Interesting ruminations by our philosopher-selves.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

The following is rumination by our Lucifer Davison:
The idea that there could be people born multiple instantly means that for a small minority, the system (no pun intended) is wrong. They are not matching the identity of the common person on the street. They are instead:

A subculture of bodies with multiple inhabitants. The ramifications of this are big, especially where religion is concerned. If people are born with more than one soul, then to them the Biblical proscription of "One soul, one mind, one body" is not accurate. If so, this means that there is a full-fledged option to be different from the common culture. Multiplicity, if divorced from the doctrine of mental disorder would potentially be far more upsetting than Homosexuality. If people can have experiences of living in a body and can be proud of that fact, then there is a consequence for society. The consequence is that simplicity, that panacea of Fundamentalism and Social conservatism, is thrown out with the bath-water. The same is true for the natural multiples that weren't caused by trauma. Psychiatry does not recognize them and tries to suppress them with all the power of the State. Multiplicity, specifically the natural and born versions, is a potential death-blow to the infantilizing notions of mental health and extremist religion. Multiples have the ability to grasp far more of human potential, if only they choose to reach for it. They can reach for their potential in ways denied Singletons. The Singleton seeks relief in religion, in alcohol, in fruitless activities that are harmful to him or her and cannot escape the grim realities of this world. People in systems can, and that is what causes members of systems to be regarded as coping mechanisms and arrested development. We who are united in the simple fact that we are people who reside not in houses of steel or brick but of flesh. If people can be born multiple, then the world is far more complex than the average Fundamentalist of any religion or creed can stomach. That is my view on why the Establishment fights to keep the knowledge of healthy, normal multiplicity from being known. Thanks for playing!

Comments, anyone?

Comments

[ksol1460.livejournal.com]

No, we certainly don't agree with the OP on everything, but we do think that the dominant culture has kept multiplicity in the "abnormal" category. Not because we have any "power" -- simply because we are different, and that's something that film studios and book publishers can capitalize on. The fear, the titillation, the True Crime elements.

And it is in fact a type of oppression to have to be in the closet about an important part of your identity. Any time you can't express your true self, religion, or culture for fear of what will happen to you, then oppression is going on. You're extremely fortunate that you haven't been placed in a mental hospital, lost or been denied employment or lost friendships or loved ones after coming out as multiple. These things can and have happened to others, including some on this community. Others cover up very carefully about what they are, for fear the same will happen to them.

[bladespark.livejournal.com]

I don't feel I'm particularly lucky.

I'm just sane. I'm mentally healthy, and it's quite obvious to anybody that knows me that I don't need to be locked up.

[ksol1460.livejournal.com]

It was a unique situation, in which I'd been told that the boss already knew a couple of plurals and understood about things like that, and to be discreet about it, and he did. So did the other two people on staff. I don't expect to find work in a place with that much openness again but I'll be very happy if I do.

[cirape.livejournal.com]

My employer does not care that we are Multiple. I don't agree with Micha's decision to come out about it when we first started there, but it hasn't caused us any problems.

[kangetsuhime.livejournal.com]

Hmm. What bladespark said. But then I live in the UK where we smack people over the head for trying to lock people up who don't really need it. Ie: They aren't an ACTUAL PROVEN danger to themselves and/or others. I'm pretty sure people have sued companies which fired them on the basis of *actual* mental health issues, never mind something that hasn't even been 'diagnosed'.

I don't think an OH NOES THEY'RE OUT TO GET YOU view is going to help counter this experience you speak of. Maybe you don't mean it to come across that way, but that's certainly how it was reading.

Dominant culture keeps a lot fo things in the abnormal catagory. Here, goths are in the abnormal catagory. You risk being turned down for jobs, even fired from jobs, there's a derisive attitude from the majority of the public who think you're "weird" at best, batshit nuts at worst. Bearing in mind that hear multiples do not get locked up, they're pretty comparible, so I can't see the public's view of multiplicity to be a big deal :P

[tej-agni.livejournal.com]

None of us are going to go around telling other people. It's not really any of their business.