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Why “Othering” Feels Good, and How I’m Learning to Avoid It
It’s a prevalent attitude but doing us no favors in the long run
I was talking to a friend the other day and she shared an interesting insight with me.
An old boss of hers had a position open up and wanted her to take it. It’s a position that demands a lot of interaction with the public on tough issues and, therefore, it requires a lot of empathy and people skills.
Her response to me was this: “I just don’t have much empathy for people in general anymore. Over the last couple of years, I’ve just lost a lot of faith in humanity.”
It’s a statement many of us, I think, can relate to.
Us vs. Them
Lately, I’ve fallen into the trap of “othering”. It’s at the root of my friend’s recent revelation, and it’s a response to our country’s current climate that is hard to resist.
In short, the term “othering” refers to the assumption that a certain identified group poses a threat to other groups, namely, our prefered group.
It is, in part, driven by the media and politicians, where black and white views are favored over anything nuanced. Politicians win when fear and anxiety are activated and we start to look out for the “others”…
