Violence
Violence as a facet of categorism includes not only literal violence itself, but also the justifications for violence and the ever-present fear of violence among potential victims. Note that physical violence isn't always against the targeted person's body. It can also be done against the target's children or other family members, pets or possessions. To throw a stone through someone's window is an act of violence in itself, although not as severe as throwing it at an actual person, and also an implied threat of more severe violence. (In Swedish: våld)
Interactions
This facet of categorism is an expression of: prejudice, bigotry and discrimination.
It is likely to intersect with facets such as:
- Energy Drain: Fear of violence can be very draining in itself. Also, explicit or implicit threats of violence can be a way to demand other people's time and energy since such threats are hard to ignore.
- Normalization: Creating or reproducing the idea that violence against a certain category of people is natural, unavoidable or justified in one way of "they have it coming" or another.
As well as with abstractions such as:
- Loosely defined Abyss-category: They deserve to be violated, and anyone who disagrees is actually one of them...
Examples of applying this facet to a particular foci of categorism can include:
- Homophobia: Gaybashing - beating up men for being gay or for being suspected of being gay.
- Misogyny: The idea that feminine persons (women, as well as supposedly unmanly men) deserves to be raped or otherwise violated. Often combined with narrativism about how she was supposedly "asking for it".
- Misandry: The idea that it is okay to violate men, justified by stereotypes such as the notion that "a real man would fight back and win".
Violence in example texts
- A frivolous arrest: The individual woman gets handcuffed harshly enough to start bleeding. This reinforces a system where sex workers and people of color live in fear of violence from the cops. A system fueled by a structure where violence against sex workers is presented as being justified.
