15 There’s no respect anymore. This is the phrase muttered by the elderly for over a century, as they comment on changing times. Yet, upon closer examination, it seems that respect has never been more discussed: today, the word is persistently featured in rap lyrics, reiterated on television, and central to awareness campaigns. Could it be that contemporary society is even obsessed with respect? Respect is, so to speak, the sedimented form of the gaze of others. Associated with the prefix re-, the verb specere ('to look') indicated in Latin that which is considered and reconsidered from the proper distance: in this case, the worth of a person. It is thus unsurprising that respect occupies a central role in an age where everyone, through social media, spends time judging and being judged, perpetually exposed to the gaze of others. The obsession with respect is a by-product of our dependence on likes. It is the culmination of a long story: in the Middle Ages, respect denoted the deference and honour owed to someone of superior rank, a feudal logic that still survives in mafia rhetoric concerning honour. In the modern era, with the evolution of ideas of equality, respect began to be understood more broadly as recognition of the intrinsic merit of each individual; whereas today, it is viewed as a universal principle which demands regard for cultural differences, extending even to nature. Respecting has thus become a full-time occupation: respecting colleagues, respecting sensibilities, respecting minorities, respecting the environment… It is an activity that requires intricate skills, in order to avoid tragic faux pas and the risk of disrespecting someone or something. Conversely, each of us is constantly preoccupied with ensuring that we are respected in turn. It is as if our entire existence is now focused not only on looking and being looked, but also on looking at how others look at us, and even looking at how others look at us looking at them. This dizzying hall of mirrors could indeed drive us mad; but how did we get into this?
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