(Photo credit to PostSecret.com)
I'll be entirely honest here, this book just drained me of life. I'm not sure how I'm even writing this. Goffman's book is loaded with sociology and I must admit that sociology is not a strong point of interest for me at all- I love history because it is, to me, one continuous story whatever the place or culture. This dragged me down a bit... but I've gotten through it and life will go on. I hope.
In the beginning of the book, Goffman spends a lot of time talking about stigmatized people and really hammers home the point that they are viewed as 'different' due to physical or mental disabilities, sexual orientation, disease, race, or occupation (to name just a few). While Goffman is perfectly correct on this point, I do wish he had spent more time affirming the ability of the 'normals' (as he calls those who do not have these stigmas) to be allies. He does indeed touch upon this point, however I noticed that much of his argument revolves around these people having a specific reason for supporting or connecting with groups of stigmatized people. I can't counter sociology, and I've studied enough history to realize that human nature is human nature; but in my personal opinion, it should be more important to focus on the behavior of those who serve as allies (striving to understand or at least better the experience of oppressed people). We are learning about the history of crime and punishment within a certain area and a particular time frame - in my opinion, this class is a stepping stone toward understanding how stigmatized groups are still punished today, and seeing that although perhaps torture and more gruesome means of execution no longer exist in the U.S. (at least as far as the government is concerned) these systems are still in place elsewhere. Again, I'm just a crazy, liberal idealist - but I feel that Goffman could give us a slightly more hopeful outlook in regard to the interactions between 'normals' and stigmatized people. As it stands, it feels like a 'normal' can really only be an ally to oppressed people if they have some deep connection with a person of that group.
It looks like I've written a good amount, but there was also something that jumped out to me on page 87, an excerpt about a prostitute making a court appearance. The girl states that she keeps her head down, never looks around at all, and felt "awful" without knowing who is watching. I found this particularly interesting because it represents an instance of a stigmatized group feeling guilt for their identity. This woman is looked down upon (even referred to in the court as a 'common prostitute') and in a way internalizes that label. By not looking up at all and avoiding the faces of everyone in the room, she hints at a feeling of guilt over who she is and how others view her. I believe this is important to understand with many different stigmatized groups, because it sees a pattern of self-hatred within people who can't change their sexual orientation, gender, disabilities, race, or ethnicity. It is a long road to understanding the troubles faced by people of different identities - particularly when these identities all have histories of oppression behind them - but the concept of self-hatred is one that, depressing as it may be, can really push people to see the experiences of others who have been marked by stigma.
