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Jul. 1st, 2006
Thinking about objectification
Jul. 1st, 2006 10:35 amWe see what fits the other half of our jigsaw.
I think it was Robert Anton Wilson who talked about gurus giving people permission to feel happy, and then people thinking that the happiness had come from the guru and not from themselves. It's a classic mistake - we feel something, and assume that it came from the outside and that it belongs to the person or thing causing it.
When we're horny we see sex objects.
When we're lonely we see someone to love us.
When we're hurt we see attackers.
When we're down we see oppressors.
When we're happy we see friends.
People aren't any of these things, they're more complicated than that. We turn them into simple objects - providing the other half of our meaning, writing them into the roles we think they're playing in our own drama. And then we get hurt when they don't slot into place, or surprised when other people don't see them the same way we do.
I think it was Robert Anton Wilson who talked about gurus giving people permission to feel happy, and then people thinking that the happiness had come from the guru and not from themselves. It's a classic mistake - we feel something, and assume that it came from the outside and that it belongs to the person or thing causing it.
When we're horny we see sex objects.
When we're lonely we see someone to love us.
When we're hurt we see attackers.
When we're down we see oppressors.
When we're happy we see friends.
People aren't any of these things, they're more complicated than that. We turn them into simple objects - providing the other half of our meaning, writing them into the roles we think they're playing in our own drama. And then we get hurt when they don't slot into place, or surprised when other people don't see them the same way we do.