(학부 과제) Public Disgust From its Foundation

Taekyung Kim

1

Looking into the famous poem of Y.B. Yeats – “Crazy Jane talks with Bishop”, we witness a crazy woman encountering a man of religion, bellowing “Fair and foul are near of kin, and fair needs foul”.1) The poetic persona of Yeats reminds us of our physical boundness, despite the pride of mankind as a transcendent creature. Historically and biologically, homosexuality has been a form of natural practice. However, it remains concealed and negated by a great number of people in the present Korean society. We witness hatred at public parades, loaded with such explicit and intense opposition that we are thrown back; in doubt of this violent hatred. What do they gain from these activities? What are they trying to preserve? As we examine, we realize this is a mere symptom of ‘Disgust’, spread throughout the whole society.

 

The target of this disgust, or hatred prevalent in our society is infinite. From the recent uprising of social hatred towards women to elderly people, even to babysitting mothers. This specific kind of public disgust is closely related to the feeling of hatred. Unlike anger which involves reason, disgust is a physical reflex, like when we encounter a cockroach in our living room. The response is embodied, referred to as an automatic protective system. Nausea shows that the subject of such revulsion originates from ourselves- When spat out of our body, it is immediately alienated, as a rejected identity of our previous selves. The notion of such self-denial is not natural. It is acquired through education, and by social preferences. Therefore, we distance ourselves from disliked subjects of our body, and lean towards the ideal, ruling image crafted by society2).

 

A common example of public disgust is historical, as the root of the western philosophy starts from such self-opposition. Plato denied physical existence; an animalistic value of desire found in humans. While philosophers longed transcendence from inevitable bodily functions, religious values did not differ, as Adam and Eve fell from grace to earth, punished by their lifelong bodily functions. It extended to a tendency of misogynic view, women as a target of men’s desire, a symbol of physical trait, embodied by childbirth. These superior identities formed through self-denial is unstable, as it always holds a possibility to return to oneself, dismantling the formed identity to pieces.

 

From the foundation of such a socially idealistic preference, premodern society featured such patriarchal values, as a spiritual and transcendable character to the inferior sex. Apart from external institutions Virginia Woolf pointed out - such as unequal public education and opportunities equipped with ‘womanly’ values, Iris Marian Young argued that those images are embodied in women. According to her paper “Throwing like a Girl”,3) females in postmodern society still featured different physical movements compared to male’s. Unlike the big spaced strides made by men, women featured passive movements, with more limited space. Young saw this as an embodied restraint, constantly reminded as an objectified self of one’s body.

From these examples, the negated elements in forming male identity is clearly shown. Passiveness and difference from the ideal–are disgusted. The superior sex transcends, magnified, by denying the possible characteristics of oneself.

    

2

In such a radical division of physical values due to the mere differentiation of gender, we proceed to doubt the definition of gender itself. As we are already aware, the spectrum of biological gender differs dramatically, in diverse forms of physical and psychological characteristics due to genetic possibilities. According to Michel Foucault, gender divisions are a part of ‘discourse’, a system that ‘defines’ the possibility of knowledge set for certain purposes-of power and knowledge4). As an example, homosexual identity did not exist, until they were defined by medical and psychological texts at the end of the nineteenth century. Therefore, practice of gender definition itself is an exertion of power.

 

Due to such purposes, social institutions require ‘taboos’ for its construction, considering Levi-Strauss’s theory. Such culturally inhibited behaviors lead to deconstruction of its social system. The most common practice of such taboo would be incest, as it disrupts the minimal unit of society, a family system. Homosexuality could be also viewed as a similar form, disregarded from religious systems that stress productive values of sex, as only in heterosexual relationships. Although the modern age was viewed as the ’Age of Disenchantment’ with the devaluation of previous concepts, we can see such tendencies remain, even in this postmodern warfare of the Korean society. It also shows there are more than single elements stirring up disgust of masses.

 

Additionally, from the examples of institution, present society demands various affiliations. The previous concepts counter changes, as the main value of productivity is substituted to consumption in postmodern society. Korean society has undergone great changes as well, passing nationwide collisions of military regime after the war, settling on the democratic ground under a profoundly brief time. Urbanization followed, with impacts on values and behaviors. The act of body idioms, by Erving Goffman was featured in these city environments. In the existence of others, people communicate through their appearances and behaviors, and act ‘normally’, showing that they are not a threat. The individual is pressured unconsciously to adjust themselves, like a model of the Panopticon, a surveillance system structured to keep individuals to think they are constantly being watched.5)  

 

As they act in the front stage full of strangers, the mask is formed of their ideal identities, pictured by themselves. However, the ideal here is not a different subject from the previously explained identity. It is the same unstable self, born from the denial of distasteful features of self. The individual in postmodern, urbanized society is normalized, and tailored to the taste of ‘society’, falsely thought as a choice of their own.

The process of normalization is not limited to such urban environments. Due to advances in technology, mass media is now everywhere, in our hands from day till night. Adorno have previously criticized the characteristics of mass media. He argued it castrated people of their freedom of choice, by producing desirable form of art repetitively, aimed solely for consumption. The theory is highly refutable, since it considers mass media as a lower form of culture. However, it cannot be said that it is totally free from the relation of public power. The emergence of internet renewed the form of media, from one sided to a mutual one.

