What I meant by "internal hierarchies" was mainly two things:
1. The ways we have been conditioned (in our thinking and feeling) to reinforce hierarchy and division-- our internalized racism, classism, xenophobia, homophobia, binaristic thinking, etc. (as opposed to the external work of changing legislation, practical inequities, access to resources, etc)
2. The ways we have been taught to value ourselves and our particular skills, gifts, and lack thereof in ways that privilege certain skills and gifts unnecessarily while punishing those who have difficulty mastering certain skill sets. I think of the way that our education system tends to favor certain skills and learning styles and how this can both stifle gifts and lead brilliant children to think they aren't smart. I think of a quote I have seen attributed to Einstein: “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
I think this extends to personality traits as well. An example might be extroversion verses introversion. Extroverted traits are encouraged and rewarded in our society and introverted traits are often painted as strange or rude. Our ways of internalizing these standards can lead to exhaustion and self-hatred.
This second piece also has external effects, as the examples probably illustrate.
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