Domination: A Cultural Phenominon

The Preface of the text, in needed to be the first chapter of the book since it not only offered proverbs about the subject of domination but also, gives the reader an in-depth definition of Domination and its effects on the communities and environments it takes place in. Domination itself is no longer an action, but has become a defining characteristic of ‘advanced’ civilization. I appreciated that the author touched on slavery and the idea that as an institution dominated not only the ideas and actions of the slave, but the slave owner as well. A more important point I wanted to touch on was the place of women, and the concept of sexual domination as well as sexual or general terrorism. (xi)The author states that even the idea or the thought that a woman could be sexually assaulted or terrorized is reason enough for her to be leery and fearful.

Mind control is a huge part of domination; slavery is a great example because the social class and treatment of slaves had their minds warped into believing (some not all) that they could not function without their white counterparts, this may have very well been the reason why, after slavery was abolished a majority of slaves stayed on long after they were free. The place of women in slavery times is also important to the concept of slavery, because in the case of women their treatment goes beyond domination but, bleeds into sexual exploitation (concerning the relationship of female slave and master verses slave and slave relationships) in both cases the woman is subjective. On one hand she is the matriarch in the home and on the other she is the opposite of her white female counterpart. Black women were sexualized while whites were seen as passive, naturally you had to have some extreme opposite to justify and balance behavior.

The same terms can be applied to the ways the poor and rich interact with each other according to the Preface. (x) structurally similar forms of domination will bare a family resemblance to one and other. These similarities in the case of slavery serfdom and caste subordination are fairly straight forward No matter what the society at large seems to be i.e.: slave owners, upper-class persons, the structure of the environment remains the same. The author touches on the idea that complaints may vary depending on what social class you are speaking to; this is to be expected since on one hand you have the abused and the abuser, there are going to be discrepancies in people’s stories because the parties each represent different ends of a power spectrum. (x) The author also states that the use of exploitation entails obtaining "labor goods and services from a subordinate population” One has to function with the other. I found the authors discussion of secondary characteristics concerning how people were treated interesting, this had to do with such things as autonomy and dignity which "have been seen as secondary to martial exploitation" (x)

This for some reason prompted me to touch on our discussion of Jazz Festivals and the idea that the people who are vendors at these events are culturally selling themselves out. Domination passed from one group to another is not voluntary but, allowing outside persons to participate willingly in your own culture can be seen as a form of domination, if anything it is as if the process is being excepted and expidited.This for some reason prompted me to touch on our discussion of Jazz Festivals and the idea that the people who are vendors at these events are culturally selling themselves out. Domination passed from one group to another is not voluntary but, allowing outside persons to participate willingly in your own culture can be seen as a form of domination, if anything it is as if the process is being excepted and expedited. I chose to write about the Preface mostly because it embodies the main point of the three chapters, the author touches on the idea that domination and subordination lead to 'secret scripts' between the lower class. I thought this was interesting because it was implied as the only means of communication for the lower class, a negative side effect of not having that o outlet being 'witchcraft and martyrdom' Moving to a more modern example, there is the trend of girls who fight and have their fights recorded. They have no other outlet for attention so they use a negative one. This is a practice done in lower income rural areas.

The idea that subordination and domination cannot exist without each other also applies here, since there is an audience for the practice. Classism is responsible for the positions people are put in socially, however I am left wondering who decides these social standings. This led me to wonder about the concept of the Proletarian Bougsie relationships. Returning back to the point I made earlier about slavery, I wanted to touch on the fact that though slavery was justified by slave owners through the use of their bibles it is very easy to justify anything depending on what your looking for in a passage. This can be applied to the idea of dominant-subordinate relationships. As long as there is proof that this sort of tactic works on communities it will continue to be enforced regardless of the consequences