What I found very interesting this time is the fact that the view of history depends on the current view of society on a specific topic. This includes the word “civilized”. This especially is a very elastic term since most of the practices in the 1900’s and earlier are seen as everything but civilized nowadays. For example slavery is something only primitive peoples have or had for a long time. A few hundred years ago owning a slave as a white man meant that he was superior to others and therefore more civilized. I think the circumstance that this perception changes over time is a reason to hope that someday women and men, no matter what race they belong to, will be treated equally not only by society but also by the state. Although I think that these two terms cannot be seen as completely different. After all the society votes for a candidate and therefore makes the state and as a result the law. To me this means that there has already been a shift in society especially in the Scandinavian countries where it is common practice to see women and men as completely equal.
On the one hand I see the necessity of having laws especially for women (e.g. maternity leave) because they are not yet able to cope without them. On the other hand I hope that those laws will not be necessary in the future because everyone understands the term “citizen” as men and women equally.
Even though there are a lot of different forms of sexuality and the difference should not go unnoticed, people should be treated equally. This is in my opinion the biggest challenge: seeing the difference and accepting it.
October 5, 2009 at 8:01 pm |
I’d also like you to challenge yourself by thinking to the future: what is considered “civilized” now that will later be shunned as “primitive”?
Also, let’s even deconstruct the use of those two terms, “civilized” and “primitive” – how are they raced? Can we get beyond their use? How?