The other day I was talking to a friend about how guilty I feel sometimes even when I haven't really done anything wrong. Guilt is something I get often and certainly something that keeps me "in check" at times. The person I was speaking with asked, "are you Catholic"?
I've received this response before from people when I have spoken of guilt. So the question I have is - is guilt a natural emotion or an emotion created through social conditioning?
Now, I'm a big fan of social conditioning, I certainly believe it exists. But I also believe there are natural emotions that we have within us regardless of a social structure - for example, love. Maybe an example more pertinent to this conversation would be jealousy. I believe jealousy to be a natural emotion as well, although I've debated this with others on several occasions.
So which one does guilt derive from? You can't have guilt without knowing something is wrong, right? And how do we know something we do is wrong? From our parents and society of course. Are there things that we would naturally feel guilt over if society hadn't "taught" us to? Lets say a child was locked in a closet for twenty years receiving nothing more than food and water. One day this twenty year old is released, given a gun and instructed to shoot the first person that speaks to him/her. After the twenty year old does the deed, is there guilt? For some reason I think their may be. If I had to give an answer to this question I would say that guilt is a natural emotion strengthened through social conditioning.
What do you think?
Here is another topic on the subject. Sometimes I realize I have guilt over something I can't describe. What I mean is, I feel guilty but I'm not sure what for. It's just there. As if I feel guilty over the state of the world - which is a tough guilt for one person to have...I may have done some bad things in my life but I hardly think I should feel responsible for something so large! Or maybe I feel guilty about something in my past that I'm repressing. That's a sad thought. In any case, it's there.
Maybe I should just blame my second grade teacher - she was a Catholic nun. But she was nice. I'd feel incredibly guilty blaming her...
Showing posts with label social conditioning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label social conditioning. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Saturday, February 17, 2007
MEET ME BY THE MONKEY BARS
So the other night I was out with a group of people. Most were friends of friends. We were at a premier party for the movie 23 which opened on Friday. At this party was a booth where the studio would film you revealing your darkest secret or obsession. The video then gets posted on youtube and one selected winner will receive $2300.
No one within the group participated but we talked about funny things we could say. There were a lot of animal sex references which was a little disturbing but not as disturbing as what I'm about to tell. One of the guys in the group volunteered, "I was molested by my female babysitter when I was five." Now, he didn't say it like it was a traumatic experience. He said it as if he was proud. A moment later ANOTHER guy in our group says, "I was molested by my female babysitter too!" The two men proceeded to give each other a high five.
My first thought was, "why are they happy about this? It has to have some serious psychological ramifications." My second thought was, "Why wasn't I molested by my babysitter? Wasn't I cute enough?" Okay, I didn't seriously think that but it's kind of funny.
Anyhow, I started to wonder how prevalent such an act is and how different it is to the two sexes. I would wager the psychological effects are the same for each sex but socially, it is very different. Kind of like the female school teacher that was busted having an affair with her thirteen year old student. If it had been a man that molested the thirteen year old, serious consequences would have followed. But since it was a woman, it was viewed almost as if the boy probably wanted it. And they are probably right. But it's still tragically wrong. In any case, I'm not sure I have a point to this post, just something I've been thinking about. It amazes me how physically and psychologically the effects of something like this are probably the same for both sexes but how a social perspective can treat the two entirely different.
I'll try to write a more uplifting message tomorrow. Naw, probably not. Forget I mentioned it.
No one within the group participated but we talked about funny things we could say. There were a lot of animal sex references which was a little disturbing but not as disturbing as what I'm about to tell. One of the guys in the group volunteered, "I was molested by my female babysitter when I was five." Now, he didn't say it like it was a traumatic experience. He said it as if he was proud. A moment later ANOTHER guy in our group says, "I was molested by my female babysitter too!" The two men proceeded to give each other a high five.
My first thought was, "why are they happy about this? It has to have some serious psychological ramifications." My second thought was, "Why wasn't I molested by my babysitter? Wasn't I cute enough?" Okay, I didn't seriously think that but it's kind of funny.
Anyhow, I started to wonder how prevalent such an act is and how different it is to the two sexes. I would wager the psychological effects are the same for each sex but socially, it is very different. Kind of like the female school teacher that was busted having an affair with her thirteen year old student. If it had been a man that molested the thirteen year old, serious consequences would have followed. But since it was a woman, it was viewed almost as if the boy probably wanted it. And they are probably right. But it's still tragically wrong. In any case, I'm not sure I have a point to this post, just something I've been thinking about. It amazes me how physically and psychologically the effects of something like this are probably the same for both sexes but how a social perspective can treat the two entirely different.
I'll try to write a more uplifting message tomorrow. Naw, probably not. Forget I mentioned it.
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