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2006-03-19 - 8:54 a.m.
Humiliation. It's given as an excuse for retribution many times. I've seen the word bandied about as an excuse for some of the most heinous acts. It's used a lot in the Arab world as the reason for bombings, and murders. One of the most horrifying being the murder by their own family members of women who've been raped. It's been the so-called cause for countless bar fights too. It's one of the main reasons the incidents at Abu Ghraib are considered so awful by many Arabs.
Humiliation, embarrassment, loss of face.
And it seems to me that the notion of humiliation being such a powerful force for vengeance is mostly a part of very macho cultures. Very patriarchal cultures.
"You, sir, have dishonored me!" And the guy slaps the other guy with a glove, leading to a duel.
Ridiculous. Stupid.
What kind of man cannot suffer (suffer?) some embarrassment without needing to resort to violence in order to make himself feel better? What kind of man has self-esteem so low that being humiliated is so threatening that he must kill someone else to boost it back to a level he feels comfortable with? A very weak and stupid man, that's what kind of man.
This is not to say I haven't felt the same urge myself. And, Lord knows, I've been subject to humiliation many times in my life. But I've never felt the need to attack someone because of it. It's not like I have the highest self-esteem either.
Perhaps I have. I can think of an incident where I struck someone who spit beer in my face. Was that in retaliation for humiliation? Probably. So I shouldn't get on my high horse, I guess.
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So, how do you like them apples?