Your Signal
Contempt
12 min read
Also known as: disdain · condescension · disregard · scornfulness · disparagement · a dismissive glance · a contemptuous attitude · inner rejection of people · snobbery toward others · moral superiority · quiet indifference · cold turning away · "beneath my dignity" · inner disgust toward certain people · the feeling: "people like that…"
Your Body Is Speaking
Contempt is not a feeling you easily admit to. Most people who carry it mistake it for clarity. For a healthy view of the world. For discernment. They tell themselves: "I'm not arrogant — I just see things as they really are." And then, inwardly, they draw a line beneath certain people, certain groups, certain ways of living.
The body notices the line before the mind has finished justifying it. The corner of the mouth pulls ever so slightly downward the moment a particular person enters the room. The chest closes a fraction. Breathing grows shallower. A fine wave of tension moves through the neck, the jaw, the shoulders. On the outside, everything stays polite. Inside, it has already been decided: this person does not belong to me. This person is beneath me. This person must leave my world.
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