Dehumanization in Lysistrata — Week 4
September 10
9:40am
When asking my mom which characteristic resembles me most is that I am always trying to strive for glory. This did not surprise me much coming from my mother because she sees me as a very goal oriented, driven person. She is always calling me a perfectionist because she knows that I will not rest until something is done properly, and to my standard. I interpret glory not so much as to be recognized or praised for what I have accomplished, but glory in terms of my reputation and honor. I live and work by a very deliberate moral code, and it means a lot to me to uphold my reputation. Obviously, this is something that my family has picked up on, hence why my mother responded this way. I am constantly striving to perfect my goals, but also I am striving to uphold my reputation by not losing sites of what the end goal is.
In groups today, we built our own school for master harmonizers, and what exactly that would look like. My group was assigned to choose the application and acceptance process of this school, and we had a lot of fun with this. We came to the conclusion that we preferred a more subjective way to accept students, where there wasn’t a written exam or grades that determined if a child was good enough to attend this school. We decided it would be best to have an interview situation, with some type of background check/resume in order to get accepted. I have only experiences this method of acceptance once in my life and I appreciated it so much because it put more emphasis on my character, instead of numbers that were supposed to define my intelligence. To be accepted into college, most admission boards take a holistic view of your application, but their main focus is your grades. Contrary to the master harmonizer school, where students are chosen based on their characters, and their potential to be leaders. In order to acquire this kind of education, I would need to incorporate being a leader into my everyday life, as well as any other traits that would make me a master harmonizer. For example, I would build my speaking skills, be very open-minded and sympathetic. That way, when it is time for me to apply to a school for master harmonizers, I’ll be able hone these skills and be the perfect candidate.
Plotting my Leadership Development
A group that I would consider myself as part of is my team at Target, where I definitely see a lot of these features at work. For example, there is a hiring process where our Human Resources team chooses the most fitting applicants to work on our team. There is also a shared sense of mission because we are all working towards main goals, whether they are sales goals, customer service goals, or general goals. A. division of labor according to age is also seen at Target, where the younger men are chosen to do heavy lifting jobs, while older women are usually put to work in guest service positions. In addition to these features, I also think a very important feature we have is that we have respect for all the members of our team, and that we take time to learn the strengths and weaknesses of our team members so that they have a clear expectation on what they are supposed to offer to the company. If I had to improve people two people from my job, I would improve two people that slack on their job, therefore leaving someone else more work to do. If a team member is not carrying their weight, it makes it that much harder for everybody working with or around them. To improve myself, I could make an effort to help people out more with understanding how Target works, and what it means to be in the service industry.
September 15
9:40am
A floater is a person who has multiple different friend groups as a result of varying interests or other factors. I have personally seen many floaters, and been friends with many, but I would not call myself a floater. Although I was apart of many different groups and clubs in my life, I’ve always preferred the stability of a friend/friend group. For this reason, many of my friendships have lasted for more than 5 years, and those are the people I trust most. I was apart of 2 different sports, along with many clubs and jobs throughout my high school years, but apart from making a few friends along the way, I have sticked with my handful of friends since I was in elementary school. I could see being a floater as a good thing because you are familiar with a lot of people, which could be really beneficial in terms of networking or receiving connections. However, being a floater can also be harmful because you may not have a solid friend, which I believe everyone needs.
Times when a group has been dehumanized
Throughout history, many groups of people have faced dehumanization, and it never fails to have a lasting effect on how this group is viewed. One example are immigration camps, which hold people who are suspected of illegal entry to the United States. In these camps, families are ripped apart, sometimes leaving children as orphans, without knowing when or if their parents will ever see them again. This is an example of treating human life with no dignity, where people are cramped in cages, awaiting a court decision which essentially is supposed to tell them if they are worthy enough to stay in America or not. This is one of the most dehumanizing situations I’ve ever come across because it shows that these immigrants are being treated like animals (sometimes worse) all because they may not have an American citizenship.
