American Beauty / American Psycho: “The American Dream Is Killing Me”
Written by Andi Bazaar, Yevhn Gertz, Oliver Schofield Tydalé | Feb 23, 2024
"Diversity and inclusion in psychiatric services have led to the widespread recognition of the mental health implications of stigma for individuals from sexual and gender minorities."
In psychology, an in-group is a social group to which a person identifies as a member. There is a wealth of research on in-group favoritism and bias against out-groups. The patterns we continually see, in my opinion are a result of this.
This is not to directly fault players because much of this is unconscious bias but CBS is repeatedly casting a handful of people of color to check the boxes and appear diverse, but these individuals will never even have the majority if they banded together.
So when a person with power has to decide who to make an enemy of, easy options are always those in the out-group. Not only do they usually not have the numbers themselves, but because there is fewer of them — it doesn’t ruffle as many feathers and that is the advantage of having a house full of individuals with whom at minimum you can connect with on something as simple as race or age. It gives you an in-group and potential allies, this is an inherent flaw in the game and will only change with casting.
Having diverse casts should not simply be about the numbers, about checking boxes and making sure there is a splash of each marginalized group represented. It levels the playing field for the contestants and affords each player an equal opportunity to play and win.
WHY TRUE DIVERSITY IN REALITY TV MATTERS?
- Let me define true diversity as equitable representation of each major racial/ethnic group and should also include age, gender and sexual orientation.
- Let me preface this part by saying I am going to use Black people as the example minority group, however this can be applicable to all POC.
NOTE — there will always be outliers and those who do not fit the general pattern, but here we will discuss the norm not the exceptions.
First, let's discuss assimilation which is defined as "the absorption and integration of people, ideas or culture into a wider society or culture." — when players are thrown together on an island or in a house often at the forefront is cultural assimilation.
When the dominant culture is White by default, the Black contestants must use much stronger, extraordinary social skills in order to assimilate into the dominant culture. A task that isn't even a thought for the White contestants because they are amongst their "own"
This cultural assimilation may consist of a Black contestant thinking about which "personality traits" they should express or suppress in order to blend and integrate better, what parts of their background they should discuss, the words and vernacular they should use etc.
While this may seem like a great place to interject "but every contestant does that" yes, to some extent. However, Black contestants are the minority and always aware of the stereotyping against them. The added burden of actively fighting against fitting a stereotype is taxing.
It causes "stereotype threat," a psychological situation in which individuals feel at risk of confirming a negative stereotype about their social group. Black Reality TV contestants are constantly on guard to not be a stereotype, leaving very little room to make mistakes.
We often see White Reality TV contestants make "mistakes" that are quickly forgiven, have loud, rowdy personalities with not a single thought given to it being a character flaw or stereotype. The disparity in the margin for error and the flexibility to be oneself is game-changing.
"The beauty in Reality TV Shows that bring together individuals from many different backgrounds is that it gives people an opportunity to interact and play with others who they may otherwise have never crossed paths."
The tradeoff, however is that when you are playing a social game for significant prize money with strangers, it is easy to revert to what and who you know in-group favoritism. There are reasons why we gravitate to people we look like and seek out people who share commonalities.
A White person who doesn't personally know many Black people back home and who hasn't really interacted with many may be less inclined to seek out a connection (and a potential alliance) with the 1 or 2 Black people on their season when they can easily make friends in the majority and that is the advantage of having a group of individuals with whom at minimum you can connect with on something as simple as race. It gives you an automatic in-group (that is also the majority in numbers) and potential allies.
This often results in the Black people being early boots and or on the bottom from very early on, the "minority bias." Unless they can use great social game to work their way in and or stay silent and go unnoticed, this is a common pattern that we see across the board.
- One thing I want to address is that this is often not the direct fault of the players, as much of this bias is unconscious. However, we are in a day and age where we need to be aware of our biases and how they affect our decision-making. You know the patterns, don't perpetuate them.
- This is a systemic problem that begins with high level executives and decision makers down the line to casting to players to editing and even fans. Until we see a change in the culture of Reality TV and the systemic ways that disparage certain groups, we can expect the same results.
I call upon all networks to be fair and equitable in your casting, as I previously stated we have a habit to stick to what we know and what we're comfortable with so maybe that means your network needs more Black people at the top to speak for us and ensure representation!
Now is the time, do right by your network, your contestants, your viewers and be the change! The revolution is happening and you are in control of whether or not you are on the right side of history but best believe I'll be here to call you out if you are not.
Homophobia in Cuba is often picked on by westerners as evidence Cuba is a “Dicatorial” country and that socialism didn’t work there, of course this is firstly hypocritical and chauvinistic but it also lacks historical context
LGBTQIA+ Rights in Cuba:
links.org.au/node/2671
“Before Spanish invasion, Indigenous Latin America and the Caribbean were sexually diverse and tolerant of same-sex relationships and cross-dressing.”
