“Just Rash Blabber”: The Art and Style of Posh Bullying

In almost every group of friends there are individuals who condescend, belittle, demean, intimidate and push their points of view to dominate any discussion.

They believe theirs is the intellectually – and morally – superior position and everything else is inferior.

And they go to great lengths to remind them of this.

Marketing Student Mai El Tagoury, 21, says her friend recently ridiculed her for being a feminist.

“I expressed to my friend my desire to join the feminist club Heya and how this would be a step to becoming an activist for women, something I have longed for since I was just a toddler,” she said.

But her friend interrupted.

“You need to stop. This whole feminism thing is a hyperbole, just rash blabber,” El Tagoury recalls her friend saying.

El Tagoury doesn’t mind opposing views, “but no one has the right to ridicule or undervalue me.”

In an article published by Joe Bouchard in 2010, “Ranking Bully Types”, the intellectual bully is said to specialize in condescension. Their insecurities are masked in large words and aloof, arrogant sentences.

They believe they are smarter than others, and they enjoy making others feel inferior.

AUC student Yomna Refaat has been on the receiving end of such condescension.

“When I raise certain philosophical points that could perhaps oppose a religious matter, it is then when I am most scorned, shamed, and bullied for voicing my thoughts,” Refaat said.

“Sometimes they will not let me go on speaking. They say things like, “Yeah, no thanks,” and they just exclude me.”

Senior Counselor and Psychology Lecturer Noha El Nahas says that inciting discomfort or clearly discriminating against someone on the basis of their opinions, ultimately hurting that individual, is bullying.

She says the primary negative impact of this type of bullying will directly affect the recipient’s self-esteem, their willingness to engage in conversations and their ability to express their opinions freely.

Austrian Psychotherapist Alfred Adler corroborates in his theory of overcompensation of inferiorities that people use bullying as an incentive to better themselves, and with regards to the matter in hand, their knowledge.

Professional Psychologist Mariam Zaki seconded Adler when she said that this form of bullying could, in certain cases, “promote resilience” in those who are bullied.

Zaki, however, emphasized that this, in no way, means bullying has a favorable effect.

El Nahas believes that bullying could never have a positive impact because it is based on fear and pain.

When teaching her courses, El Nahas reiterates that the classroom is a safe zone and that any form of bullying is strictly prohibited.

“If I’m disallowing young adults, who are in this phase of their lives where they are forming a character and building a voice to express their opinions and form an individual identity, I’m destroying characters,” El Nahas said.

The late psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud theorized that the ego uses defense mechanisms unconsciously to deflect hurtful feelings and anxiety.

“People sometimes use defense mechanisms. They rationalize, or they use reaction formation, and when they cannot reach the level of intellect someone else has reached, they resort to ridicule,” El Nahas explained.

“Intellectual people, with their wit and knowledge, make bullies uncomfortable, and stir their levels of anxiety,” El Nahas said.

As a result, those threatened will  resort to ridicule and mockery to shut another individual down, and through the process of bullying someone else, their own levels of anxiety decrease.