On being invisible

Just taking a stab in the dark here.

From a personal perspective, which group of people would you consider "invisible"? I.e. socially invisible groups.

Posted by Arielle83

Probably elderly men.

Why? What do you feel makes them invisible?

if I'd know who is invisible, would they be really invisible? 🤔

Whatever group @Neno2 belongs to.

Posted by Endless

if I'd know who is invisible, would they be really invisible? 🤔

Just for some context, I wanted to write something about people with high functioning autism, but then I found my knowledge to be very limited.

The other thing that Arielle brought up - elderly men. Admittedly I never noticed this but yes, especially in the case of elderly widowers.

They're invisible because you won't notice them or you do notice them but you see nothing out of place or out of the ordinary.

Homeless. People walk by without truly seeing them.

Posted by justagirl

Homeless. People walk by without truly seeing them.

Your post reminded me of this article.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/societys-invisible-people_b_849731

Posted by Antiphates

Normal people and their mundane struggles.

Is there such a thing as normal though?

Hmmm..

Socially invisible groups in society:

1) Homeless

2) Elderly men

3) People with non-visible afflictions

4) Women (?)

5) Gen-Xers (lol)

Posted by Ram416

Posted by justagirl

Homeless. People walk by without truly seeing them.

Your post reminded me of this article.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/societys-invisible-people_b_849731

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Good article.

Posted by Arielle83

Some women want to be invisible.

Social anxiety.

I hate ppl looking at me.

Join the club, lmao

Posted by Antiphates

Posted by Ram416

Posted by Antiphates

Normal people and their mundane struggles.

Is there such a thing as normal though?

No, and that's part of the point. The struggles of those who kinda have enough to life their life in a hypothetical happiness are so overlooked that they don't even have a term or a criteria for it. Having a clear defintions means that someone at some point put in the effort to come up with one.

As far as I know no one has ever really talked or thought about what it means to live or grow up with no meta narrative to put things into context.

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I don't know why but this reminded me of the films Ordinary People and The Ice Storm.

Posted by Gobby

For normal folks like us, I would've thought the ultra-wealthy, as they can afford to keep the rest of us at arm's length...

I was thinking about this during lunch.

But then it fails one criteria - being seen everyday during normal situations with seemingly normal people.

Mental illness....people don’t want to acknowledge and look

Homeless people

Posted by justagirl

Homeless. People walk by without truly seeing them.

Maybe they don't see what's in their heart (then again - that applies to everyone) - but homeless people actually "stand out (from the image of a so called normal looking citizen / they don't blend in so well with the rest)". I'm pretty sure - most people make a conscious effort to ignore them. Which makes the homeless, beggars, handicapped, disfigured (basically anyone that's somehow unusual - in terms of appearance/clothing) - far more visible then the rest. Just think about it... by the time you get home - you might still remember that homeless man, yet... not so much everyone else (maybe you've seen hundreds of people that day - but only the ones that stood out - like a homeless man or someone unusual looking - are still registered by your memory). It's how humans are made (and not just humans). Noticing the unusual is part of our innate defense mechanism - because "unusual" can translate as "a possible danger". Same goes for the known images of something or someone that could pose a treat.

It's also why scare pranks are so efficient...

Posted by Phantom_Dangus

There is some very interesting stuff going on in Austin with the homeless. The city passed an ordinance to allow them to camp in tents on city property. It started to get out of hand pretty quickly and people started complaining. Now the governor ordered the state to clean up camps under overpasses. There is one camp I saw every day from the bus that was gone yesterday morning, and clean-up trucks were there instead. I don't get it, because it's the one camp that wasn't an eyesore and was completely clear of traffic and pedestrians. There was a woman there my age who had three dogs guarding her. Can't stop wondering where they went.

Posted by IMightBeElle

Posted by justagirl

Posted by Phantom_Dangus

There is some very interesting stuff going on in Austin with the homeless. The city passed an ordinance to allow them to camp in tents on city property. It started to get out of hand pretty quickly and people started complaining. Now the governor ordered the state to clean up camps under overpasses. There is one camp I saw every day from the bus that was gone yesterday morning, and clean-up trucks were there instead. I don't get it, because it's the one camp that wasn't an eyesore and was completely clear of traffic and pedestrians. There was a woman there my age who had three dogs guarding her. Can't stop wondering where they went.

Vegas just passed an ordinance yesterday- if homeless sleep in public places- sidewalks, steps, benches- they will get arrested and /or pay a fine of 1000. How they hell can they pay a fine if they can’t afford a place to live. Our mayor says it’s a way to help. I don’t understand. We need to build shelters to help- not herd them off like cattle.

We have three shelters (we arent anywhere near the size of Vegas)....they won't use them.

The shelters are structured with rules to ensure safety.....no drugs, alcohol, etc.

Here....the only time they actually use them is when the temperatures reach freezing.

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Posted by Phantom_Dangus

Posted by neves

Posted by justagirl

Homeless. People walk by without truly seeing them.

Maybe they don't see what's in their heart (then again - that applies to everyone) - but homeless people actually "stand out (from the image of a so called normal looking citizen / they don't blend in so well with the rest)". I'm pretty sure - most people make a conscious effort to ignore them. Which makes the homeless, beggars, handicapped, disfigured (basically anyone that's somehow unusual - in terms of appearance/clothing) - far more visible then the rest. Just think about it... by the time you get home - you might still remember that homeless man, yet... not so much everyone else (maybe you've seen hundreds of people that day - but only the ones that stood out - like a homeless man or someone unusual looking - are still registered by your memory). It's how humans are made (and not just humans). Noticing the unusual is part of our innate defense mechanism - because "unusual" can translate as "a possible danger". Same goes for the known images of something or someone that could pose a treat.

