Insiders And Outsiders

INSIDERS AND OUTSIDERS

Who are the insiders?

· people who conform
· behave according to the accepted rules
· members of society
· only insiders in their own group

Insider clubs and societies

Freemasons, Scouts, Guides, Trade Union, Working Men's Club,
Gentlemen's Clubs, …

· own rules of behaviour for its members
· protect the interests of their members
· sometimes expensive to join

The changing image of the insider

· insider today à maybe outsider tomorrow
· changing its views of what is and what is not acceptable

What is normal for society?

every society has its own rules or norms which govern the way it expects ist members to conform

· laws to protect members
· rules for sexual behaviour
· accepted norms of dress and social behaviour
·
anyone not conforming may be considered abnormal or an outsider
· boundaries are ill-defined / surprisingly wide Who are the outsiders?
gypsies, hippies, homeless, punks, jews, homosexuals, lepers, travellers, unmarried,…

· individuals or part of a minority group
· eccentrics, protesters à chosen to be outsiders
· people who are depending on alcohol, drugs or gambling à are forced into becoming outsiders because the standards of their behaviour are not accepted
· members of certain religious or racial minority groups
· others become outsiders because of some disability or disease

à lepers:
· have been shunned and avoided
· have an illness which could spread to others
· were herded together in groups and driven from town to town
· were forced into becoming outsiders because of physical diseas

Acting the part of the outcast

· expect a cripple to be crippled
· become suspicious and insecure if they fall short of these expectations

Fear and hostility

· afraid of losing the job
· be ashamed
· want to hide the disease

Single parents

· are seen as outsiders
· people think they would get more money from Social Security than people who go to
work
· not all single parents are getting what they are entitled to, simply because they don't know their rights
· are often happier without partner

The childless

· because ot infertility
· seem to regard themselves as failures
· modern medical research has helped many couples
· hurts them tremendously

Role reversal

· has been traditional for men to be the breadwinner and for the wife to stay at home to look after the children
· these roles are being reversed by young couples
· this may be because the job market is such that it is easier fot the woman to get a job
· other people think men who look after children would be odd

Illegitimacy

· in the past children who were born to unmarried parents were regarded as outsiders by society and law as well
· illegitimacy is not viewed in the same way in all countries (iceland: 6% of all first born children are born outside of marriage - mothers and babies are accepted)

The unmarried

· not so long ago: woman of 30 years plus who had not married à "old maid"
· image of a rather unhappy, unfulfilled person
· today unmarried woman are seen to be leading successful and enviable lives

AIDS - the new sexual plaque?

AIDS - Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome

· doctors are desperatly traying to fight the disease are striving to educate the general public refuse to perform biopsies on AIDS victims
· victims are vulnerable to infection
· people of 20 or 30 years are dying from this disease
· they are often spurned
· they are showen no sympathy
· people say it would be difficult to know what to do with the sufferers "you want to care but you also want to keep your distance"

Homosexuals

· in the past male homosexuals were prosecuted by law
· female homosexuals have not faced the same problems from the law but felt socially isolated
· AIDS has made male homosexuals once again the object of distrust many people assume they all are likely to carry the disease
· infected are only those who are promiscuous (have many sexual partners) in the same way, promiscuous heterosexuals and those who misuse drugs and share syringes are more likely to be infected
· many gays lose the support of their parents and get isolated

Homeless because of problems

· because they can no longer afford to pay the rent or mortgage
· as a result of mistakes they have made in the way they lived their lives à alcoholism, drug dependency or imprisonment
· in the past usually middle aged or elder men
· now woman and younger people become homeless because of dependence on drugs. alcohol or gambling
· some live in hostel accommodation, many more are living out an existence in the streets

Shelter

Shelter - the national Campaign for the Homeless

· helps many thousands of homeless people each year
· letters (asking for assistence to find rooms) come in every day

Down and out

Homeless but happy:

· Harry has not always been on the road
· had a room once but wasn't happy there
· travels around, doing odd jobs, kip in a hostel in winter

Gypsies

· many of them still speak their traditional romany language and keep up their old customs
· no one knows exactly where they came from - it has been suggested that it was from as far as india
· used to travel freely across national boundaries in the years before passports were necessary
· were met with hostility and suspicion
· some people think that they bring good luck
· others think that they have special powers and can "tell fortunes"
· gypsies say they are just ordinary human beings who have chosen to live their lives in their traditional way
· many of them see themselves as living better lives than the "Gorgios" (non gypsies)

The travellers

· are often confused with gypsies
· do not speak romany or have the same traditions
· like the Navvies, who built the roads, railways and canals
· many of the travellers are Irish and they are met with the same hostility as gypsy people

Laplanders

· are insiders in the society of their parts of the world
· houseowners = outsiders since they do not conform
· keep herds of reindeers
· move with the herds / follow them