I find disgust to be such a fascinating response for the
reason that it is so complex. In biology
classes, I was often taught that repulsion as a response to bad odors was
deeply encoded in our evolutionary history.
It is beneficial to find feces, vomit, blood, etc. to be disgusting
because all these things are harmful to our health. But there are also a large set of things that
are not instinctual—but I believe are “learned” through our experiences or
societies influences. I was thinking
about how the instinctual and the learned sets of things relate as I was
reading through Nussbaum’s section on “Projective Disgust and Group
Subordination”. Disgust is a response
that is difficult to narrow down and is so instinctual that many of us do not
question it, but rather just follow our reactions whenever we feel it. Nussbaum mentions that throughout history, certain
disgust properties are projected onto groups of people (Jews, women,
homosexuals, etc; 108). These properties
are closely related to the things that we naturally find disgusting. The phenomenon of society influencing when
certain groups of people are viewed as disgusting is one seems to subtly draw
upon natural instincts and apply them to other people. When this happens, it becomes much ingrained
into individuals’ way of thinking that it seems natural to view these groups
this way. It is sometimes difficult to
question if the responses that are felt are natural or just socially
influenced. As Nussbaum discusses,
projecting disgusting properties onto groups of people has historically kept
groups oppressed (110-111). The way this
happens is difficult to pinpoint but seems to be closely linked to a large
influence that is dipping into natural responses and falsely applying them to
other things. In this sense, disgust is used as a tool to keep people oppressed at a large scale and is harming to the freedom and rights of individuals.
I agree completely that disgust can be used as an oppressive tool. It provides the necessary functions to point out the benefits of avoiding hazards.
ReplyDeleteIn a way, disgust reminds me of what was called System 1 in Kahneman's book Thinking Fast and Slow. You have this gut reaction like getting a huge whiff of trash and you react quickly to it. Then you take a moment to analyze the situation which allows for a clearer thought.
Perhaps the reason why disgust is so connective to society and its norms is because there is this ingrained sense of fitting in. We are social creatures. We are known to sit near others in a nearly empty restaurant. Perhaps what we associate as disgusting would be an outsider to the opinions that rule society. I mean if we think about how intensely connected sexism is to our historical backgrounds - a man wouldn't "fit in" if he was perceived as weak. From a historical standpoint, muscle and power was essential to survival - it doesn't seem too unlikely that if a person does not have that strength then they or their community don't survive. Of course, this is much different now - more innovative in a way. Society seems to have taken the virile man and turned him into the idol of all men for success in "conquering" the world, women, jobs, other men and all. It would then be this perversion of the idea that perverted the survival ties of disgust. Knowing that there is something askew in using disgust, I'm curious if there is a way that we can change the social standard of disgust. A great example would be Kelly's high school use of disgust and shame to promote equal treatment towards homosexuals. I fear that it won't be enough.