Catch-22, an Introduction.
Something girls seem to know by heritage ordisposition and subconsciously, as ‘intuition,’ but most boys don't and if they do, unconsciously, as an ongoing ambition, but this is often ‘egged-on’ by competing ‘mother-figures’, i.e: Vertebrates, including ‘us,’ compete with and in each-others named ‘identity-group,’ or ‘bubble’ or ‘cloud,’ for status, and satisfaction, whether sexual, ’gender,’ family, clan, ‘social status, ’team, crew or ‘body,’ that they usher each other to ‘identify’ with and recognize, at any meeting (unless ‘keeping a low profile’). Compare the tone of their/our ‘greetings,’ to confirm this. From when mom told us what to do. What is this ‘identification?’ Our ‘bubble or our ‘frame?’ What do women want to control? We will need to dig into psychoanalysis to find out. We limit and negotiate (with) each-other in choice and acceptance of status there in. Elias(1939/65) describes a process of ‘Zwang zur Selbst zwang’ in his preface, but did he mean as in an obsession i.e: With no real self-interest, or might this have to do with evolution (cheating and theft), and is this all about gossip? Yes, but both theories are true and not mutually exclusive, i.e., Every ‘day’ of ‘creation,’ or the ‘big bang,’ may have taken about half a billion years. So we’re living in the seventh ‘day,’ us men and women, or on (sunday) vacation from competition. But not as much so among figuration-and bubble-members, like family, friends, colleagues and ideally, here’s the catch, even less, among ‘partners’ and ‘lovers.’ ‘Mums the word.’ But we know better and accept another as ‘good sports,’ if we don’t ‘betray’ each-others supposed ‘group,’ and show loyalty to‘our group,’ at the time and place.
We have our ‘dispositions’ from S. Freud(1924/76) and as he said in ‘An autobiograp-hical Study’ (’35/59 p.125): ‘Hypnosis is the formation of a group of two.’ Even if it is taboo to the 8th original sin (lying about others) and state Law (discrimination), we need not be ashamed of such conduct as long as we keep within ‘secret’ and often unconscious conduct-limiting rules and don’t compete too openly or harshly. Taboos can be seen as a forced repression of a wish. Competition and laughter happens all the time, a ‘good sport’ is accepted, overt ‘fun’ in pairs or groups isj ust that. We are no different in this respect, just more or less obsessed.This in-/excluding is also a form of co-operation, ‘help,’ and control, expected in our ‘bubbles.’, including ‘our’ defense, towards competing others, identities and figurations. We usually have an ‘us ‘n them’attitude towards each other, before we chose to ‘comply,’ even in partnerships, for pleasure, whether we realize it, like it, or not. There’s been a lot of research and speculation on ‘us’ and our ‘competitive identification’ conduct, which is also part and parcel (the advertisement)in ‘our’ co-operation-rites. It was J.Huizinga (1919/25):The Waning of the Midleages, who showed us the preposterous ambitions which abide and who proved this our ‘winning mood’ well and who summarized this in his (1938/55) HomoLudens, where he claims games to be ‘without material gain,’ which is also a denial of our sexual and identity-game (impressing-) functions. J. O.y Gasset in (1946/’58) The Idea of Theatre, and (1922/ ‘46) Idea and Belief, also demonstrated the significance of this ‘impression management.’ E. Goffman (1956), inThe Presentation of Self in Eve-ryday Life and N. Elias (1959/65) in The Esta-blished and the Outsiders, (books.Google.nl starting p.89), and countless more, among which the 4 Gospels and St. Paul’s letters in the New Testament, describe this antagonistic normality and advise us to be ‘tolerant’ or helpful, which always gives opportunity. They endlessly teach and tell us, to‘love’ sinners, the sick, strangers, neighbors, even other ‘nations,’ which did not exist then as we know them. No mean feat and emanating from temple cultures repetitive praying by harims, women, including their analysis and their ‘intentions,’ laws and wishful commandments, they hoped to, did and still do ‘keep’ in ‘their’ homes. These remnants of matriarchy persist as men ‘emancipate.’ Of course girls and women don’t see it so. Boys (and men) slowly and gradually are relieved of their castration-fears, which disappear as they grow into their ‘latency-’ phase, to see their limitations and forces, while girls (and women) in this stage must deny themselves many ‘hopes,’ they had in their eudipal ‘phase’ of life and seem to come out triumphantly in fullpower, at puberty, when they are wanted and not mistreated or forced.
The 'game' usually seems on, whether in a ‘formal,’ (the rules are enforcedby officials) or ‘informal’ (just by the ‘housekeepers’) situation. So, to demonstrate I will write about ‘us and them’ and make clear which ‘them’ and ‘us’ is meant in all this positive (our heroes), and negative (‘cowards,’ derision and schadenfreude) gossip. It’s not easy to accept or believe that ‘our world ’(situation in a perceived hierarchy) is actually told and kept this way in parlors, papers, on radio or watching TV, in playgrounds, clubs, shops, schools and churches. We have Youtube, Twitter and Facebook now, to enforce all this figurational naming-pride, and popular TV-series like Clash of Clans,Teletubbies and last but not least: sit-coms, ‘reality-’ or talk-shows and the national and local ‘news-’ presenters who pretend to be ‘familiar’ with us and their ‘correspondents’ by first-name use, ‘welcoming to the club’ and thus to be part of ‘our home,’ too, albeit ‘just in a name,’ which may be so because we live somewhere, in a shared territory, but also a recognized or known named ‘figuration,’ like ‘L,’ ‘G,’ ‘B,’ ‘T’ and ‘Q, not forgetting the usual dominant trends of ‘M’ and ‘F,’ the previous of which usually mostly signify promiscuous availability or neurotic wantons in doubt. In the ‘media’ they present supposed ‘us ’ and them-’ conflicts as ‘news’ in ‘groups’ or parties: ‘The medium’ is the message we all seem to be longing for. ‘Anatomy is destiny,’ Freud said. We need this ‘hypnotization,’ these rites and signs, to work and collaborate, it seems, like horses in a herd. ‘News’ has to be as human drama and all love to be led, if fed.