In class Thursday, we discussed the
Genealogy of “good” and “bad.” Good and bad were originally aristocratic modes
of evaluation. However, eventually the roles
were reversed due to ressentiment. “Good”
which is noble is powerful is beautiful is happy is beloved by God was reversed
by the “bad.” Nietzsche calls this reversal of “good" and “bad” the slave
revolt in morality or the reversing of the noble mode of evaluation. We then
discussed how Jews did the same thing and Christians made it worse. They begin
to associate things that were really good with things that were self-denying. Nietzsche
has a problem with this because he believes that by denying self, we no longer
express our strengths. Instead, we exemplify our weaknesses. In my opinion, I
think it was very clever of the weak to reverse the definition of what it means
to be strong in order for them to be seen as the ones that are actually strong.
However, I do agree with Nietzsche that we are doing ourselves a disservice and
making it okay to be weak. While in class, I thought about how today’s society
is still using this same technique to make their selves appear as the good guys.
For example, everyone has been talking about the One Percent and how powerful
and rich they are. Last time I checked, being powerful and rich was a good
thing but because the majority of society is not powerful and rich like the One
Percent, we have decided to equate powerful and rich to being evil and
negative. If powerful and rich are negative, does that make incapable and poor positives?
The same thing has been done with slender individuals. As of late, they are
being described anorexic. Although the slender person is a healthy weight and
does not have an eating disorder, they have been portrayed as weak, sick and
fragile while women that weigh more or are obese, are being described as the
wealthier individuals. Let me first say, I am not trying to attack anyone and
their weight. I am just trying to make the point that a major reversal of roles
has taken place in society. The weak are not trying to become strong. They are
changing the definition of what it means to be weak in order to make weak acceptable.
Although it may help the weak and their confidence level, it is not helping
solve the issue and make the weak stronger. If this continues, I believe
society will no longer strive to be noble, powerful, beautiful, and happy in their
original context. Society will strive to noble, powerful, beautiful, and happy
in their new unrealistic context.
In the example you used I agree with you on the fact that the slender may be feeling more and more oppressed. It seems like it is an ongoing cycle of being oppressed and weak. A very long time ago a larger woman was seen as being the best because it exemplified wealth with very slender women being seen as weak and frail. But then it went to very slender (model type) women being the best and putting down the larger women who were once on top. But then the larger/curvier women came back with the "real women have curves" movement. I could see how this would put the slender women down. And this may be where you feel people say if you are slender you are anorexic. This slogan is used to empower the women who were being looked at as bad at that time: the larger woman. I feel as though this is a good example of Nietzsche and the ressentiment. The weaker feel the need to be powered and by switching the role of good and bad they are in a way putting down the other end of the spectrum. I'm not sure if other things can go in a cycle like this but maybe they can.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I can see your point in a way by using the analogy of slender and larger woman and how their viewed in society, it just does not completely work. The image of the human body has always been changing with not only weight but also fashion and hair they are all synonymous. These however are very different that socioeconomic standing which has a much larger impact of a individual person and the society they live in. The main issue is that the balance of power between the poor and rich is extremely volatile and I think that one of the ways to keep this balance stable is to allow both sections of society to feel good about their socioeconomic standing. The rich will always feel powerful and good about being rich but they are few. The poor usually do not feel good about their week standing and thus can become unstable if they are not given something to feel good about. In this situation the slave revolt creates just like the 99% protests did. This dichotomy is just a natural evolution in society that is a stabilizing mechanism.
ReplyDeleteI get what you mean about how role reversal can be a negative thing. Basically, the weak are portrayed as stronger even though they have less money and resources. I think this relates to confidence and self esteem. For example, think about the mean girls or bullies in high school. People often say that these people feel the need to put other people down because of their own flaws and shortcomings. I think that the same can be said for the weak who desire to be strong. They want what the upper class people have. Essentially, they are jealous. So they think that rich people are stuck up and have everything. I don't think that the poor person is wrong for having these feelings. I mean, who would want to improve their lifestyle and move up in life. I would be scared if someone did not have the desire to want more and make something out of themselves.
ReplyDeleteI think that your description of role reversal and what it means to be perceived as weak as well. I myself am a skinny girl and have been that way my whole life. So I know what its like to be called anorexic and all that stuff. I think that in general people have their own views of beauty and pass so much judgment on people that they don't know. I think that skinny girls get a bad wrap because of the way that they are portrayed in the modeling industry. Thus, people who are heavier look at them with disgust and think that they are weak and anorexic. However, they have the wrong perception of people and not everyone who looks a certain way is a certain way. People just have to much misunderstanding about other people.
Another example of a person who is perceived as weak is a person with cancer. It is traumatic especially when a girl gets sick and loses all of her hair. People look at baldness as a negative thing and have pity on people with cancer. However, they fail to recognize that the girl is strong on the inside and has an illness that has stripped her of her former identity. Its not her fault but people look at her as being weak and inferior even though her soul is the same on the inside.
I understand the point that you are trying to make about role reversal in today's society. I think that you made a very strong point about how the weak or lower class may be considered "good" while the upperclass is seen as "bad." It was interesting how you related that to giving the weak more confidence without solving any real societal issues. I think that this point has a lot to do with that the fact that the minority in society will usually be considered negative because the majority wants to be seen as good. Therefore, whatever is separating the majority from the minority will be seen as bad. However, I do not agree with your point about how slender, healthy people are considered weak while women who weigh more or are obese are considered strong. While I think that being obese may be symbolic of being fat because of greediness, I do not think that this can not be generalized about our culture today.
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