In many quarters of society, it's considered quite urbane and natural to refer to human nature in terms of the conditions of domesticated and wild animals.
Workplace harassment is dismissed as a natural expression of "the pecking order". We often hear reference made to "alpha males" and humans willingly acquiesce to the idea that what works best to keep others in line is both "the carrot" and "the stick".
Given the near universal acceptance of barnyard metaphors and appeals to certain idealized versions of "the wild", I find it astonishing that whenever I choose to casually refer to people in these terms, umbrage is taken.
For instance, someone might greet me casually, according to the dictates of the wild and the pecking order with "hey gal!"
To this, I respond, "hey ape!"
My response is always reasonable and wholly consistent in accepting the predominant world view that humans haven't quite made it to human status yet. In other words, we only recognize each other hazily and in accordance with sado-masochistic notions of gender and racial hierarchy.
We might try harder, but we cannot seem to budge: perhaps more carrot and more stick is necessary?
Workplace harassment is dismissed as a natural expression of "the pecking order". We often hear reference made to "alpha males" and humans willingly acquiesce to the idea that what works best to keep others in line is both "the carrot" and "the stick".
Given the near universal acceptance of barnyard metaphors and appeals to certain idealized versions of "the wild", I find it astonishing that whenever I choose to casually refer to people in these terms, umbrage is taken.
For instance, someone might greet me casually, according to the dictates of the wild and the pecking order with "hey gal!"
To this, I respond, "hey ape!"
My response is always reasonable and wholly consistent in accepting the predominant world view that humans haven't quite made it to human status yet. In other words, we only recognize each other hazily and in accordance with sado-masochistic notions of gender and racial hierarchy.
We might try harder, but we cannot seem to budge: perhaps more carrot and more stick is necessary?
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