It's also why scare pranks are so efficient...

There is some truth in what you say on the part of the viewer. But being actively ignored (intentionally invisible) actually damages homeless people. If you ever talk to them, a lot of them don't make eye contact and either don't really talk or talk in a rush, like they're trying to get it out before you walk away. They expect to be dismissed.

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It's a really complicated subject - if we're to take in consideration all the causes which could lead to someone being homeless. That being said - most of them are already damaged in one way or the other... It would take a personal interest (and philanthropic nature) - to aid some of them, but the majority might need therapy and a rehabilitation program. The thing is - most roads have a destination (most people chose to go from point a to b) - and homeless people are among the many things they might meet a long a way. I mean, city life and the huge quantity of people - makes most of us strangers to one another. Even in a real small town - you rarely see people getting involved with other people's lives. As mentioned above - homeless people "are more visible" - but there's quite a lot of people who put on a mask to blend in with the crowd - while they're a mess on the inside. Not everyone that has a home - feels at home. But hey, the mask of normality - is a necessity in every society. As FFDP put it in one his songs, be it homeless or otherwise - sometimes you're in the wrong side of heaven (and the righteous side of hell... if you're killing people for the so called greater good).

Posted by IMightBeElle

Posted by Phantom_Dangus

There is some very interesting stuff going on in Austin with the homeless. The city passed an ordinance to allow them to camp in tents on city property. It started to get out of hand pretty quickly and people started complaining. Now the governor ordered the state to clean up camps under overpasses. There is one camp I saw every day from the bus that was gone yesterday morning, and clean-up trucks were there instead. I don't get it, because it's the one camp that wasn't an eyesore and was completely clear of traffic and pedestrians. There was a woman there my age who had three dogs guarding her. Can't stop wondering where they went.

My son told me the homeless issue in Austin is getting so out of hand and many are aggressive.

He also said Dallas and Houston have gone so far as giving their homeless one way bus tickets to Austin.

Seems the boomer Texan cities are attempting to offload their unfortunate to the Millenials and telling them to figure it out.

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I've heard this has been going on for years with other states doing it so I'm assuming it's a thing which I think is awful

giving them bus tickets to no where or basically somewhere away from them and so they become other people's problems

these people have mental issues as well as being homeless and so why would you just send them into oblivion and then they are confused and don't know what to do

Posted by IMightBeElle

I'm going to say GenX.

LMAO

Posted by neves

Posted by justagirl

Homeless. People walk by without truly seeing them.

Maybe they don't see what's in their heart (then again - that applies to everyone) - but homeless people actually "stand out (from the image of a so called normal looking citizen / they don't blend in so well with the rest)". I'm pretty sure - most people make a conscious effort to ignore them. Which makes the homeless, beggars, handicapped, disfigured (basically anyone that's somehow unusual - in terms of appearance/clothing) - far more visible then the rest. Just think about it... by the time you get home - you might still remember that homeless man, yet... not so much everyone else (maybe you've seen hundreds of people that day - but only the ones that stood out - like a homeless man or someone unusual looking - are still registered by your memory). It's how humans are made (and not just humans). Noticing the unusual is part of our innate defense mechanism - because "unusual" can translate as "a possible danger". Same goes for the known images of something or someone that could pose a treat.

It's also why scare pranks are so efficient...

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That's it. People pretending not to see doesn't necessarily make the subjects invisible.

I am leaning towards high functioning autism because that's not something you will see straight away and you may only figure it out IF you have some knowledge of it and know what signs to look out for.

Which means I will have to do more reading and research on this subject. And talk to more people about it smdh.

I would consider true introverts as invisible. I feel like thats me 90% of the time lol. I can go in and out of conversations/ social situations like it never happened. Only a small handful of people have the ability to see me and randomly open up to me. I find it really strange because when they do they give me their whole life story and problems.

Posted by Ram416

Posted by neves

Posted by justagirl

Homeless. People walk by without truly seeing them.

Maybe they don't see what's in their heart (then again - that applies to everyone) - but homeless people actually "stand out (from the image of a so called normal looking citizen / they don't blend in so well with the rest)". I'm pretty sure - most people make a conscious effort to ignore them. Which makes the homeless, beggars, handicapped, disfigured (basically anyone that's somehow unusual - in terms of appearance/clothing) - far more visible then the rest. Just think about it... by the time you get home - you might still remember that homeless man, yet... not so much everyone else (maybe you've seen hundreds of people that day - but only the ones that stood out - like a homeless man or someone unusual looking - are still registered by your memory). It's how humans are made (and not just humans). Noticing the unusual is part of our innate defense mechanism - because "unusual" can translate as "a possible danger". Same goes for the known images of something or someone that could pose a treat.

It's also why scare pranks are so efficient...

That's it. People pretending not to see doesn't necessarily make the subjects invisible.

I am leaning towards high functioning autism because that's not something you will see straight away and you may only figure it out IF you have some knowledge of it and know what signs to look out for.

Which means I will have to do more reading and research on this subject. And talk to more people about it smdh.

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Depends. That might be true for some forms of autism (like Asperger syndrome). I mean, even among those with HFA - certain autists are easy to identify - since they really struggle in social circles. While others are obvious for other reasons (as it's the case with those suffering from Tourette syndrome).