Syzygy Part 7 Other
Channel: OpenYourRealiTTy
Date: 2012-12-23

Y ou are always a different person. — Friedrich Nietszche
The I  is always in the field of the Other. — Jacques Lacan
Who is the  Other? The Other is what one considers to be apart from the sel f, i t is the non-sel f. The
construction of the sel f invariable rests upon the relationship wi th the Other, the association between what is
same and what is di fferent. What is identi fied as di fferent is treated "di fferently" by the sel f, i .e. subordinated.
Othering is imperative to forming identi ties such as national i ty, race, rel igion, gender, sexual i ty and so
on. Jacques Lacan made the distinction between l i ttle other and big Other, the fi rst being a reflection and
projection of the ego and thus is enti rely inscribed in the imaginary order. The big Other transcends the
i l lusory otherness of the imaginary because i t cannot be assimi lated through identi fication and therefore l ies
wi thin the the symbol ic. M ichael  Warner argued that, "the modern system of sex and gender would not be
possible wi thout a disposi tion to interpret the di fference between genders as the di fference between sel f and
Other". Therefore according to Warner, tradi tional   psychoanalysists hold the heterosexist view that i f one is
attracted to people of the same gender as one's sel f, they fai l  to distinguish between sel f and Other. Y et at the
same time this heteronormativi ty justi fies i tsel f by projecting i ts narcissism on anything deemed to be queer.
Some  feminists have dismissed the work of tradi tional  psychoanalysis as blatently sexist because i t views
women a "deformi ty". Shulami th Fi restone suggested of Freud's wri tings that the word "penis" should be
replaced wi th "power" to help balance the gender imbalance. Simone De Beauvoi r described the Other as the
minori ty, the least favoured one and often a woman, "The Second Sex" when compared to a man. Beauvoi r
argued that throughout history women have been defined as the Other sex, i .e. as an aberration from the
"normal " male sex. Just as  M arti  Kneel  wri tes, "the sel f identi ty of the boy is founded upon a objecti fication
and negation of the Other".
The crisis of modern man is an essentially masculine crisis. — Richard Tarnas
M isogyny is the hatred or contempt of women and feminine values and i t has a long and dark history which
sti l l  persists to this day. The suppression and subordination of women is endemic wi thin al l  patriarchal , male-dominated and logocentric societies, thus i t is deeply embedded wi thin our cul ture. M any historical  figures,
phi losophers and scientists were renowned misogynists as were and are many insti tution's of power.
A ristotle for example contended that women exist as natural  deformi ties or imperfect males. M isogyny is
general ly seen as a stereotyping of women as a group rather than as individuals, therefore a misogynist may
be able to develop posi tive relationships wi th some women. The word "woman" i tsel f is a point of contention
for some feminists as in contains the word "man". A fter al l , female is the defaul t development path for
an undi fferentiated fetus and al l  males ul timately come out of a woman. I n contrast to the bibl ical  story of
A dam and Eve which tel ls us that Eve came from A dam.