LGBTQIA+ issues in Cuba are a direct result of colonial atrocities used to dominate the indigenous population.
“The Spanish occupation of Latin America and the Caribbean included a war against the sexual nonconformists in that region.”
AMERICA THEN PICKED UP WHERE SPAIN LEFT OFF:
“Throughout the neo-colonial period, homosexuality remained illegal in Cuba. The 1938 Penal Code was based on Spanish laws and remained in force until 1979.”
So after 400 years of colonialism and neo colonialism the Cuban revolution decriminalised homosexuality only 20 years after revolution, sodomy was still illegal in America until 2004 as a comparison.
CUBA HAS SOME OF THE BEST LGBTQIA+ RIGHTS IN THE WHOLE WORLD:
“Sex change operations are free, there are nationwide LGBTQIA+ Rights festivals and marches every May, sexual diversity rights are on television there are limited hate crimes against LGBTQIA+ people”
"Diversity and inclusion in psychiatric services have led to the widespread recognition of the mental health implications of stigma for individuals from sexual and gender minorities."
Prevalent within these stigmatized populations are comorbidities such as substance use disorder which often exist alongside PTSD, OCD, anxiety disorder, among others.
Comorbidity is a situation in which one or two related illnesses exhibit symptoms in a person. In mental illness, they can either appear at the same time or one after the other.
Substance use disorder is an example of a condition that is comorbid with a lot of other mental illnesses including anxiety disorder, PTSD, personality disorder among others.
I want to talk about cultural traditions related to parenting that can be harmful to the development and psychology of kids focused on brown culture, this is a compilation of some of those traditions and why they can be harmful to the children who are experiencing them.
First of all, the idea of fathers being only breadwinners and being seen as weak or not manly if they participate in raising kids and doing things like changing diapers or playing with their kids. We then have fathers who are emotionally unavailable and kids who feel unloved.
Also, fighting in front of kids or even using them in arguments between parents. Kids are not objects that are used against your spouse, they don’t have the development to understand what’s happening and that stress they are going through can be highly traumatic.
Starting to fat shame kids (especially daughters early on and telling them they won’t get married or be loved) if they are not beautiful or skinny, this starts to create body dysmorphia early on and an unearthly relationship with food and their bodies.
Putting too much pressure academically or making them choose their careers, engineers and doctors are not the only good jobs out there. There are plenty of careers that can earn a good living and as long as your kids are happy and enjoying their careers, that’s what matters.
WANTING THEM TO BE FIRST IN CLASS:
Guess what? Not everyone can be first, only one can. By putting that much pressure on kids and only comparing them to those with better grades harms their confidence and can make them hate school and education.
RISHTAS STARTING AT 18:
An 18 year old young woman is not an adult, 18 doesn’t make us magically adults even 21-22 is still too early. Let them live their young life and be independent rather than going from their parents’ house to their spouse’s in laws house.
WANTING THEM TO GET MARRIED TO THE SAME CASTE, RELIGION, COMMUNITY:
Diversity is a strength and a little genetic diversity is actually healthier, forcing your kid to break up with someone they love because they have another religion or skin colour is simply harmful and idiotic.
LIVING YOUR LIFE THROUGH KIDS:
Your kid is not you, they don’t have the same goals and aspirations as you. They are not you, we have to let them live their life and find what they love and are comfortable with. Otherwise, they can become too anxious and hurt their self-esteem.
Letting extended family have too much say, extended families are not part of the nuclear family. They can’t start to control your kids and put their neuroses/superstitions on kids. It is really harmful and can make the kid resent their family, be firm if the family oversteps!m and that leads us to caring what others may say.
Yes we gossip a lot, but you know what? Your kid’s happiness is more important than what others will say. Caring more about what others will say as opposed to your kid’s wellbeing is one of the worst things we can do.
I have seen people saying that those who are homophobic, racist, etc have mental illnesses. Stop that! Not only does it stigmatize people with mental illness but it also removes responsibility from those who engage in those acts. If you are racist, it is all on you bud!!
When you see a racist, homophobic, violent occurrence, please don’t blame mental illness. That’s not how people with mental illness behave. Statistically, those with mental illness are less violent than ”normal people” being a bad person is not a category in psych!
Let me just say this loud and clear. If you are a homophobe, transphobic, racist, sexist, islamophobic or any other combination of non-acceptance YOU WILL NEVER BE A GOOD DOCTOR. The only thing you will do is harm your clients.
I have made the decision for my DM mental health support that if you say something racist, I will not help or engage. While I don’t have a choice to do that in my main job, I can implement that here. If you are looking to change from racism, I am here for you but to say something racist and expect free help it won’t happen on my side.
