๐จ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ โ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐โ? ๐จ
Originally coined by sociologists Bradley Campbell and Jason Manning in an academic journal, they were seeking to understand a new and emerging moral culture that was becoming prevalent in our society. ๐
But please hear me out! ๐
If you feel inclined to quickly dismiss this term as some right-wing rhetoric, I urge you to hear me out. As a fellow Liberal, allow me to explain and provide greater context. โค๏ธ
The authors clearly state: “๐ข๐๐ฟ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ผ๐น๐ผ๐ด๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐ฝ ๐๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ด๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ผ๐ป, ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐บ๐ป ๐ถ๐. ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐ก๐จ๐จ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ.” ๐
Is it fair to say every Culture brings with it a set of pros and cons, benefits and disadvantages? Is it fair to say some of the things these cultures bring may be more helpful, more unhelpful than others? ๐
So, in order for us to better understand what Campbell and Manning mean by “Victimhood Culture”, they say we must first look at 2 previous types of moral cultures: Honor and Dignity Culture.
By placing each of these cultures alongside each other, it can help us better understand their distinct differences. โ๏ธ
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๐๐ง ๐๐ง ๐๐จ๐ง๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐ช:
๐ Reputation and Bravery are key factors of oneโs moral status.
๐ก๏ธ Small conflicts are responded to aggressively.
๐จ Little to no appeals to authority, third-parties, and public opinion for justice.
๐ Examples of Honor Culture: the Old West, the mafia.
๐ฃ๏ธ Phrases youโd hear:
“๐ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ญ!”
“๐๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ด ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ง๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐บ’๐ด ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต๐ด ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ช๐ต.”
โ๐๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ด ๐ข ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ถ๐ต ๐ถ๐ฑ.โ
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๐๐ง ๐ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐ค:
๐ Self-restraint and Civility are key factors of oneโs moral status.
๐ก๏ธ Small conflicts are responded to with non-violence and compromise.
๐จ May sometimes appeal to authority, third-parties, or public opinion for justice.
๐ Examples of Dignity Culture: Formal debate, Court of Law, Due Process
๐ฃ๏ธ Phrases youโd hear:
“๐๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ฌ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ณ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฆ.”
โ๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ.โ
โ๐๐ฆ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ด ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ด.โ
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๐๐ง ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐ก๐จ๐จ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐จ:
๐ Suffering and Victimization are key factors of oneโs moral status.
๐ก๏ธ Small conflicts are responded to aggressively (like Honor culture).
๐จ Mostly appeals to authority, third-parties, and public opinion for justice.
๐ Examples of Victimhood Culture: Callout/Cancel Culture, Microaggressions, Trigger Warnings, Safe Spaces
๐ฃ๏ธ Phrases youโd hear:
“๐๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ท๐ช๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ.โ
“๐’๐ฎ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ.”
“๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ’๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ด; ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐บ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐บ!”
With these Cultures presented, Campbell and Manning want to emphasize one very important point about Victimhood Culture โฌ๏ธ:
“๐๐จ ๐ฌ๐๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐จ๐ ๐ง๐ข๐ณ๐๐ ๐๐ฌ ๐ ๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ ๐ซ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง๐โ๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐ง๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐๐ซ ๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ฒ๐ง๐ข๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ฏ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐ญ. ๐ฏ
๐๐ญ ๐๐จ๐๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐ง๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐๐ซ ๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ง๐ฃ๐จ๐ฒ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐ก๐จ๐จ๐ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ฏ๐๐ฒ๐ฌ. ๐ฏ
๐๐ญ ๐๐จ๐๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฐ๐๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ฌ ๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐๐๐ฏ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ ๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐. ๐ฏ
๐๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐จ๐๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐ง๐ฒ๐จ๐ง๐โ๐ฌ ๐ ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ฏ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ ๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฌ๐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐จ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ข๐ง๐ญ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐ฆ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ก๐จ๐ง๐๐ฌ๐ญ. ๐๐๐ง๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ก๐จ ๐๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐ฌ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐๐๐ฏ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ ๐ ๐จ๐ซ ๐ง๐๐๐๐ข๐ง๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ซ๐๐๐ญ ๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง. ๐ฏ
๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ข๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ ๐ฌ๐จ๐๐ข๐จ๐ฅ๐จ๐ ๐ข๐๐๐ฅ ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐ฌ๐ ๐ข๐ญ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐จ๐ง, ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ง ๐ข๐ง ๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐ฌ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ก๐ข๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐ก ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ญ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ก๐๐ฌ๐ข๐ณ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฆ. ๐
๐๐ฏ๐๐ง ๐ข๐ ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐ก๐จ๐จ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ๐, ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐จ๐ฅ๐จ๐ ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐๐ญ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ, ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ฏ๐, ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐ก๐จ๐จ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐๐ข๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐๐ค๐ ๐จ๐๐๐๐ง๐ฌ๐ ๐๐ญ ๐๐๐ฌ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ฉ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ.” ๐คทโโ๏ธ
As Campbell and Manning go on to explain, thereโs an ongoing culture clash happening right now between Dignity and Victimhood Cultures. โ๏ธ
It is the same reason why individuals who strongly identify with a Dignity Culture are finding it very difficult to understand Victimhood Culture, and vice versa.
๐๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐๐ก ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฒ ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฒ ๐ก๐๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ญ๐ฌ. โ๏ธ
๐๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏโ๐ด โ๐ฎ๐ช๐ค๐ณ๐ฐ๐ข๐จ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏโ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ช๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏโ๐ด โ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต’๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฎ, ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆโ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ช๐จ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ. โ๏ธ
๐๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏโ๐ด โ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅโ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ช๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏโ๐ด โ๐’๐ญ๐ญ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ช๐ตโ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ช๐จ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ. โ๏ธ
๐๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏโ๐ด โ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅโ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ช๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏโ๐ด โ๐โ๐ฎ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ค๐ช๐ณ๐ค๐ถ๐ฎ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ดโ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ช๐จ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ. โ๏ธ
๐๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ’๐ด “๐ท๐ช๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฎ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ” ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ช๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ’๐ด “๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ฃ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐บ” ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ช๐จ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ. โ๏ธ
Now of course, these are big generalizations, so Iโd love to hear everyoneโs thoughts on these ideas! ๐
If you’re interested in learning more, I recommend checking out the full-length book! Note: It is an academic read, so it can be dry at times to read, with more sources than full-length pages! ๐
If anything, I hope in sharing these ideas it can spark a discussion and provide additional food for thought to helping us better understand what’s going on right now. โค๏ธ
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SOURCES:
๐ฐ Microaggression and Moral Cultures (Academic Journal): https://bit.ly/2Yn8WoN
๐ Microaggressions and the Rise of Victimhood Culture (Atlantic Article): https://bit.ly/2zLXt8F
๐ The Rise of Victimhood Culture (Full-Length Book): https://amzn.to/3eixJzA
