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The term "beyond the pale" most often refers to speech or actions that are "outside the bounds of acceptable behavior," [1], that which is socially unacceptable, outrageous, rude, or offensive.
Historically, "the pale" refers most often to an area on the east coast of Ireland that was entirely controlled by English settlers and the English government, which occupied Ireland for about 800 years, from 1169 to 1937. "To travel outside of that boundary, beyond the pale, was to leave behind all the rules and institutions of English society, which the English modestly considered synonymous with civilization itself." [2] "The pale" may also refer to the Pale of Calais, a historic region of France that was controlled by England from 1346 to 1558, and to the "Pale of Settlement"in Western Russia where Jewish people were confined to live from 1791 to 1917.
This blog explores what it can mean to think, feel, and live beyond the socio-cultural pales from which many of us are excluded, and in which many of us are confined. To live beyond the pale means to exist outside of political, economic, social, psychological, or emotional control.
It can be a space of pure potential or of potential realized, a space of tradition an a space of creation
It can be physical space, a cultural a space, a domestic space, a wild space.
It can exist entirely inside ourselves--a sexual, emotional, psychological, intellectual, or spiritual space.
It can mean escaping confinement or constructing personal boundaries.
Attributed to Giovanni Corenti [Public domain]
Importantly, the space beyond the pale is protected from exploitation by others and ourselves. It is for our own personal benefit, not to be commodified, coopted, or subsumed into the dominant culture. And it is a space in perpetual motion, the boundaries of which are ever-changing, and it is always under pursuit--by those who need it most, as well as those who war hell bent on controlling it.
Notes
[1] Crossword Tracker
[2] Urban Dictionary
The term "beyond the pale" most often refers to speech or actions that are "outside the bounds of acceptable behavior," [1], that which is socially unacceptable, outrageous, rude, or offensive.
Historically, "the pale" refers most often to an area on the east coast of Ireland that was entirely controlled by English settlers and the English government, which occupied Ireland for about 800 years, from 1169 to 1937. "To travel outside of that boundary, beyond the pale, was to leave behind all the rules and institutions of English society, which the English modestly considered synonymous with civilization itself." [2] "The pale" may also refer to the Pale of Calais, a historic region of France that was controlled by England from 1346 to 1558, and to the "Pale of Settlement"in Western Russia where Jewish people were confined to live from 1791 to 1917.
This blog explores what it can mean to think, feel, and live beyond the socio-cultural pales from which many of us are excluded, and in which many of us are confined. To live beyond the pale means to exist outside of political, economic, social, psychological, or emotional control.
It can be a space of pure potential or of potential realized, a space of tradition an a space of creation
It can be physical space, a cultural a space, a domestic space, a wild space.
It can exist entirely inside ourselves--a sexual, emotional, psychological, intellectual, or spiritual space.
It can mean escaping confinement or constructing personal boundaries.
Importantly, the space beyond the pale is protected from exploitation by others and ourselves. It is for our own personal benefit, not to be commodified, coopted, or subsumed into the dominant culture. And it is a space in perpetual motion, the boundaries of which are ever-changing, and it is always under pursuit--by those who need it most, as well as those who war hell bent on controlling it.
Notes
[1] Crossword Tracker
[2] Urban Dictionary
![Attributed to Giovanni Corenti [Public domain]](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giovanni_Corente_-_Saint_John_the_Baptist_in_a_Landscape_-_Walters_371162.jpg){kind=link}
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