My thoughts…

Stigma is a subject that makes me angry which is why it is a great subject to explore for this project. Combating stigma and raising awareness is something that I am most passionate about so I know that I will be able to maintain my interest and motivation while exploring this. The primary points I would like to first explore, surrounding stigma, is how exactly it came about, how it has been influenced and developed over time and how it is used and perceived across different age groups.

I have some previous experience with researching this topic and my main focus was around how badges were used during the holocaust to mark types of people that were discriminated against at the time, including homosexuals, Jewish people and disabled people. I also explored how those same people are still stigmatised today using physical, visual indicators or how those symbols have been reclaimed by those communities.

The known history of stigma, I believe, begins where the word was first used by the Greeks who were strong on visual aids that were designed to expose something unusual and bad about the moral status of the bearer. It will be interesting to explore how the same practices are still used and have developed over time into the modern age. I have sourced a book by a famous psychologist named Erving Goffman to support my research.

While the word was first used by the Greeks, they most definitely were not he first to identify and outcast members of a community that were perceivably different. I will document a timeline of perception and events for how marginalised people were treated over the centuries.

There are some events that I do have in mind that I feel as though have had an impact on how people are stigmatised in modern day. A recent example is Donald Trumps’ actions against Muslim people, putting a ban on them entering the US’ in an effort to “prevent terrorist refugees” entering America. This further fed a common stigma that ignorant people have against Muslim people, making the assumption that they are dangerous. I am not well versed however on events that have been taking pace across the globe and I am somewhat ashamed of my lack of awareness so it will be beneficial personally too, to educate myself on the suffering that is happening beyond what is shown on the news.

I work with children part-time and have two younger brothers who have both been marginalised for their disabilities. It has been very saddening, yet quite interesting to see and learn how younger children perceive disability and how they are connected to the stigmatisation of this group. Both of my brothers have experienced bullying and ignorance in relation to their physical and mental differences and they themselves have been confused and become insecure about things they cannot change about themselves. This connection I have to stigmatisation will help push me through this project and gives me relevant insights.