According to Merriam – Webster the definitions
for Domination and Marginalization are as follows. Domination is the control or power over another or others
or the exercise of such control or power. Marginalization is to
relegate to an unimportant or powerless position within a society or group
or to relegate or confine to a lower or outer limit or edge, as of social
standing. These are such grand terms that seem foreign and distant yet
these are experiences that we and others go through in our daily lives. In our day
to day lives objectification, exploitation, and oppression/persecution happen
these are forms of domination and marginalization. Whether we realize it or not
we are participants in these interactions we could be either subject or object
regardless of if we are aware or not.
Objectification, Exploitation and Oppression/
Persecution
I have experienced
objectification from both perspectives. As the receiver of this type of
treatment it comes in various ways from the unnoticeable from my dad it was the
pressure to succeed whether it was sports or school it was always that I had to
be the best. I excelled in one but I rebelled in academics I felt that the
burden and pressure was too much especially going into college. My dad wanted
an engineer or lawyer but I chose Political Science. In my athletic career I
felt that I was a an agent used to represent the school for school glory and I
liked it the joy of winning and showing love for the alma matter cannot be
beat. Recently after looking back and analyzing with the new analytical tools I
have I realize that I am a commodity that was used to promote the school
without being paid and was treated along with my team mates as sort of
commodities. Not that this was bad but as I see it now this was a form of
objectification that I went through. I have done this to others but I don’t
think I am fully aware of most of it. An example I can give is when some of my
employees seem interchangeable in their roles and I don’t care who does it or
how capable they are so long as they do it. In the same breath I can say that
my talents have been exploited by the system or institutions that I have been
part of from teaching for free to contributing money that they should have paid
for themselves I have experienced it. I have both been exploited in school work
and have done the same to others whether it was not doing my part well and
others picking up the slack or me doing the same for others. Subordination is
something that as a son and athlete I have grown up with it. We all experience
subordination at work, home, school, team, or events. When I started my company
it was the first time I felt that I was subordinating someone else and the
first time I realized it and I think this seems to be a part of life and that
everyone goes through it. I don’t believe I have ever been oppressed or
persecuted and I have not done that to anyone this is, in my opinion, the most extreme
form of domination and marginalization. This is something I hope to never do to
anyone and hope that no one does it to me. I believe that it all comes down to everyone RESPECTING each other. We may be players willingly or unwillingly thrust into these situations but all interactions must boil down to RESPECT between humans.
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