Dehumanization

In conclusion, the themes discussed (the definition of dehumanization, sexualization, the Persons Case, exploitation and oppression, and dehumanization in the medical field) show how the prevalence of dehumanization throughout human history has had a great influence on the development of individuals within a society which leads to deviant behaviours.

In your opinion, which form of dehumanzation is the worst? Can it be said that certain forms of dehumanization are worse than others?

The following are seven ways that a doctor can prevent dehumanization:

1. Dress like an individual

2. Share decision-making with patients

3. Talk to patients about their lives

4. Give patients small responsibilities

5. Relate to patients

6. Avoid labeling

7. Personalize patients

The structures of institutions and the psychological demands of providing care can cause professionals to treat patients as less than human. Patients are often identified by their disease or procedure (e.g., “the gallbladder in Room 38”). This is a serious issue that needs to be dealt with, as people who are ill should be treated with love and compassion, rather than having their human identity taken away from them.

“Anyone who has been admitted into a hospital or undergone a procedure, even if cared for in the most appropriate way, can feel as though they were treated like an animal or object."

- Omar Sultan Haque, Harvard University psychologist and physician

Dehumanization in the Medical Field

Dehumanization describes efforts to reduce one's sense of humanity or to undermine one's access to basic human rights, such as physical autonomy, food, water, and opportunities for self-sufficiency. There are numerous ways that one can dehumanize another person. Some examples include language that likens humans to non-human animals, verbal abuse, denying the right to speak, slavery, physical abuse, and refusing eye contact. Dehumanization also takes the form of undermining one's individuality or preventing one from showing compassion towards others (a characteristic often linked to a sense of humanity) . Dehumanization may be carried out by a social institution, such as a state, school, or family, or via a person's feeling and actions. Dehumanization can be unintentional, especialy on the part of individuals. Historically, state-organized dehumanization has been targeted at minorities.

When you hear the word dehumanization, what do you think of?

According to thefreedictionary.com, to dehumanize someone means "to deprive of human qualities such as individuality, compassion, or civility."

Where does most child labor occur?

Of an estimated 200 million child laborers around the globe: approximately 114 million (53%) are in Asia and the Pacific; 14 million (7%) live in Latin America; and 65 million (30%) live in sub-Saharan Africa.

Child labor involves at least one of the following characteristics:

•Violates a nation’s minimum age laws

•Threatens children’s physical, mental, or emotional well-being

•Involves intolerable abuse, such as child slavery, child trafficking, debt bondage, forced labor, or illicit activities

•Prevents children from going to school

•Uses children to undermine labor standards

Child Labour

One example of oppression and exploitation is child labour. Child labour is work that harms children or keeps them from attending school. Around the world, growing gaps between rich and poor in recent decades have forced millions of young children out of school and into work. The International Labor Organization estimates that 215 million children between the ages of 5 and 17 currently work under conditions that are considered illegal, hazardous, or extremely exploitative. Large numbers of children work in commercial agriculture, fishing, manufacturing, mining, and domestic service. Some children work in illicit activities like the drug trade and prostitution, or participate in other traumatic activities such as serving as soldiers.

Oppression and Exploitation

The following five themes will be discussed:

Oppression: the exercise of authority or power in a burdensome, cruel, or unjust manner.

Exploitation: the action or fact of treating someone unfairly in order to benefit from their work.

1. What is dehumanization?

2. Sexualization

3. The Persons Case

4. Oppression and exploitation

5. Dehumanization in the medical field

Thesis

Women are Persons Monument on Parliament Hill

The Famous Five

Emily Murphy

Henrietta Muir Edwards

Nellie McClung

Louise McKinney

Irene Parlby

With the help of Canadian Prime Minister Sir William Lyon Mackenzie King, the Famous Five appealed the Supreme Court of Canada decision to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in England, the highest court of appeal for Canada at the time. On October 18, 1929, Lord Sankey, Lord Chancellor of the Privy Council, announced the British Privy Council decision that "yes, women are persons ... and eligible to be summoned and may become Members of the Senate of Canada." The Privy Council decision also said that "the exclusion of women from all public offices is a relic of days more barbarous than ours. And to those who would ask why the word "persons" should include females, the obvious answer is, why should it not?"

On April 24, 1928, the Supreme Court of Canada answered "no." The court decision said that in 1867 when the BNA Act was written, women did not vote, run for office, nor serve as elected officials; only male nouns and pronouns were used in the BNA Act; and since the British House of Lords did not have a woman member, Canada should not change the tradition for its Senate.

Appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada

For years, women's groups in Canada signed petitions and appealed to the federal government to open the Senate to women. In 1927, Emily Murphy decided to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada for clarification on the word "persons." She and four other prominent Alberta women's rights activists, now known as the Famous Five, signed a petition to the Senate. The question asked was "Does the word 'persons' in Section 24, of The British North America Act, 1867, include female persons?"

Dehumanization

When Alberta social activist Emily Murphy was appointed in 1916 as the first woman police magistrate in Alberta, her appointment was challenged on the grounds that women weren't persons under the BNA Act. In 1917, the Alberta Supreme Court ruled that women were persons. The ruling only applied within the province of Alberta however, so when Emily allowed her name to be put forward as a candidate for the Senate at the federal level of he government, Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden turnd her down.

Background on the BNA Act of 1867

The BNA Act of 1867 created the Dominion of Canada and provided many of its governing principles. The BNA Act used the word "persons" to refer to more than one person, and "he" to refer to one person. A ruling in British common law in 1876 emphasized the problem for Canadian women by saying "Women are persons in matters of pains and penalties, but are not persons in matters of rights and privileges."

The prevalence of dehumanization throughout human history has had a great influence on the development of individuals within a society which leads to deviant behaviours.

The Persons Case

Sexualization

At the time of the creation of the Dominion of Canada, women were not considered "persons". It wasn't until the 1920s that five brave women from Alberta challeneged the definition of "persons" in what is known as the Persons Case and helped women throughout the country to gain more political freedom.

According to the American Psychological Association, sexualization occurs when “individuals are regarded as sex objects and evaluated in terms of their physical characteristics and sexiness.”

Both males and females use sexualization as a means of dehumanization, however males tend to do this more often than females. This is simply because a male's brain is wired differently than a female's; men focus more on what they see, whereas women focus more on how they feel. Although having lustful thoughts is considered a form of dehumanization, these kinds of thoughts are natural and the person experiencing them usually can't control them. In these cases, sexualization can be justified as a means of dehumanization.

Anyone (girls, boys, men, women) can be sexualized, however the sexualiztion of women is the most prominent in our society. The APA states that after multiple studies, results have indicated that women more often than men are portrayed in a sexual manner (e.g., dressed in revealing clothing, with bodily postures or facial expressions that imply sexual readiness) and are objectified (e.g., used as a decorative object, or as body parts rather than a whole person). This sexualization can be found in a large variety of media forms, including television, music videos, music lyrics, movies, magazines, sports media, video games, the Internet and advertising. The sexualization of women's bodies creates the idea that a female's body is her most important attribute, when in reality, this is far from the case.

All four conditions do not need to be present; any one is an indication of sexualization. The fourth condition (the innapropriate imposition of sexuality) is especially relevant to children.

The American Psychological Association lists several components to sexualization that set it part from healthy sexuality. Sexualization occurs when

• a person's value comes only from his or her sexual appeal or behaviour, to the exclusion of other characteristics;
• a person is held to a standard that equates physical attractiveness with being sexy;
• a person is sexually objectified — that is, made into a thing for others’ sexual use, rather than seen as a person with the capacity for independent action and decision making; and/or
• sexuality is inappropriately imposed upon a person.