Drottnunaraðferðir

Ég á alveg stór merkilega frænku í Norge sem heitir Berit Ås en hún og mamma eru bræðradætur.  Hún er vel þekktur stjónmálamaður, prófessor og kvenréttindakona.  Ég man eftir að hafa heyrt um hana þegar ég var lítil, aðallega þó vegna þess að hún á dóttur sem er lesbía!  Það þótti nú ekkert svakalega fínt í norsku trúboðafjölskyldunni þegar dóttirin mætti í fjölskylduboðin með sinni frú (sem er þekkt leikkona :) eins og ekkert væri eðlilegra...

Eins hefur mamma sagt mér frá því að Berit sjálf hafi nú ekki verið neitt sérstaklega vinsæl innan fjölskyldunnar í gamla daga, með sínar sterku og þá óvenjulegu skoðanir.  Alltaf eitthvað að vagga bátnum...  En það hefur breyst með árunum og nú finn ég ekki annað en að fjölskyldan sé bara stolt af henni Berit, svo er hún líka stór skemmtileg og góð kona.  

Ég prófaði að googla hana og fann heilan helling af skemmtilegu efni henni tengt.  Það sem hún er nú samt sennilega þekktust fyrir er að hafa sett fram kenninguna um Master suppression techniques, en þar eru taldar upp aðferðir ráðandi afla til að þagga niður í einstaklingum sem ekki falla algjörlega inní mynstur hópsins og viðhalda þanning ráðandi stöðu sinni.  Þó svo að kenningarnar væru mótaðar út frá hennar reynslu sem kona í karlapólitík, þá eiga þær við um hegðun hópa og hjarða almennt.  

The Master suppression techniques were a framework articulated by the Norwegian social psychologist and feminist Berit Ås to describe five means by which women are or were subjugated in Western patriarchical societies. Master suppression techniques are strategies of social manipulation by which a dominant group maintains such a position in a (established or unexposed) hierarchy.

Making Invisible

To silence or otherwise marginalize persons in opposition by ignoring them.

Examples:

• Another speaker takes something you have said as if it was an idea of their own, or starts speaking despite it being your turn.
• As it is your turn to speak, the other attendees start to talk to each other, browse through their papers, etc.

Ridicule

To in a manipulative way portray the arguments of, or their opponents themselves, in a ridiculing fashion.

Example:

• Another speaker laughs at your accent and compares you to a character in a humorous TV show (although you had something important to say).

Withhold information

To exclude a person from the decision making process, or knowingly not forwarding information so as to make the person less able to make an informed choice.

Examples:

• Your colleagues have a meeting that concerns you, without inviting you.
• Decisions are made not in a conference where everyone is present, but at a dinner party later in the evening, where only some attendants are allowed entrance.

Double Bind

See also: Double bind

To punish or otherwise belittle the actions of a person, regardless of how they act.

Examples:

• When you do your work tasks thoroughly, you receive complaints for being too slow. When you do them efficiently, you're critiqued for being sloppy.
• A man is critiqued for not helping out with domestic work, but is called unmanly when doing so.

Heap blame/put to shame

To embarrass someone, or to insinuate that they are themselves to blame for their position.

Example:

• You inform your manager that you are being slandered, but are told it is your fault since you dress provokingly.

Later additions

Berit Ås has since added two supplementary master suppression techniques.

Objectifying

To discuss the appearance of one or several persons in a situation where it is irrelevant.

Force/threat of force

To threaten with or use one's physical strength towards one or several persons.