Taken by Wing Young Huie in the time between 2012 and 2013, this photo depicts a young hispanic male holding up a sign and begged for equality. His face appears to be expressionless and bleak as if he has given up hope. He is alone and no one seems to be supporting him or offering any form of encouragement. The gray colors in the photo add to the dismal expression on his face and create a sense of melancholy and disappointment. The bigger picture the photo is referring is the large influx of illegal immigrants into the United States and their poor treatment in the workforce. Many Mexicans cross the border in search of work and are offering below minimum wage jobs with poor working conditions. It appears that the hispanic teen in the photo is attempting to create awareness of this by holding up the sign. The photo publicizes the struggles that illegal immigrants have to face and begs for equal treatment.
In this photograph, Wing Huie depicts the other by showing a minority who is all by himself. He is seated alone on the corner of a city block, implying that people are not paying attention to him at all and are just passing him by. Huie shows the other by capturing the look on the youth's face. The hispanic teens face appears bleak as if he is isolated and "othered" and has no one to help him get through hard times. Wing Young Huie also depicts othering by including a picture of a minority. Because the teen in the photo is a minority, he is oftentimes the odd man out in a country full of caucasians. As the other, the hispanic teen's emotions have been neglected his entire life, he has been taken advantage in the workplace, and he has often been discriminated because of his skin color. This photograph is a perfect representation of othering because an "other" is trying to get noticed by holding up a sign but is apparently being ignored by the pedestrians on the street and his peers because he is sitting alone.
Throughout The Handmaid's Tale, Atwood did an excellent job of presenting the concept of "othering." The best way she did this was through the clothing the members of Gilead were forced to wear. Each person had a role in the society that was emphasized by the uniforms they wore. This forced people apart and made them seem distant to one another. The people wearing one uniform looked at the others in different uniforms as completely strange individuals who had their own roles in the society. The people who wore uniforms tended to stick with one another and avoid interaction with those wearing different uniforms. The clothing took away everyone's individuality and created othering. Everyone wearing a different uniform than you was an other. The people in The Handmaid's Tale were not viewed by their appearance or personality but by the uniform they were forced to wear. Atwood used the clothing in the novel to portray the isolation and othering the people of Gilead had toward each other.
I like how you thought about how age might play a role in this teenager's othering. Do watch out for assumptions you can't support- you say that he is seeking recognition with his sign, but do you know that for sure?
ReplyDeleteI agree with your notion that the citizens of Gilead create a system of othering through clothing, but can you think of other examples? Is Offred an other when it comes to the rest of the Handmaids because we know her thoughts and not the thoughts of the rest?