The Washington Post published an article on musician Chappell Roan and her political opinions on September 25th, 2024. It discussed the backlash she had been receiving because of a video she posted to Tik Tok. In the video, Roan talks about her political opinions, almost like a follow-up to an interview she did with the Guardian on fame and other topics about her beliefs.
While many people may not realize it, a lot of this backlash she received could actually be considered an act of ¨dehumanization.¨ This kind of behavior, dehumanizing others, is quite common among public figures, but also among everyday people in their lives. What’s even worse is that these roots run so deep into society it requires a conscious intention to avoid doing it.
Dehumanization
Dehumanization is one of the most cruel things we humans do to cope with negative actions. According to an article on the Cornell College News Center page, dehumanization means “to deprive someone of human qualities, personality, or dignity; to demean that person’s humanity or individuality.” This has been done throughout history and is continually practiced as a part of life, both to and by other humans. What’s worse is that it has become such a normal part of life that we humans do it subconsciously.
“Each ingredient is unconscious, ingrained behavior and unchecked can be detrimental to the safety of others,” as stated in the Cornell College News Center article. “We need to slow down, examine, and listen to the things we do not always want to acknowledge. However, humans do not enjoy discomfort.”
Dehumanization has affected so many different aspects of life that I cannot call out all of it. Instead, I´ll provide a few examples of dehumanization so you can spot it in everyday life.
People of Fame
Celebrities are common victims of dehumanization. Slander and praise fly at them in person and through social media, yet many don’t consider the effects. Sometimes people put public figures on a pedestal or berate them for anything and everything, and in doing so, that disconnects the public figure from the average person. People often forget celebrities are humans just like you, or me, or any politician.
Politicians suffer the same fate. For example: the Donald Trump assassination attempts. Humanizing him would result in a reaction like: “I hope he’s okay,” but as we know, there were people who made jokes about it on the internet or were upset at the suspect for missing. Trump is a person, just as all of us are, yet there were those who turned a near-death experience into a joke. It isn’t good any way you look at it.
Chappell Roan received major backlash when she voiced her political opinions on Kamala Harris and her views about how people should treat politics. Roan got a lot of backlash on social media platforms such as X, Reddit, and TikTok after she posted a video. This kind of backlash was received for just speaking her opinion, even though it wasn’t strongly leaning, and people then switched their opinions of her in a matter of minutes.
Customer Service
A DRHS parent I talked to had her own story to tell. She worked in a car shop for almost five years. Day after day she would experience people screaming at her. Not just customers, but coworkers too. The whole business (I’m not exaggerating, it was a small business) would have collapsed without her, and yet she never got so much as a “thank you” for it. Just constant shouting. Luckily, she found a better job, and left.
And it’s not just her. I myself have had experiences being dehumanized while working in customer service. I used to work at a theme park during the hot summers in an area of the park that is designed for children. There was this kid that every employee knew because he was, and I say this politely, a handful. I have coworkers who had experienced this kid stealing water and water bottles, spitting in employees’ faces, hitting employees and other customers, and deliberately disobeying what the workers politely told him. All the while, the mom filmed the entire thing, and never once, that I saw, did she step in. I’ve also had many customers tell me, either to my face or right behind me, to “smile more” or “at least act like I enjoy my job.” For context, on days when I wasn’t smiling, I was either having a bad day; working overtime when I wasn’t supposed to; or it was a particularly hot day, and I was suffering from heat exhaustion. I’m not a robot. I experience the same heat as anyone else while doing the same things over and over again. I’m not the only one — many peers have told me about how people reprimand them for “not making an effort” when it was well over one hundred degrees outside.
Karens
An almost timeless meme at this point, “Karens” are often also victims of dehumanization. While they are known for dehumanizing others, people do the same to them almost just as often. Think about it: people film these women, without their consent, in public places, so other people on the internet can laugh at them. Yes, they are often known for overreacting, but posting them on social media just for laughs and potential fame isn’t the best way to handle a situation like that and, dare I say, doesn’t make the person filming any better. Now, I’m not saying don’t record them, because if you’re recording for evidence in case things get violent (which has happened), that’s different. But to post it online for notoriety and laughs is just as dehumanizing as screaming at someone for a mistake. It shouldn’t be done in any situation.
Not Just a Victim
Earlier, I told my own story of dehumanization, but I’ve also subconsciously dehumanized people I know. Oftentimes, I forget teachers can be their own people with personal issues that everyone has. For example, I stayed after school for the Far Away Friends disc golf tournament in September and was getting ready to bring stuff from David Purcell’s room, a math teacher and sponsor of FAF at DRHS, to our spot outside. While there, Mr. Purcell got a phone call about a claim on his insurance that never went through, and it was a truly fascinating and awakening moment for me. I realized that, while not intentionally, I saw him as a teacher before I saw him as a person. I’ve always treated him with respect and kindness since I’d met him, but I didn’t see him as a real person until that moment.
Dehumanization isn’t always done intentionally, but it happens so often and so subconsciously we can forget how harmful it may be to other people. So the next time you go to ask a teacher when they’ll grade an assignment, or you’re about to film something in public because it’ll go viral on social media, or even if you’re about to yell at the Dutch Bro’s worker for messing up your order, slow down and think. Maybe that’s not the best way to handle it. Afterall, everyone has their own lives, we all make mistakes, and let’s be honest, each of us is a person before anything else.
