Is it possible to humiliate yourself?
Webster’s defines humiliate as “to reduce to a lower position in one’s own eyes or others’ eyes.”
If you’re engaged in a behavior or activity that makes you feel bad about yourself then yes, it probably is. But what if what you’re doing makes you feel stronger, more alive, more in control but someone else’s opinion is one of ridicule? Are you humiliated? Are you humiliated if you never know that other person’s opinion?
The MapMyWord Dictionary, which is a nifty little Google widget, lists the following for humiliation:
- state of disgrace or loss of self-respect
- strong feelings of embarrassment
- an instance in which you are caused to lose your prestige or self-respect
- depriving one of self-esteem
Seems to me like the only person who can humiliate you is yourself. Perhaps Eleanor Roosevelt was right.