GuidoWorld

Social Change

January 26, 2008 on 12:23 pm | In General |

In the last post we were exploring the roles and functions of violence and aggression in humans and in animals. In this post we will look at the role violence and aggression play in social change.

If you look at the history books the bulk of social change is predicated on rebellion and revolution, on battles and wars. This view of social change through violence and upheaval fits well into the stereotypic view of male aggression, and his proclivity towards violence as a means of dealing with conflict.

In mid December I began to write posts about the differences in genders based on masculine and feminine sexual symbols and their meanings. In it we found that the stereotypic view of the masculine phallic imagery focused on violence and aggression as represented by missiles, guns, knives and other pointed lethal instruments. Yet, we also found that since the phallus also represents acts of penetration, probing, expansion and emission that many other less violent activities are phallic in nature. These included creativity, discovery, exploration and a drive for progress. This had us add to the list of phallic symbols such things as the pen, paintbrush, drills, microscope, telescope and many machines and medical instruments.

These other phallic images play a significant part in social change. Societies not only change due to wars, but also due to inventions and discoveries. Discoveries in medicine cured and prevented a number of diseases which greatly impacted the lengthening and quality of human life. Discoveries such as electricity caused as much if not more social change to occur as did any war. Inventions in transportation, communication, agriculture and artistic technology altered the way people see themselves, history and the future. These inventions and discoveries made it possible for people to have a greater say and stake into how their community is run and functions.

We live in societies where the bulk of social change lies outside the realm of brute force. Social change is often introduced and established through relatively peaceful means. Violence was not necessary for the birth of radio and TV, or the computer and the internet. Most of our laws are created through civil discussion. Beneficial changes in personal and social health are achieved without violence or aggression.
In fact even many of this past century’s greatest political social changes have been acquired through the techniques of passive resistance. Social revolutionary figures such as Martin Luther King, Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and the Dali Lama have made non-violence a cornerstone of their social change movements. The civil rights, women’s, and 60’s peace movement are all examples of successful non-violent campaigns along with the women’s suffrage movement.

All over the world social change is often attained through non-violent means such as peaceful demonstrations, boycotts, strikes and labor negotiations. The great portion of social change happens slowly and gradually. These changes occur through subtle changes in the behaviors, rituals and beliefs in a culture or in the introduction of new cultures into a society. Religion, pop culture and subtle changes in climate can slowly alter the values and life style of the majority of a populace. An entire culture can become more or less patient, tolerant, understanding, optimistic, creative and creative by an accumulation of subtle changes that never rise to a level of violence or aggression. Laws are passed, attitudes are altered, and lifestyles and standards of living are reshaped without the general populace ever taking notice.

Some of the above discussion may well relate more to a feminine rather than masculine means of social change. While the masculine phallic imagery deals with the social change impelled by discovery and invention as well as through war, the feminine womb/vagina imagery may deal with some of the more subtle forms of social change. In mid December I offered many vaginal/womb symbols and discussed how they all revolve around images that relate to the home, nest, containers, and secret passage ways. The feminine images deal with protection, safety, flow, gestation and accumulation.

The ideas of slow gestation and accumulation were highly prevalent in the examples of social change we discussed that typically fall beneath the radar of most people’s consciousness. The first philosophers such as Plato, Socrates and Aristotle were very familiar with the feminine aspect of social change.

In fact it was Socrates, I believe, who first said that any man interested in changing society must first learn how to influence and change a woman. He said that it is often easier to change the mind of a man because his ideas are often logical and abstract and if you show him the truth in your argument he can change his mind fairly quickly. A woman, according to Socrates, does not just think with her mind but with her heart. With a woman you are not just changing an idea, or a thought, but are asking them to change the way they feel about life and live in the world.

Whether you agree with Socrates or not, there does seem to be some truth in the masculine tendency to divorce thought from feeling and the feminine tendency to fuse the two. There also seems to be some validity to the idea that men can change abruptly, and women prefer slow and careful change. This makes sense when you think of the womb/vagina images and realities of the process of gestation and the menstrual cycle. Women’s bodies seem to be so much more grounded into the cycles of nature, such as the seasons and the stages of the moon.

Before ending this post I’d like to review one other loose end which was posed during the last blog. That was the fact that most aggression is not overt and violent but rather indirect and passive. This is the realm of passive aggression which modern psychology has been so diligent in identifying its use and role.

There is no shortage of passive aggression or indirect ways of influencing social change. In the world of modern politics one could make a case that it is dominated by passive aggressive techniques and strategies. This is the realm of propaganda and public relations, of spin and innuendo. This is where leaders use fear as a way to get the public support. The Red Scare of the 50’s, and our modern war on terrorism are just two examples of this technique. The smear campaign along with the bumper sticker slogan form of verbal repetition are two others. So is the technique of getting public sympathy and support by posing yourself as a victim of others mud slinging or immoral actions. This is the world whereby we feel sorry for the major corporations who are always unjustly being attacked or sued, or the media outlet that is always attacked by the liberal press. This is also a world in which everyone hates us for our freedoms and our way of life, and only wants to kill us and take our freedom away.

In a future post I would like to fully explore the modern phenomena of the power of victimhood. Yet, maybe in the next post on dominance and control I’ll be able to outline some of its most prominent features.

Jim Guido