Too much Pride or Simply Prejudice?

'Prejudice comes from fear of the unknown...Since pre-history, humans have formed tribes and been wary of anyone who is different from them. Society has moved on faster than our instincts have evolved, so it takes effort for our brains to realise that just because someone is different, it does not mean they are a threat.' 

Dr. Rob Yeung

I came across this quote in an article entitled, 'Are we as tolerant as we believe?' in the March issue of 'Psychologies Magazine'. I read the article straight away as tolerance has never been one of my strong points, which is slightly ironic really. The article went on to give the details of several plays and books which are being released this year about the prejudices faced by various minorities in today's society; homosexual and racial intolerance primarily. Upon reading this article I could not help but think of my recent dalliances with texts in which prejudice is very prominent. 

The first of these texts is 'Persepolis' by Marjane Satrapi. 

Reading this graphic novel I was enthralled as two different prejudices were highlighted in such a way that to be shocked was inevitable. I read the detailed description of the introduction of a veil in Islamic countries to cover the heads, and in some cases bodies, of the female populations. This restriction was placed upon the author at the age of ten and nowadays is still in place. The author told various stories relating to the veil, the restrictions it placed upon her generation in terms of expressing themselves stylistically, in terms of liberty and freedom and how it did not stop gendered prejudices in her country, even when wearing a veil you were still subjected to the offensive eye of the men, whom you were wearing the veil for, to stop their arousal. making it clear that lookin is not an innocent act no matter how you are clothed or under what circumstances.

This gendered prejudice fed into the idea of racial prejudices. 

When Marjane Satrapi moved to Europe she was discriminated against by many for being Iranian and was 'othered' by the western society in which she lived. this brought to mind the idea that we are all to blame for the prejudices held in our society about Islamic people as we have a very strange view of them. This quote made it clear why us as a western society cannot understand them and so we 'other' them, the simple answer is fear, fear of an unknown culture, unknown people and unknown religions. 

This explanation of prejudice also ran into my reading of another graphic novel, 'Maus' by Art Speigelman which explores the historical memory of the Holocaust and its devastating effects. This mass genocide occurred because of racial intolerance and prejudice as ethnic cleansing was felt necessary to exterminate the Jewish people, as once again, they were different and so were feared. this historical moment of the Holocaust and the realisation of the prejudice behind it was shocking as it made me realise that as a race we are constantly being prejudice against somebody for something, it may be minute or immense, but it is a prejudice never the less.i 

The afore mentioned issues are on a wide scale but even in my own life I am subject to prejudice because am part of a minority group with it society because I am a lesbian. This prejudice is very much a case of fear of the unknown and a violent or hurtful outburst against it and my subsequent 'othering'. In the article there were three plays listed dealing with the destruction of lives because of homosexual prejudices. it is shocking to say that even in todays society we still have such prejudices in existence. In my own country my partnership with my fiancée is not recognised because we are a same sex couple. It is not unusual for gay people to be subject to prejudice especially gay men as it is seen as going against nature and reacted against so violently out of total fear of the unknown

In todays society we are all living such busy lives, we are living through technology and I think that we have stunted our emotional growth and capability to understand and accept difference because of this. We are all so busy living through out phone and computers that we have almost become blind sighted to the social and cultural developments happening around us so when we lift our heads for the screens we are shocked and perhaps a little fearful as society is changing so much around us. 

Prejudices are something which have been in place for centuries but is it not time that we worked on combating them? 

Why is it these prejudices can remain in place when we have all advanced so far in the world? 

Why is that racial prejudice can still exist when we are a society of so many different types of people? 

How is it that the Islamic other can still be considered an 'other' 

How is that as a lesbian I am still discriminated against? 

How is that all of us, who are subject to prejudices, can be placed in a box, labelled as ' minorities', and treated as just that.

D. Mount