Christine J. Revard Trudeau
M. McCulligh
ENG 3U
6 June 2013
M. McCulligh
ENG 3U
6 June 2013
Dead Fish swimming in streams
"Never forget that only dead fish swim in the stream." When saying this, Malcolm Muggeridge meant that beings that conform to the society they live in are often not themselves but rather lifeless copies of those before them. Everything has a reason; perhaps some fish were born in the stream, got caught in current, or believe the stream ends in a lake.
Fish born in the stream are people who have lived knowing no other life style. Sixteen year old Jenan Merza was born into the “desolate and tradition-bound community” of Sinjar, Iraq, where women have been constricted for “centuries to a life of obedience and child-rearing, one devoid of romance.” Twenty days before Jenan attempted suicide, she was married off to her cousin. Her father, Barkat Hussein, admitted, “I got married to my cousin. I wasn’t in love with her, but we are here, living together. That’s what happens here, we marry our relatives.” Had the community of Sinjar not been opened to the rest of the world, and didn’t play the Turkish soap opera “Forbidden Love,” which gives women there an “unrealistic example of the lives that could be available outside Sinjar,” [Tim Arango] the community would continue with their common operations like marrying cousins and no questions would be asked. When something occurs for so long, it is not just a regular activity – it is a custom.
Fish who are caught by a current are people who feel they have no other choice. In 1979, a fire at Woolsworth in Manchester killed 10 people because, as investigators eventually realized, “people simply hadn’t evacuated. They’d waiting to pay their bills – that was their routine.” When we visit a restaurant we follow a specific script: “We sit down, the waiter comes over. We choose a meal, we eat the meal, we pay for the meal and then we leave the building.” [Dangerous Conformity] In the fire at Woolsworth, customers did not want to stray from the script because people are naturally afraid to be different. A study in the journal Neuron states, “When people hold an opinion differing from others in a group, their brains produce an error signal.” This error signal is located in what is popularly called the “oops area” while the “reward area” slows down. [Elizabeth Landau] People need to feel as if they fit into a group. Most people are unwilling to be the odd one out so the group norm does not change and fish are therefore pulled into the stream.
Fish who believe the stream ends in a lake are people who believe they will benefit greatly by conforming. This occurs when an adult is faced with a child who dresses or acts like the opposite sex. “Parents or other adults who are uncomfortable with so-called gender non-conformity may treat children differently, sometimes violently, or be convinced they can change their feelings and behavior.” [Genevra Pittman] The adults in these situations try to force gender conformity upon the child. Perhaps the adults feel like should the child continue to dress or act like the opposite sex, the child will face public torment, will not fit in, and will not be happy or successful. Researchers found that “children who were the most gender nonconforming were between 40 per cent and more than twice as likely to report any kind of childhood abuse… They also reported more symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.” [Genevra Pittman] The fish with large goals in this particular stream killed their own guppies in an attempt to put the guppies in the stream too.
The stream is a hard thing for a fish to avoid. A fish may be born inside the stream, be pulled in by a current or believe that it ends in a better place. For any case, a fish inside the stream might realize it is not what they expected. Swimming upstream is possible but takes work, whereas drifting through the motions amongst the others may feel easier. But, only dead fish swim with the stream.
Fish born in the stream are people who have lived knowing no other life style. Sixteen year old Jenan Merza was born into the “desolate and tradition-bound community” of Sinjar, Iraq, where women have been constricted for “centuries to a life of obedience and child-rearing, one devoid of romance.” Twenty days before Jenan attempted suicide, she was married off to her cousin. Her father, Barkat Hussein, admitted, “I got married to my cousin. I wasn’t in love with her, but we are here, living together. That’s what happens here, we marry our relatives.” Had the community of Sinjar not been opened to the rest of the world, and didn’t play the Turkish soap opera “Forbidden Love,” which gives women there an “unrealistic example of the lives that could be available outside Sinjar,” [Tim Arango] the community would continue with their common operations like marrying cousins and no questions would be asked. When something occurs for so long, it is not just a regular activity – it is a custom.
Fish who are caught by a current are people who feel they have no other choice. In 1979, a fire at Woolsworth in Manchester killed 10 people because, as investigators eventually realized, “people simply hadn’t evacuated. They’d waiting to pay their bills – that was their routine.” When we visit a restaurant we follow a specific script: “We sit down, the waiter comes over. We choose a meal, we eat the meal, we pay for the meal and then we leave the building.” [Dangerous Conformity] In the fire at Woolsworth, customers did not want to stray from the script because people are naturally afraid to be different. A study in the journal Neuron states, “When people hold an opinion differing from others in a group, their brains produce an error signal.” This error signal is located in what is popularly called the “oops area” while the “reward area” slows down. [Elizabeth Landau] People need to feel as if they fit into a group. Most people are unwilling to be the odd one out so the group norm does not change and fish are therefore pulled into the stream.
Fish who believe the stream ends in a lake are people who believe they will benefit greatly by conforming. This occurs when an adult is faced with a child who dresses or acts like the opposite sex. “Parents or other adults who are uncomfortable with so-called gender non-conformity may treat children differently, sometimes violently, or be convinced they can change their feelings and behavior.” [Genevra Pittman] The adults in these situations try to force gender conformity upon the child. Perhaps the adults feel like should the child continue to dress or act like the opposite sex, the child will face public torment, will not fit in, and will not be happy or successful. Researchers found that “children who were the most gender nonconforming were between 40 per cent and more than twice as likely to report any kind of childhood abuse… They also reported more symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.” [Genevra Pittman] The fish with large goals in this particular stream killed their own guppies in an attempt to put the guppies in the stream too.
The stream is a hard thing for a fish to avoid. A fish may be born inside the stream, be pulled in by a current or believe that it ends in a better place. For any case, a fish inside the stream might realize it is not what they expected. Swimming upstream is possible but takes work, whereas drifting through the motions amongst the others may feel easier. But, only dead fish swim with the stream.
Bibliography
- Pittman, Genevra. "Girls Who Dress or Act like Boys, and Boys Who Act More Feminine, May Be More Likely to Be Abused." Thestar.com. Toronto Star, 22 Feb. 2012. Web. 03 June 2013.
- Landau, Elizabeth. "Why So Many Minds Think Alike." CNN. Cable News Network, 15 Jan. 2009. Web. 14 May 2013.
- Arango, Tim. "SINJAR JOURNAL; Where Arranged Marriages Are Customary, Suicides Grow More Common." The New York Times. The New York Times, 07 June 2012. Web. 03 June 2013.
- HeroicImaginationTV. "Dangerous Conformity." YouTube.
- Niccol, Andrew, dir. Gattaca. Columbia Pictures, 1997. Film.
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