 

However, as for the characteristics of digitalization – it is highly manipulative. While individuals group up to form an agora of liberation, on the other side there are tailored advertisements from gathered personal information, at every corner of those cyber spaces. News and media feature fixed forms of representation armed by celebrities dressed up in favorable items. The usage of product placement (PPL) explains the capitalist function of media in easy form, by repeated unconscious exposure of commodities to potential customers. The responses of users are monitored under the name of Big Data, the public preference is modified and advertised. A preferred, or dominative identity is formed, in unconsciousness of modern-day individuals. The visual media brought Lookism, requiring individuals to monitor their appearances more than ever. Manipulation of political opinions have also risen as a problem,6) bringing needs for new interpretation of power in cyberspace. 

As discussed, considering the process of identity choosing in current postmodern society, there are various relation of power expressed towards the individual. The division of gender and restrictions rooted in social foundations, and self-normalization from urbanization are those elements, which is continually featured in the digitalized society as representations of power shown in media. From this process, one is lured to desired identity of society, an identity of most dominative, empowered possibility.  

 

3

While the tendencies of normalization exist, there are also efforts of differentiation practiced by ones of monetary power in capitalist society. According to a theory of conspicuous consumption by Thorstein Veblen,7) the patterns of consumption differ by class. As the working people are likely to consider the practical use of an item when purchasing an item, the privileged differentiate themselves by favoring those are far beyond its use value, signifying their social position. It is indicative that its process of differentiation is usually practiced by the group of power, distancing themselves from the distasteful identities. Similarly, vagabonds (the exile of capitalist society) of those dominative cultural capital are rejected, alienated from the source of power.

However, the nature of identity making indicates the unstableness of self as well. The rich escapes from low-thought class by consuming luxuries, and the dominative sex fears the possibilities of opposing sex in themselves. While we are fully aware of underlying power relations, we also witness a brink of deconstruction in concrete-believed values. The most visible of these changes comes from rising position of female identities, throughout the short period of modern times. The social influence of women has risen greatly, now even or surpassing male competence at variety of sections. (marks of public education, University admission, etc.) The former privileged value of masculinity is now at crisis.8)

 

The movement have been featured before, at the early period of 20th century. Due to material prosperity of upper class in America, white-collar occupations increased, that did not require any need of physical strength. The political and social power of women grew, and literary commentators expressed concerns over this symptom of overcivilization, a kind of ‘softness’ in American men. This public consciousness led to homage of masculine values in culture, featuring violence and natural instincts such as Noir and wilderness.9)

 

In the current age, men are more cornered than ever before, as their physical power bound to the public system, with traditional patriarch fading into history. They are gradually deprived of their former advantages. The act of disgust and differentiation of superior is now substituted by a feeling of anger, with reason clearly given.

The shared anger is expressed in a form of hyperbole, an explicit and violent language towards the target, under the veil of anonymity. Such activities result in public hatred, transforming the cyberspace into the backstage of our daily lives. Apart from our idealistic modern identities, violence and extreme desires are discharged. The differentiation process is again performed, earning mental superiority from others. Similar behavior is also practiced by politicians, to be recognized by its extremity and be supported by people who longs such practice of power.

In the place of queer parade, various form of representations was used, denouncing the disgusted with hyperbolic terms. The opposing parties stressed the grotesque and unrealistic downsides of such identities, completely otherized from themselves. Due to their main political purpose of gaining superiority, the possibilities of understanding are negated.10)

 

 

4

To conclude, we have looked over foundational aspects of social disgust, a repulsive behavior originating from the denial of unfavored self. The identity of an individual is given, culturally embodied in oneself. The ideal aspect of such identity or sexual preference is not simply chosen freely, it is due to various power relations such as gender discourse, taboos, and normalization through public pressure. The values still exist in present societies, as differentiation of superior to inferior.  But by gradual changes in society, the ideal masculine value deteriorates. The whole social response towards the queer is symbolical, as a sign of reunion accepting minorities to the chapter of diversified society. It is an ongoing festival apart from the parade itself, a process of evolution, diminishing the remains of unfair distribution of power.

 

 

 

 

 

 

1)    이경수, 「예이츠의 “미친 제인 시편”에 나타난 ‘지상’과 ‘초월’ 」. 새한영어영문학. 14-15. 2004.

2)    김종갑, 「혐오 – 감정의 정치학」. 은행나무. 2017.

3)    Young. I.M. Throwing like a girl: a phenomenology of feminine body comportment, motility and spatiality. Human Studies, 3, 137-56. (1980)

4)    Foucault, M. (1980) Power/knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings 1972-1977, ed. Colin Gordon, Brighton: Harvester.

5)    Goffman, E. Behavior in Public Places: Notes on the Social organization of Gatherings, New York: Free Press. (1963) Goffman, E. ‘The interaction order’, American Sociological Review, 48, 1-17. (1983)

6)    이주일, 「인터넷 댓글조작과 형사책임」. 한국컴퓨터정보학회논문지. 2018.

7)    Veblen, T. The Theory of the Leisure Class, New York: Modern Library (orig.1899)

8)    김종갑, 「혐오 – 감정의 정치학」. 은행나무. 2017.

9)    The Norton Anthology: American Literature.1865 to the Present. Norton. ‘Unseen Forces’. 14-15. 2017

10) 김성진, 「2015 퀴어문화축제와 동성애 혐오의 정치, 퀴어문화축제에서 커밍아웃한 한국의 동성애 혐오세력(Homophobic)」. 인천문화재단. 8-15.2015.