Who Are "The Others"?

Author: Jay

Date: 2012

Place of Publication: 38th & Chicago, South Minneapolis, MN.







DENOTATION:
          Pictured is a younger adult black man. He is wearing a baseball cap, has gold teeth, flashy chain necklaces with a cross, tattoos down his arms, and his hair is dreaded/braided. He is sitting in what looks to be a relatively urban area.There is some over-growth of grass coming out of the pavement, as well as cracks in the paved wall on which he sits. His demeanor is relaxed and maybe even playful. You can tell that he is laughing at something or someone. 

CONNOTATION:
           By looking deeper into this image, one can make a number of inferences. First, that the location is not a nice part of town because of the cracked pavement and over-growth of grass. Second, one could guess that the man is not very well off or doesn't have a very "serious" job because of his gold teeth, tattoos, and way of dressing. Those things would not typically be seen in a "sophisticated" work place. These inferences illustrate stereotypes. The fact that he's not in a nice part of town fits into the idea that one tends to see more black people in "sketchy" parts of town. His general appearance definitely fits into the "the way black people dress" stereotype. People tend to assume that black people have lots of tattoos, dreaded hair, big gold necklaces, etc. The way he's dressing also adds fuel to the stereotype that black people are not seen in positions of power. Although we see less and less of this stereotype day to day, it is still present. 

"OTHERING"
            Margaret Atwood and Wing Young Huie both use image, layout and language to alienate a group of people. Atwood uses the image of the handmaid's attire to alienate them from society. They are forced to be covered completely in a red dress and headdress to separate them as a different group of society. Huie uses the stereotypical black man attire to alienate the man in the picture from the upper class society. Both authors use a stereotypical image to "other" these groups, like the stereotypical idea that women should be "covered up" and dressed appropriately or that black men always have tattoos and gold chains. Layout is used to stereotype or labeling is used to isolate a specific group. The layout of the handmaid's life revolves around reproduction. This separates them into a small group labeled "fertile vessel." The layout in Huie's picture puts him into the "sketchy black person" stereotype. He already has the typical black man attire stereotype, so throw in the fact that he looks to be in a sketchy part of town, and boom, he's a sketchy black person. But Atwood and Huie do not use language in the same way. Language shows how one group is separated from another. In The Handmaid's Tale, the specific language used by a group is gained through public information. For example, the handmaids are only permitted to talk about certain things based upon their knowledge from public information. This automatically changes the language they can or cannot use and separates them from different groups. In Huie's photograph, the black man's body language is gained from public information. To expand upon that, stereotypes are public information to which everyone is exposed. Whether we like it or not, sometimes we conform to these stereotypes without even knowing we're doing it, just because it's out there everywhere. The man in the photograph has very relaxed body language, and it is generally a stereotype that black men sit really relaxed with their shoulders slumped, etc. It can be assumed that this man is just a victim of conformity to his stereotype. But are these stereotypes gained from public information always negative? You decide and leave your response in the comments.