming out openly as gays or lesbians explains the precarious situation of these people in the Arab world, where culture is held conservatively, and all expected to tow a single line of culture and religion. In fact, Mossad remarks that the concept of homosexuality in the Arab world is considered unfamiliar as people do not expect to have any homosexuals or lesbians among their societies.2 Amar explains the perceptions of most leaders in the society towards those considered undertaking odd practices within a society.3 The Brazilian purity campaigns targeted prostitutes in all Brazilian cities. The prostitutes were considered an eye sore and a bad image to the cities and the country at large and had to be removed. As Amar explains, the main motive behind the massive sweeps of prostitutes in Brazilian cities was to facilitate the country clean its name not to be associated with promotion of sex tourism and prostitution.4 The use of the church, provincial military police, feminist groups and international organizations, though obligated to help poor people involved in prostitution targeted getting rid of prostitutes from cities. On the contrary, the aim was not offering help to prostitutes to change their lives towards more sociable behavior. In this case, the police were the “moral guardians of the society and the campaigns were aimed at “disciplining the public sociability.5 This was a case of tyranny of the majority; they forced norms and values to others regardless of their views and perceptions. For many years, the American whites had protected the purity of the white race by discouraging and even criminalizing any sexual association between with whites and immigrants from Asia or Africa. Shah reported the surveillance of the borderlands that brought an ambiguity of contingency to protect American men from threats posed by different groups of masculinities, considered foreign and degenerate.6 Therefore, racialization increased construction of masculinity in America based on racial and sexual topologies necessary for checking any relationships between their males and foreign immigrants. The immigrants were considered impure and a threat to the purity for the whites. Moreover, Naber explains the efforts to create Arab cultural identity especially among daughters in families.7 As Naber remarked, when a daughter rejected the concept of Arab womanhood even after migrating to a different culture such as in America, such a daughter was henceforth not considered a capital within his family’s strategy. This trend of increased policing of Arab American families as Naber observed led to stereotyping of females in the society.8 Families considered Arab girls as good girls while those of Americans origin, due to their liberal culture, they were assumed to be bad. Therefore, the girls suffered under strong cultural chains and breaking away indicated defiance from the family. Such cases are typical of tyranny of the majority. Rofel offers an example of China’s socialism and its impact in suppressing people’s feelings, sexuality and potentials.9 Maoism as Rofel observed was a destructive philosophy that suppressed natural humanity and created natural passions and interests. The Chinese under Maoist ideology did not have any chance to explore sexuality and ethnic identity but lived in suppressed lives that danced to the tune of the system in place. For instance, under socialism, men and women in urban areas were supposed to work at specific designated jobs given by the state, though women were relegated to lower paying and jobs that required low skills.10 Women were also supposed to marry someone that parents chose for them. Consequently, the new generation of Chinese females is considered wasteful and too liberal as they spend their money on whatever they wish; this was not usual among the older generation. Similarly, Wilson in explaining the work of an Avon Lady in Bangkok noted that the society did not take any gender deviance such as homosexuality lightly, and were even stricter about female heterosexuality. However, the society was more interested in making money such that those with money could buy their way out. This suggests that those with no money but with behaviors considered as deviating in the society. Furthermore, Amar investigates the culture of women harassment in Egypt in the recent Egyptian uprising.11 Amar explains sexual violence as a deep-rooted culture of men egoism and superiority over women in the country. Amar identified sexual harassment and discrimination of women by Arab men in the society and the effect of the two factors in the conflict, which led to massive abuse of women. As Amar noted, there is deeply rooted culture in Egypt where men carryout a sexual harassment in the street and the society has allowed this by suppressing women to the background. Amar noted that security forces were also responsible for sexual harassment during the riots in the streets,12 a situation that explains a deeply rooted culture that undermines women in the Egyptian society with men egoism superseding the rights of women. The tyranny of the majority is perpetrated in different ways, in societies. The effect is to influence certain values and norms that have to be followed by all with any deviation from these norms facing hostility from the society. The society members, therefore, willingly or unwillingly as the above cases portray are prisoners to fixed social constructs that determine their actions and control their lives within these values. Therefore, social norms are that tie individuals from enjoying their freedoms towards a common line of values. Bibliography Amar, Paul. The Security Archipelago Human-Security States, Sexuality Politics, and the End of Neoliberalism. Durham: Duke University Press, 2013. Massad Joseph. “Re-Orienting Desire: The Gay International and the Arab World.” Public Culture, 14 no. 2, (2002): 361-385 Naber, Nadine “Arab American Femininities: Beyond Arab Virgin American (ized) Whore.” Feminist Studies 32, no1, (2006): 87-111 Nayan, Shah. “Between "Oriental Depravity" and "Natural Degenerates": Spatial Borderlands and the Making of Ordinary Americans.” American Quarterly, 57 no 3 (2005): 703-725 Paul Amar “Turning the Gendered Politics of the Security State Inside Out?” International Feminist Journal of Politics, 13 no 3, (2011): 299-328 Rofel, Lisa. Desiring China: Experiments in Neoliberalism, Sexuality, and Public Culture. Durham: Duke University Press, 2007. Wilson, Ara. The Intimate Economies of Bangkok: Tomboys, Tycoons, and Avon Ladies in the global city. Berkeley, LA: University of California Press, 2004. Read More