Victimhood


A great summation on victimhood
Wendy McElroy has a good piece at LewRockwell.com.

Victim and victimhood: the two terms get tangled up together and distinctions need to be drawn.

Consider the example of a woman who is beaten by her husband. She is clearly a 'victim' in the traditional meaning of the word; she deserves both compassion and justice.

But many feminists argue further for the battered woman's 'victimhood.' That is, she is viewed as only one example of the wider oppression all women experience from men and society. She ceases to be a wronged individual and becomes the symbol of a wronged category that includes women who have never experienced violence or may themselves be violent.

The shift from victim to victimhood has important consequences. The primary wrong is no longer inflicted on an individual but upon a group. It is no longer committed by an individual but by another group. The main remedy is not restitution to a person but general reparations to or special protection (privilege) for "the group."

The phrase "politics of" tends to precede the word "victimhood" because that word is so often accompanied by a demand for social justice. This remedy includes reparations or privileges.

In short, the move from victim to victimhood pushes the individual aside, constructs society into warring groups and argues for political remedies.

Well put. And I agree entirely. When you move to victimhood, you take the individual out of consideration.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Fri - October 14, 2005 at 07:53 AM  Tag


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