orientalISM

-ism (suffix)
1: a distinctive doctrine, cause, or theory
2: an oppressive and especially discriminatory attitude or belief
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ism

After a night of sleep and subconscious internalization, I woke myself up with a shower to a thought about Edward Said's Orientalism. I thought about how the words racism and sexism also contain "ism" in the end, but they have a distinctly different connotation.  Racism and sexism are wholly negative in their use, implying a specifically bigoted point of view based on fixed variables.  But plenty of words ending in -ism aren't like that.  Other -isms (cubism, for example) lack bias-baggage but don't have any etymological difference.  I found it funny that Orientalism could be so different from the other main -isms that come to mind without any concrete differences in the word. 

On reflection, however, I realized that maybe my original conclusion was incorrect.  Maybe Orientalism is a biased -ism just as much as sexism and racism. (As it turns out, Merriam-webster identifies two groups of -isms: artistic -isms and discriminatory -isms that could have helped clear my confusion.)  After all, as Said argues, Orientalism is an generalized view of a specific group of people - one which was constructed by external, dominant [European] forces trying to distinguish and uplift themselves by synthesizing a foil.  This effort formed the support for negative attitudes and actions based on a perception of inferiority.  That hate of Oriental culture and appreciation of the dominant culture extended into self hate as well, a fact which is overtly depicted in The God of Small Things.  Said's discussion of cultural molding and self-hate easily parallels the discussion of the suppression of the African American community in America.  So indeed, though Orientalism is not a topic I am quiet as familiar with (in fact my concept of what the 'Orient' actually refers to was skewed), it actually is a member of -ism definition #2 and a subset of 'racism'.  My ignorance of the idea certainly confirms Said's assertion that America's awareness of the Orient is much less than that of Europe.  My lack of recognition as an American, however, doesn't change the fact of Orientalism's bigoted nature one bit.  Beginning to recognize the suppression of the Orient is a reminder that, as focused on combating those negative -isms as we claim to be, we must be aware that there continue to be people beyond our scope, and that their plight is as poignant as those within our sight.