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Humiliation is literally the act of being made humble, or reduced in standing or prestige. However, the term has much in common with the emotion of shame. Humiliation is not in general a pleasant experience, as it reduces the ego.
Humiliation of the self Humiliation need not involve another person; it can be a recognition of one's own standing, and can be a way of casting away false pride. Humiliation of others Humiliation of one person by another is often used as a way of asserting power over others, and is a common form of oppression or abuse. However, it can also be consensual, as part of an agreement with a lover of sexual humiliation. In either of these cases, it may be motivated by sadism. In addition, many punishments are deliberately designed to be humiliating, e.g. tarring and feathering, pillory, mark of infamy (stigma). Physical abuse is, in addition to the physical damage, also humiliating, as is intimidation. Rape may, in addition to being humiliating, cause physical damage, including being infected by a sexually transmitted disease, and also the physical abuse of making an unwilling woman pregnant. Some find humiliation by others erotic in certain circumstances: see erotic humiliation. Most use of humiliation is not sexually motivated; many times seen in positions of authority (like parents) or as corrective in certain circumstances. Humiliation in sport Humiliation in sport can be regarded as defeat by a large margin or poor overall performance, causing complete loss of face or dignity by a person or team. For example, in English Association Football or Soccer, the phrase 'doing a Leeds' was coined to describe relegation from a higher league to a lower league in spectacular and humiliating fashion. In sports such as paintball, being hit excessively, thus being covered with paint, is considered humiliating. See also | ||||||||
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