LET’S TALK ABOUT PEOPLE PLEASING
It is a behaviour that a lot of us engaged in, more so when our mental health is not doing well. Whether it is because we want to fit in, avoid confrontation or just satisfy people around us. However, it can be bad for us and others!
Trying to please people often comes at the expense of our mental health, by trying to be there for everyone we often spend energy that is limited by engaging in people pleasing which can further harm our mental health. On top of that, we also open ourselves up for hurt.
This is because a lot of people won’t have qualms controlling/manipulating people, meaning that we can be put in a position where we are used rather than supported. Being taken advantage of because of our vulnerabilities can be very challenging to get out of.
Furthermore, it is important to remember that we can’t please everyone. Sometimes, simply existing will upset people and that is something that we can’t control. Also, sometimes when we try to play peacemakers or please others they can turn against us and make us a scapegoat.
Oftentimes, these behaviours happen because as kids we had to play peacemakers with our parents, stroke their egos so they would soften up, trying to please our bullies so they would stop their behaviours. There are quite a few things in childhood that can lead to people pleasing
While it can be hard to say no, establish ourselves with practice we can become more prominent at it. Our behaviour of pleasing people has been going on for a while, so it will take time to reverse that. We can start by writing down things we could change to be more assertive.
Establishing boundaries (especially with people who take advantage of our kindness is really important) because it will allow us to gain more confidence and help us establish our real personality and identity. People may not accept this new version of us but that just means that they were with us because they could easily take advantage of us. Now that it is no longer on the table, they may leave, but that’s completely alright. Their presence was probably toxic to us, let’s do an exercise together.
Let’s write down all the behaviours that we engage in to please others, despite not wanting to. They can be small or big but it is important to write them down so that we can identify them. Then, let’s write down, in another column the different (more assertive) behaviours.
In a third column, we will write how we will go about it, a plan to help transition us from the pleasing behaviours to the more assertive ones. Then it is about picking one of those behaviours at a time and making those changes, it is okay to go slowly at our own pace.
Hopefully, that clarifies a little bit why people pleasing can be harmful to us and what we can do to change it a little bit. Have a great day everyone and stay safe.
I want to take a moment to talk about repressing especially in regards to emotions, we all do it to a certain extent whether it is because we don’t want to bother our loved ones or because we don’t feel safe opening up to the people we currently know.
However, repressing emotions comes with some issues. Let’s take all our mental capacity as a bathtub. Everyone’s bathtub is going to be different and different sizes, but no matter what at one point or another it is going to fill up and that is when mental health issues start!
When we repress our emotions, we don’t drain that bathtub until it overflows. Externalizing acts as a drain, it allows us to take all those thoughts and emotions that are inside of us and take them outside. That can be accomplished in a variety of ways.
Talking to people, journaling, crying, talking to yourself, your pet, joining a support group and a variety of other ways, as long as it takes everything that we feel from inside to outside of us. Very often, when we suffer from depression and anxiety we have a hard time externalizing and that can contribute to worsening everything.
Obviously, repressing our emotions is just one side of our mental health but it is a very important one. If you are having a hard time externalizing, experiment with different forms to see which one works for you. It is going to prevent things from getting worse, feeling vulnerable and sharing our experiences is so important and a good habit to get into even if it is just as a prevention method and to keep ourselves psychologically healthy.
So many people are forced to continue working or studying through a lot of mental health anguish because the system doesn’t have sick days for mental health, it is not laziness when someone is not being productive or focused it is most likely a form of anxiety or depression!
We praise people for their resilience and how they pulled themselves out of their trauma/depression/anxiety but we need to stop and ask ourselves whether this was necessary. By having better parents, support system or a safer society this resilience wouldn’t even be needed.
When you see people who have gone through a lot and persevered, it also means that they have gone through really hard times and while sometimes it is inevitable, most of the time it can easily be prevented. So many systems that seek to continue this status quo have to be replaced.
A SPECIAL THANKS TO:
- Andi Bazaar (Writer)
- Mark J. Levstein (Co-Editor)
- Yevhn Gertz (Director of Photography/Co-writer)
- dr Oliver Schofield MD (Consulting/Co-writer)
- dr Seth Gryffen, MD (Consulting)
- dr Khaan, MD (Consulting)
- Timothée Freimann schofield (Photographed)
- Clayton Euridicé Schofield (Editor/Journalist)
- Scott Wynné Schofield (Publicist)
- Henrie Louis Friedrich (Analyst)
- Jwan Höffler Conwall (Art Interior Design)
- Hugo-licharré Freimann (Ass Director)
- Shot at GQ’s Studios by José Schenkkan and Benjamin Schenkkan Joseph
- In appearance by "E. Pierro-luccá Schofield" / Emmanuel Piero-luccá Schofield (Model)
- In collaboration with "The Me You Can’t See UK" (TMYCSUK) / @tmycsuk
