Gloria Steinem’s article, “Supremacy Crimes” sheds light on the vast number of hate crimes and violent actions committed by white, middle-class, heterosexual males. She coins it the “drug of superiority” explaining that it leads men to believe that they deserve to be dominant and that they are superior for being white as well as that supremacy is associated with money. I found this article to be frightening because the killings and violence seems so bizarre. They are especially concerning because the acts are not performed for reasons beside domination and the desire to feel superior.
It is interesting to me that other issues such as anorexia is very often talked about in terms of gender, class and race while issues such as these sadistic crimes are not usually examined in a similar lens. Especially if the trend is as prevalent as female anorexics then I think there is valid concern for better understanding of what type of person performs these crimes. Furthermore, it needs to be investigated so that we can attempt to better understand how to prevent these violent acts.
Steinem mentioned valuing empathy and other people’s welfare as a way to change mentalities of supremacy. I definitely do think that the supremacy mentality and perspective of power as well as dominance needs to be avoided in order to prevent supremacy crimes. Unfortunately this supremacy mentality seems deeply embedded in our society today, as many people are power hungry and strive to display their dominance.
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