First, passive-aggressiveness isn't necessarily a bad thing. Often,
it's the personal relationship psychology equivalent of asymmetric
warfare. People lower on a power scale fight with the weapons they have.
No, passive-aggressiveness isn't good in a more equal
relationship, like an intimate one. And counselors are right to point
that out. But, something like an employee vs. employer situation,
especially if the employer is putting the energy in the "versus"?
And, isn't it passive-aggressive of an employer to berate an
employee for not being able to do something that was at least partially
beyond his control, then admit to a third employee just that difficulty
with the issue while never fully apologizing to the original employee?
Specifically, the issue of photography.
No, I'm not Ansel Adams. But, I can't make silk purses out of
sow's ears. And, I know enough about photography to know when I'm faced
with little more than a sow's ear to work with. And, if not a total
sow's ear, at least, no better than synthetic velour -- and an employer
who should know that in advance, from having been around a while.
That, then, gets to the issue of opinions.
Is it passive-aggressive, even, to not bother offering opinions,
or, a better word, ideas, in the first place, if you know they're going
to be ignored, rejected, or not listened to?
And, is it
really people pleasing to not speak up more, either? Might it rather be
an acceptance of reality, or how reality is perceived at the
lower end of the stick by someone who's not a stereotypical Type A
male?
Of course, from my point of view, these are offered up as largely rhetorical questions.
But, they reflect larger societal issues related to income
disparity, job outsourcing, and, some industries (creative-type ones)
becoming ever tighter with the dollar and expecting more for less.
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