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Savage or Civilized?
Exploring the fundamental prejudice against human wildness
The word “savage” is emotionally charged. Once uttered, images of men (usually men, not women) engaging in diabolical acts spring to mind: burning, raping, maiming, pillaging, torturing and killing with reckless abandon. Savages are ignorant, thoughtless and out of control. They are superstitious, childlike and impulsive. They are godless and unreasonable. They are the bane of all things humane, cultured and civilized. All this from a single word.
Back in the days when Rome and other ancient civilizations flourished, the word “barbarian” carried the same weight. But nowadays we prefer “savage,” which stems from the Old French word “sauvage” meaning wild, undomesticated, untamed. The inference here is crystal clear. A wild man is an unsavory character, to say the least.
When I call myself a wild man, most people feel inclined to correct me. After all, wild men do not read, write, engage in civil discourse, or follow society’s rules as I do. If a crude, obnoxious, stinky, tattooed, gun-toting drug dealer rolls up on a noisy motorcycle and calls himself a wild man, then most people believe it. After all, he fits the barbarian stereotype. He’s the savage. He’s the threat to civilization, to humanity, to all we hold dear.
