Why “Victimhood Culture” DEMANDS Understanding!
😨 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐒 “𝐕𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐂𝐔𝐋𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄”? 😨
Originally coined by sociologists Bradley Campbell and Jason Manning in an academic journal, they were seeking to understand a new and emerging moral culture that was becoming more prevalent in our society. 🙌
But, hear me out! 🙏
If you feel inclined to quickly dismiss this post as some right-wing rhetoric, I urge you to hear me out. As a fellow Liberal, allow me to explain and provide greater context. ❤️
The authors clearly state: “Our terminology is intended to help us describe what is going on, not to praise or condemn it. We believe Victimhood Culture accomplishes this.” 🙌
Is it fair to say every Culture brings with it a set of pros and cons, benefits and disadvantages? Is it fair to say some of the things these cultures bring may be more helpful and some more unhelpful than others? 👍
That’s what this book aims to illustrate.
So, in order for us to better understand what Campbell and Manning mean by “Victimhood Culture”, they introduce 2 other types of moral cultures: Honor and Dignity Culture.
By placing each of these cultures alongside each other, it can help us better understand their distinct differences. ↔️
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𝐈𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐇𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 💪:
📌 Reputation and Bravery are key factors of one’s moral status.
🛡️ Small conflicts are responded to aggressively.
🚨 Little to no appeals to authority, third-parties, and public opinion for justice.
🙌 Examples of Honor Culture: the Old West, the mafia.
🗣️ Phrases you’d hear:
“𝘐 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘥𝘶𝘦𝘭!”
“𝘕𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺’𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘵.”
“𝘕𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘱.”
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𝐈𝐧 𝐚 𝐃𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 👤:
📌 Self-restraint and Civility are key factors of one’s moral status.
🛡️ Small conflicts are responded to with non-violence and compromise.
🚨 May sometimes appeal to authority, third-parties, or public opinion for justice.
🙌 Examples of Dignity Culture: Formal debate, Court of Law, Due Process
🗣️ Phrases you’d hear:
“𝘚𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘮𝘦.”
“𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭.”
“𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘶𝘴.”
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𝐈𝐧 𝐚 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 😨:
📌 Suffering and Victimization are key factors of one’s moral status.
🛡️ Small conflicts are responded to aggressively (like Honor culture).
🚨 Mostly appeals to authority, third-parties, and public opinion for justice.
🙌 Examples of Victimhood Culture: Callout/Cancel Culture, Microaggressions, Trigger Warnings, Safe Spaces
🗣️ Phrases you’d hear:
“𝘚𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦.”
“𝘐’𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭.”
“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴; 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘺𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘺!”
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With these Cultures presented, Campbell and Manning want to emphasize one very important point about Victimhood Culture ⬇️:
“𝐓𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐦 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞’𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐦 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐲𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭. 💯
𝐈𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐦 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬 𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐲𝐬. 💯
𝐈𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐬 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞. 💯
𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞’𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭. 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 💯
𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. 🔎
𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐟 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞, 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐦, 𝐰𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞, 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲.” 🤷♂️
As Campbell and Manning go on to explain, there’s an ongoing culture clash happening right now between Dignity and Victimhood Cultures. ⚔️
It is the same reason why individuals who strongly identify with a Dignity Culture are finding it very difficult to understand Victimhood Culture, and vice versa.
𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐬. ↔️
𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯’𝘴 “𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯” 𝘪𝘯 𝘝𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘊𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯’𝘴 “𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦” 𝘪𝘯 𝘋𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘊𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦. ↔️
𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯’𝘴 “𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥” 𝘪𝘯 𝘝𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘊𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯’𝘴 “𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘵” 𝘪𝘯 𝘋𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘊𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦. ↔️
𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯’𝘴 “𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥” 𝘪𝘯 𝘝𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘊𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯’𝘴 “𝘐’𝘮 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴” 𝘪𝘯 𝘋𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘊𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦. ↔️
𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯’𝘴 “𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘮 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨” 𝘪𝘯 𝘝𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘊𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯’𝘴 “𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺” 𝘪𝘯 𝘋𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘊𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦. ↔️
Now of course, these are big generalizations, so I’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts on these ideas! 😃
If you’re interested in learning more, I recommend checking out the full-length book! Note: It is an academic read, so it can be dry at times to read, with more sources than full-length pages! 😅
If anything, I hope in sharing these ideas it can spark a discussion and provide additional food for thought to helping us better understand the world around us. ❤️
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SOURCES:
📰 Microaggression and Moral Cultures (Academic Journal): https://bit.ly/2Yn8WoN
📄 Microaggressions and the Rise of Victimhood Culture (Atlantic Article): https://bit.ly/2zLXt8F
📖 The Rise of Victimhood Culture (Full-Length Book): https://amzn.to/3eixJzA
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