Human beings are raised to think in binaries. We subconsciously look at the world in only two different ways, either positive or negative. This confined perspective is the reason why human beings have such a difficult time appreciating differences in the world. An example of the injustices binary thinking creates can be seen in the hypothetical world presented by Plato in Allegory of the Cave. In the cave, a binary system exists between two opposing worlds. A lack of both knowledge and freedom handicaps one of the worlds, resulting in the formation of a hierarchy of values. And having one world presented with more privilege and opportunity than the other makes having an impartial structure impossible. This idea directly correlates
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She wrote about how the human way of binary thinking is the cause of racism, sexism, or any other kind of prejudices that exist in the world. Humans base their judgements off of the “mythical norm”, and in America, “this norm is usually defined as white, thin, male, young, heterosexual, Christian, and financially secure.” (Lorde, 2) It is no surprise that Audre Lorde has a problem with the way in which people deal with differences, she is a forty-nine year old black, lesbian, feminist, socialist, mother of two, who has most likely been discriminated against for each one of those qualities. She has seen first hand how when faced with someone who does not fit the description of the mythical norm, humans first decide whether the disparity is positive or negative, and then proceed to do one of three things: either ignore the difference, copy it if it could be beneficial, or destroy the difference if the person appears to be subordinate. Humans have a hard time realizing that unity and homogeneity are not the same thing. We should want to be united, or joined as a whole, but that does not require us to all be the same. Obviously everyone is different and unique in their own special way, but that is not what seperates us. It is our, “refusal to recognize those differences, and to examine the distortions which result from our misnaming them and their effects upon human behavior and expectation.” (Lorde, 1). The only way …show more content…
In the Allegory of the Cave and in Plato’s words, Socrates describes how in order to make everyone equal and provide the perfect education to the future leaders, one cannot simply show the light to the less fortunate and just raise their standard of living. They must also send the more well off world down into the cave, to “live in the common dwelling place of the other citizens and grow accustomed to seeing in the dark. For when [they] are used to it, [they] will see infinitely better than the people there…” (Plato, 4) Plato knows that by doing this, these leaders will be “better and more completely educated than the others, and better able to share in both types of life.” (Plato, 4) It is clear that Plato not only values knowledge in a leader, but also experience. By gaining an understanding of what life is like for people in all classes, that leader will undoubtedly treat everyone more fairly. Audre Lorde on the other hand, is not necessarily interested in educating people on what its like to be oppressed and discriminated against. Instead she accepts that people are different from one another, she just doesn’t want that to be what separates us. It's impossible to deny that race, age, and sex are part of what defines us as human beings and makes each individual person unique, Lorde’s point is just that people need to
She wrote about how the human way of binary thinking is the cause of racism, sexism, or any other kind of prejudices that exist in the world. Humans base their judgements off of the “mythical norm”, and in America, “this norm is usually defined as white, thin, male, young, heterosexual, Christian, and financially secure.” (Lorde, 2) It is no surprise that Audre Lorde has a problem with the way in which people deal with differences, she is a forty-nine year old black, lesbian, feminist, socialist, mother of two, who has most likely been discriminated against for each one of those qualities. She has seen first hand how when faced with someone who does not fit the description of the mythical norm, humans first decide whether the disparity is positive or negative, and then proceed to do one of three things: either ignore the difference, copy it if it could be beneficial, or destroy the difference if the person appears to be subordinate. Humans have a hard time realizing that unity and homogeneity are not the same thing. We should want to be united, or joined as a whole, but that does not require us to all be the same. Obviously everyone is different and unique in their own special way, but that is not what seperates us. It is our, “refusal to recognize those differences, and to examine the distortions which result from our misnaming them and their effects upon human behavior and expectation.” (Lorde, 1). The only way …show more content…
In the Allegory of the Cave and in Plato’s words, Socrates describes how in order to make everyone equal and provide the perfect education to the future leaders, one cannot simply show the light to the less fortunate and just raise their standard of living. They must also send the more well off world down into the cave, to “live in the common dwelling place of the other citizens and grow accustomed to seeing in the dark. For when [they] are used to it, [they] will see infinitely better than the people there…” (Plato, 4) Plato knows that by doing this, these leaders will be “better and more completely educated than the others, and better able to share in both types of life.” (Plato, 4) It is clear that Plato not only values knowledge in a leader, but also experience. By gaining an understanding of what life is like for people in all classes, that leader will undoubtedly treat everyone more fairly. Audre Lorde on the other hand, is not necessarily interested in educating people on what its like to be oppressed and discriminated against. Instead she accepts that people are different from one another, she just doesn’t want that to be what separates us. It's impossible to deny that race, age, and sex are part of what defines us as human beings and makes each individual person unique, Lorde’s point is just that people need to