I have never taken a course in Social Anthropology, but even an English Lit major can observe that most human behavior is instinctive. Discrimination is a natural (built-in) characteristic of our species - and indeed most mammals. We are, by nature, tribal.
We distrust strangers from other tribes. Xenophobia is a natural fear mechanism that has characterized social groups since the days of the cavemen. Granted, in more advanced (ie, educated) circles, we prefer to think we are civilized - i.e., as a society we teach our children to consciously suppress those inborn fears and tendencies in order to live peaceably with others.
I recall the lines from a 1960's Kingston Trio song titled The Merry Minuet
"The whole world is festering with unhappy souls.
The French hate the Germans. The Germans hate the Poles.
Italians hate Yugoslavs. South Africans hate the Dutch
and I don't like anybody very much!"
If you have ever played a team sport or rooted for a team, you have experienced the passion of "Us versus Them". We are bold, good-looking, talented and strong, whereas They are craven, weak and worthy of our scorn.
Rooting for athletic teams has been the international mechanism that allows the mass of non-playing people to give full vent to those primal urges of tribalism which we supress in our attempts to be "civilized." The term "Fan" is derivative of "Fanatic" implying the craziness that is implicit in such mindless loyalty to a bunch of sports workers who get paid to dress up in funny outfits and compete with each other for the entertainment of an audience. (Sometimes, in less civilized places, the audience joins in the fight).
Come to think of it, politics as a lot like professional sports - except for the funny outfits.
1 comment:
Actually you're wrong -- "fan" is derived from "fannie", a cutsie term for one's derrier -- which is what is frequently displayed in its bared state at sports events ... and directed at the opposing team.
Post a Comment