http://whatprivilege.com/victim-blaming-and-the-power-hierarchy/ so you think you don't have any Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:46:15 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 http://whatprivilege.com/victim-blaming-and-the-power-hierarchy/comment-page-1/#comment-967 Shindig Sat, 13 Sep 2008 06:04:00 +0000 http://whatprivilege.com/victim-blaming-and-the-power-hierarchy/#comment-967 One thing that I noticed about victim-blaming, is that it's often very much a part of our usual conceptions of personal freedom ("He had a right to dump you for any reason he pleased, including those extra ten pounds!"), and personal responsibility ("Sure, you didn't CAUSE your problem, but you should take responsibility for the fact that you didn't prevent it, and be optimistic that if you're more careful it won't happen to you again!"). The big problem is that the Western world has so much depression, anxiety disorders, etc., that clearly a lot more people are devastatingly helpless, than we might think. As quoted on my webpage at http://home.att.net/~s.l.keim/VictCorrSummary317.htm, many, many ads, books, etc., talk about this as if it's just millions of personal problems, such as, "If you have depression, this sad mood along with other symptoms can last weeks, months, or even years if not treated. Depression isn’t a sign of weakness or a character flaw. It’s a real medical condition, but there are ways to successfully treat depression.... Depressive disorders affect about 34 million American adults." It's either 34,000,000 rather severe character flaws, or 34,000,000 rather severe medical conditions that are just parts of the natural order. And self-blame is such an integral part of depression in the modern West, that intercultural studies have consistently found that depressed people who've lived in developed areas outside of the modern West have tended to feel paranoid, but modern Westerners, whether depressed or not, tend to figure that even if someone did "get you," that would mean only that you lost the battle so you're a loser. One thing that I noticed about victim-blaming, is that it’s often very much a part of our usual conceptions of personal freedom (“He had a right to dump you for any reason he pleased, including those extra ten pounds!”), and personal responsibility (“Sure, you didn’t CAUSE your problem, but you should take responsibility for the fact that you didn’t prevent it, and be optimistic that if you’re more careful it won’t happen to you again!”). The big problem is that the Western world has so much depression, anxiety disorders, etc., that clearly a lot more people are devastatingly helpless, than we might think. As quoted on my webpage at http://home.att.net/~s.l.keim/VictCorrSummary317.htm, many, many ads, books, etc., talk about this as if it’s just millions of personal problems, such as, “If you have depression, this sad mood along with other symptoms can last weeks, months, or even years if not treated. Depression isn’t a sign of weakness or a character flaw. It’s a real medical condition, but there are ways to successfully treat depression…. Depressive disorders affect about 34 million American adults.” It’s either 34,000,000 rather severe character flaws, or 34,000,000 rather severe medical conditions that are just parts of the natural order. And self-blame is such an integral part of depression in the modern West, that intercultural studies have consistently found that depressed people who’ve lived in developed areas outside of the modern West have tended to feel paranoid, but modern Westerners, whether depressed or not, tend to figure that even if someone did “get you,” that would mean only that you lost the battle so you’re a loser.

]]> http://whatprivilege.com/victim-blaming-and-the-power-hierarchy/comment-page-1/#comment-679 BabyPop Fri, 01 Feb 2008 02:15:36 +0000 http://whatprivilege.com/victim-blaming-and-the-power-hierarchy/#comment-679 This is the first time I've ever been to your site. Excellent post. Will bookmark! This is the first time I’ve ever been to your site. Excellent post. Will bookmark!

]]> http://whatprivilege.com/victim-blaming-and-the-power-hierarchy/comment-page-1/#comment-678 Victim Blame « The Mustard Seed Wed, 30 Jan 2008 16:15:08 +0000 http://whatprivilege.com/victim-blaming-and-the-power-hierarchy/#comment-678 [...] Wednesday, January 30, 2008 Cross-posted from The Blog and the Bullet. Beta Candy blogs: As ignorant as it is to blame crime victims for getting themselves into this position, we do this [...] [...] Wednesday, January 30, 2008 Cross-posted from The Blog and the Bullet. Beta Candy blogs: As ignorant as it is to blame crime victims for getting themselves into this position, we do this [...]

]]> http://whatprivilege.com/victim-blaming-and-the-power-hierarchy/comment-page-1/#comment-677 Victim Blame « The Blog and the Bullet Wed, 30 Jan 2008 16:12:52 +0000 http://whatprivilege.com/victim-blaming-and-the-power-hierarchy/#comment-677 [...] by Jack Stephens on January 30, 2008 Beta Candy blogs: As ignorant as it is to blame crime victims for getting themselves into this position, we do this [...] [...] by Jack Stephens on January 30, 2008 Beta Candy blogs: As ignorant as it is to blame crime victims for getting themselves into this position, we do this [...]

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