Visar inlägg med etikett raising ones voice. Visa alla inlägg
Visar inlägg med etikett raising ones voice. Visa alla inlägg

8/25/2009

On voices that are never heard - or creating a conception of the world...


Anja on the blog “Do nothing day” writes that people trying to do something about inconveniences in the society are portrayed as bad people in media.

Think about labor union blockades; think demonstrating young people, think house occupants, think animal rights activists. Are you feeling “civil disobedience– brave!” or do you feel “criminality”? And who have in that case fed you with those associations?

She also wonders if all peoples' voices are heard, the poor peoples’ for instance…

And concludes yes, there are so many voices that are never heard.

My addition: some are silenced too. Whose? How come?

And whose voices are head? Who are screaming loudest? And who don't have to scream at all? Because they are listened to and respected anyway? In some cases deservedly of course.

Are we going to need more and more gated communities here and there in the world?

Miller is right: you CAN demonstrate without using violence or without destroying material things either.

4/27/2008

Communication...

picture taken from here.

Here some great things I found I would want to save, and keep here. The thread was about pressures people like Alice Miller (and all other struggling for these issues) have/had to resist on all sides, but it felt as this is applicable in other circumstances.

And see earlier postings on "giving and taking voice." And as van Dyke wrote:

"Use what talent you possess - the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best"

(Henry van Dyke)

And I also found this in Quotations when I scrolled my blog to listen to a video:

"But with adult freedom and responsibility come the potential to break silence, to use voice and language to promote internal integration, deeper external connection, and a social transformation, Through communication – integration within ourselves and connection between individuals – we can become whole; embodied, aware, vital, powerful”

(Jennifer Freyd in the chapter “Removing Blinders, Becoming Connected” in her book “Betrayal Trauma…”)

John Stuart Mill writes in his essay on "The Subjugation of women" (1869) or “Underkuvandet av kvinnor” according to this site (also see his book "The Subjection of Women", are these two actually the same book, but with slightly different titles?):

“But was there ever any domination which did not appear natural to those who possessed it? ... the generality of the male sex cannot yet tolerate the idea of living with an equal... In the present day, power holds a smoother language, and whomsoever it oppresses, always pretends to do so for their own good...”

Translated it would be something like:

“Men fanns det någonsin någon tyranni som inte tycktes vara naturlig för den/dem som ägde (besatt) den?...

…allmängiltigheten hos det manliga könet kan dock inte tolerera idén att leva med en jämlik… Som det är idag så håller makten ett mildare språk, och vem den än förtrycker, låtsas han/hon alltid att han/hon gör det för deras eget bästa…”

From where do these needs come? Other quotations from Mill's book "The Subjection of women" see here.

The person writes that she (he) would like to see her (Alice Miller's) 'failures' given the same level of compassionate understanding that she asks for children. And she (he) does this so well; how to communicate, or how we could try to communicate… She puts things in words so well. I couldn’t find better words I think... It could have been written by me...

“Someone is always first to walk a new path; everyone who follows finds rough places left untrodden. What's more important is that she took the first steps - it is up to the rest of us to smooth the way and widen the path, without criticizing her for not finishing the whole job in one go [but we are allowed to question things, and shall question things too? But how do we do this? How can we do this to reach out with our message? And, of course, is it always possible to reach out with our messages?]."

…we humans are just barely beginning to evolve beyond the raw violence of the jungle. We have a LONG way to go; let's not waste our energy attacking other wounded souls who, like us, are doing the best they can with damaged goods.

We're a bunch of wounded, limping, bleeding folks struggling along as best we can; let's help each other! [and not least to people trying to understand and working hard on trying to understand, who aren't mean and don't want to harm other people, and who aren't mean. And maybe also is dong this mostly on her own, in a sort of monologue. Of course she can be "misled" from time to time? Or? Even less if what she says or writes isn't really met]. To me, criticism has no place in this. And how else do we learn, you might ask? Well, there's a zen saying that goes ‘Do not teach unless asked’ (something like that). In other words, a person is not going to learn something until they're ready. So it's a waste of time to criticize.”

Yes, I think that is true, but we are allowed to question things…

Instead, we're each responsible to try to get the healing we need, and as we heal, we become available as 'enlightened witnesses' for others who are still suffering. We are there, ready to offer a hand if and when a person asks for help.

She (he) thinks that we use different ways in our processes of making sense of our own life experiences? We walk different paths, use different strategies, more or less? Can't we do this? Walking there in parallel? And can't this be to complement each other? Respecting each other in our struggles? So long as we don't hurt other people (or ourselves)? But this is probably not easy. Hmmm, this easily sounds so pretentious?

Continues here. Well worth reading!

4/12/2008

Voices...

Hmmm, I got stuck at the computer!

It's soon one year since I started blogging. I haven't pinged my blogs, not being sure where I wanted to go with them. And haven't made any advertisement for them, either than to people personally.

When I started to blog May 12, 2007 I had got the book "All can blog" ("Alla kan blogga") which I had ordered from one of my book clubs, and started immediately.

Now I reread the introduction to it once again:
”Din röst behövs på Internet - alla har något att berätta. Fler människor borde skriva om sitt liv, om sin vardag och sina erfarenheter. Fler människor borde vara med och debattera och diskutera i olika medier.

Många grupper saknas eller finns inte med särskilt mycket i dagens brus i medier. Speciellt människor inom LO-yrken är kraftigt underrepresenterade. Om människors vardag inom LO-yrken inte beskrivs i medier, om människor med erfarenhet av dessa arbeten inte är med i den politiska och kulturella debatten blir det en skev bild av verkligheten som dominerar.”

With my a little free translation it would be something in the style:

“Your voice is needed on Internet – all have something to tell/narrate and contribute with. More people ought to write about their life, about their everyday life and their experiences. More people should join the debate and discuss in media.”

I think this is so true, as I wrote to a friend, I got a lump in my throat reading this - again.

“Many groups aren’t present, are lacking in today’s noisy media. Especially people from ‘the lower classes’ are powerfully underrepresented. If their lives aren’t described in media, if people with experiences from these works/jobs aren’t represented in the political and cultural debate we get a warped or distorted view about the reality which is dominating.”

And there are other people that maybe for the first time are given the opportunity and possibility to raise their voices and reach out to other people. EVEN if these who read them are few.

For instance I have had the opportunity and possibility raising my voice...