The oppressed hide their true selves behind fixed masks

Evidence

Prisoners in the panopticon would wear masks, the grimaces of the masks expressing the gravity of their offences: the prisoners would thus, as it were, stage their own guilt. They would wear these masks on ‘the only occasion on which their eyes will have to encounter the public eye’, that is, during the divine service attended by outside worshippers. Since on this occasion the prisoners would know that they were exposed to public gaze, this ‘perpetual pillory’ could in time harden them and render them insensitive, ultimately impeding their reformation. — Jeremy Bentham, The Panopticon Writings, 20 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Masks let guilt be displayed without exposing faces — Jeremy Bentham, The Panopticon Writings, 20; The modern discourse of identity depends on recognition by others and masks suppressed fear

Broader Connections

• Masks let guilt be displayed without exposing faces #expands (0.85) — Jeremy Bentham, The Panopticon Writings, 20
• The modern discourse of identity depends on recognition by others and masks suppressed fear #expands (0.80)