The politics of difference shows how society treats people who are “different,” and how embracing our differences can become a powerful force for positive change.
In “Wicked,” Elphaba’s green skin serves as more than just a physical characteristic—it becomes a powerful lens through which Maguire explores how societies construct and maintain systems of difference. This visible marker of “otherness” operates on multiple levels, each revealing deeper truths about power, privilege, and resistance.
Born Into Difference
Elphaba’s emergence into the world—green-skinned and already marked as different—reflects the experience of many who are born into bodies that society has predetermined as “other.” Her color, tied to her mother’s consumption of the mysterious green elixir, represents both inherited trauma and imposed identity. Like many who bear visible markers of difference, Elphaba never experienced the privilege of choosing when or how to disclose her otherness. Her every entrance into a room, every first meeting, every casual interaction is immediately colored by others’ perception of her difference. This perpetual visibility creates a unique kind of vulnerability while simultaneously forging an unshakeable strength.
Institutional Responses to Difference
The halls of Shiz University become a microcosm of how institutions respond to visible difference. When Elphaba arrives, the immediate ripple of shock through the student body mirrors countless real-world moments of institutional disruption by the mere presence of difference. The administration’s attempts to “manage” her presence—sometimes through accommodation, sometimes through isolation—reflect how institutions often respond to diversity with surface-level solutions that fail to address deeper systemic issues. Through Elphaba’s experience, we witness the exhausting dance between authenticity and acceptance, as she navigates expectations to either prove herself exceptional enough to justify her presence or become invisible enough to make others comfortable.
The Weaponization of Difference
As the narrative unfolds, we see how difference becomes a powerful political tool. Elphaba’s green skin transforms from a personal characteristic into a symbol that others use to justify their fears, prejudices, and actions. The process by which her difference becomes weaponized against her mirrors historical patterns of how societies create scapegoats and enemies from those who are visibly different. The Wizard’s regime demonstrates how power structures can transform physical differences into moral judgments, using visible markers of otherness to create and maintain social hierarchies. This transformation of difference into danger becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, as isolation and persecution push Elphaba toward the very rebellion that the power structure claimed to fear.
Resistance Through Difference
Yet through Elphaba’s journey, we discover how difference can become a source of profound power and resistance. Her green skin becomes inseparable from her magical abilities, suggesting how our differences can become our greatest strengths. Her position as an outsider grants her a unique perspective on Oz’s systemic injustices, allowing her to see what others have been conditioned to ignore. Her visibility makes her a natural ally to other marginalized groups, particularly the Animals, as she understands intimately how society can strip away rights and dignity based on arbitrary differences. In this way, her story illustrates how the very qualities that mark us as different can become powerful tools for understanding and fighting injustice.
The Social Construction of Normalcy
Through Elphaba’s eyes, we begin to understand how societies construct and maintain ideas of “normal.” Galinda’s initial popularity reveals how conformity is not just encouraged but rewarded, while the Wizard’s regime shows how power structures define acceptable forms of expression and resistance. The gradual erosion of Animal rights demonstrates how what counts as “normal” can shift over time, and how privileges taken for granted can be systematically revoked. The contested history of Oz itself reveals how those in power shape narratives to maintain their authority, deciding whose stories are told and whose are silenced.
Intersectionality in Oz
The complexity of Elphaba’s experience deepens as we consider how her visible difference intersects with other forms of marginalization throughout Oz. Through her relationship with her sister Nessarose, we see how different forms of otherness can create both bridges of understanding and walls of separation. Doctor Dillamond’s persecution as an Animal scholar reveals how professional accomplishment offers no protection against systemic discrimination. The class divisions at Shiz and prejudices against Munchkinlanders demonstrate how multiple forms of difference can layer upon each other, creating unique patterns of privilege and oppression. These intersecting differences create a rich tapestry of resistance and solidarity, showing how various forms of marginalization connect and compound.
The Role of Allies
Through Glinda’s character arc, we witness the complex journey of privileged individuals awakening to systemic inequality. Her transformation from the shallow Galinda to the more conscious Glinda illustrates both the possibility and the difficulty of genuine allyship. Her initial response to Elphaba—a mixture of horror, fascination, and unconscious prejudice—evolves into a deeper understanding of how power operates in Oz. Yet her choices also reveal the personal cost of acknowledging privilege and the difficult decisions faced by those who see injustice from positions of relative power. Her story asks us to consider what true allyship requires and whether working within corrupt systems can ever bring meaningful change.
Breaking the Binary
Ultimately, Elphaba’s story transcends simple categorization. She exists in the spaces between traditional oppositions: neither purely good nor conventionally wicked, neither powerless nor all-powerful, neither fully accepted nor completely rejected. Her journey challenges us to move beyond binary thinking in our understanding of difference and resistance. Through her experiences, we see how real change requires embracing complexity and rejecting the oversimplified categories that power structures use to maintain control.
Scholarly Notes and Further Reading
The exploration of difference in “Wicked” resonates deeply with contemporary academic work on power and identity. Sara Ahmed’s “The Cultural Politics of Emotion” helps us understand how feelings about difference shape social and political realities. Kimberlé Crenshaw’s work “On Intersectionality” provides a framework for understanding how different forms of marginalization interact. Judith Butler’s “Bodies That Matter” illuminates how physical differences become socially significant, while Audre Lorde’s “Sister Outsider” offers powerful insights into the relationship between difference and resistance.
Visit + Engage
Understanding the politics of difference through Elphaba’s story calls us to action in our own world.
Consider beginning with personal reflection: examine your own relationship with difference, both as someone who may experience it and as someone who responds to it in others.
Move beyond theory into community engagement by supporting organizations that work with marginalized populations or creating inclusive spaces in your own environment.
Engage in educational initiatives that challenge dominant narratives about difference, and support artistic expressions that celebrate diversity rather than demanding conformity.
Remember that transformation requires both internal work and external action. Like Elphaba, we must learn to see our differences not as weaknesses to be hidden but as potential sources of strength and wisdom.
***In challenging systems of power, we often find that what makes us different also makes us powerful.
A Little More Context:
- The Age of Aquarius: A New Dawn of Collective Consciousness + Social Transformation
