Essentialism in society Essay

Essentialism in society is â€Å"the practice of regarding something (as a presumed human trait) as having innate existence or universal validity rather than as being a social, ideological, or intellectual construct,† or in simpler terms, ascribing one trait or set of traits to a specific group of people, disregarding individual variations or possible variations ( Spelman, n. d. ). Essentialism is practiced by everyone as a biological pattern-recognition mechanism. It can, however, and frequently is, used as a hostile tool to oppress and subject people grouped together by race, gender, financial circumstances, and sexual identities and orientations. Essentialism is a dangerously powerful tool employed by politicians hoping to incite the emotions of the general populace enough to overlook the rationality of their words and meanings. Essentialism is degrading to every person on a personal level; it strips individuals of individuality, attributing traits based on skin tone, hair color, religious beliefs, sexual preferences, sexual identity, gender identity, body type, clothing choices– leaving room only for what are considered the â€Å"basics,† regardless of their truth or falseness. It defines â€Å"gender roles,† â€Å"race roles,† any role based on these traits (Narrative Therapy, n. d. ). The increasingly accessible media of popular music acts only as fuel for reducing whole bodies of people to one set of traits. Statistics regarding record sales are null and void when the actual listening audience of any popular music is concerned; it is played in shopping malls, on public transportation, in private businesses, often on public streets: any genre of popular music has an ample audience at any given moment in time. For that reason alone its many mixed messages are spread wide and unevenly (Book Rags, 2009). Pop music has songs with confident lyrics, cocky lyrics, lyrics alluding to serious depression, jealousy, melancholy, drinking and drug habits (healthy and unhealthy), often revolving around and promoting â€Å"traditional† (that is, mainstream) gender roles, sexual identities, and racial identities. Record sales alone indicate a substantial audience willing to invest monetarily in songs they may or may not necessarily agree with the lyrics of; however, the continued inclusion of such essentialist lyrics is a significant indication that a majority of listeners, if not in complete agreement with them, are not actively attempting to staunch the accelerating insertion of essentialism into the everyday lives of its listeners (On Distinction, 2009). Bibliography Elizabeth, Spelman. Inessential Woman. Google. 02 July 2009 . Book Rags. Google. 2 July 2009 . Narrative Therapy. Google. 2 July 2009 . On Distinction. 07 July 2006. Google. 2 July 2009