Are Introverts Oppressed?

Socially, introversion sucks..  Inconvenient and awkward… and it makes procreation more challenging.  Professionally it’s neutral, because there are many jobs that require solitary efforts.  I’m no more oppressed than people who can’t stop talking or are uncomfortable alone.

Of course we’re oppressed. American culture is hinged around the boisterous and bold, the loud and obnoxious. Value isn’t placed on the best response, it is placed on the response that manages to cut through all of the rabble. This emerges in our mating rituals, which is what Introvert1 is getting at: finding a lover as an introvert, in contrast to ‘expected’ way of life, is inconvenient and awkward. These words don’t emphasize the magnitude of oppression that women, for instance, have encountered, but they do address a subtle manifestation of oppression: non-normativity. Oppression rears its head in many, many ways. If one form is harder to define than another (slavery for instance), it is not invalid.

That said, comparing the struggles of the introvert with the civil rights movement is probably not the best way to talk about it. 

I guess what I’m saying here is that “oppression” isn’t a precise word for what introverts experience. I’m more describing more the implicit bias culture carries against introverts. I’m not awkward, damn it, I just don’t have anything to say. I’m not a loner, I just value the internal landscape more than you do. (ad nauseum)

Additionally, I think making time for introverts to speak in class is excellent of you. Sometimes we don’t know how to break into conversations! OK I promise I am done commenting on this article until I get some sort of response

As an INTJ, I dont feel oppressed. Life is what you make it, introvert or not. Am I put down and mistreated because of my social awkwardness? Not in my opinion – my social handicap is my badge. I have the same earning potential, the same laws protect me, and i have the same opportunities afforded extroverts. It is not oppression when I need to work in a field where I needn’t be as social as my contemporaries. That to me is what Too $hort referred to as ‘get in where you fit in’.

Just food for thought, do you think perhaps introverts are sometimes passed over in job interview situations for a candidate who is more comfortable articulating themselves/small-talking and therefore seems friendlier, more assertive, etc?

I do agree with you on what you’re saying with regard to what “cuts through” and the loudest response is valued more than (or even just equality to) a better-thought-out one.

Introverts are most definitely oppressed. We are denied jobs due to our quietness;,we suffer assumptions that we are not intelligent; i.e., if we were smart we’d have something to say; we are assumed to be aloof, conceited, fearful, uninterested, unfriendly, boring, immature, uncommunicative, rude, undeveloped, delayed, etc. We are often our own oppressors in that we buy the idea that we are flawed. We agree with those who say we need to take on the extrovert’s demeanor, or even “skill sets” in order to thrive. Extroverts are seldom, if ever, told they need to be more introspective to succeed or grow.

Maybe. Some jobs lend themselves to an outgoing nature (sales, etc) while others may be situations where introverts will be accepted or even desired. The interesting post here I think was the observation that extroverts are rarely told to be more introspective but introverts are often told to be more “assertive” (as if you can’t be assertive as an introvert, I beg to differ). I think that observation speaks volumes about societal pressures on @d perceptions of introverts. Anyhow, interesting topic. Thanks for sharing.

The world is overrun by extraverts. I spent all my teenage and young adullt years thinking that there was something wrong will me cause i would contantly be harrassed for not talking. Then I started being afraid if i didn’t start talking that people would brand me as either being a snob or being stupid. This ended up causing social anxiety on top of my introversion. I would try many things to make me more social by the extervert standards including drinking, cocaine, and weed. All these gave temporary relief but i would in the end always end up worse. Warnng, if your an introvert, don’t join the military. So i saw many therapists, talked to friends, and family about it. Never got anything that was helpful, just a lot of wasted time on people that didn’t even begin to understand me. Well here i am 40 years old and thanks to the internet i happened to stumble upon an artcle about the difference between extraverts and introverts. Now finally i’m starting to come to peace with who i am. I just think its amazing that it took this long to find this out after seeing all these professionals that could have told me my personality was normal instead of perscribing me paxil. I would definally have to say that introverts are oppressed.