Blog 3: The “Other”

Discussion about race has always been relevant in North America ever since the formation of the United States and Canada. In recent decades we’ve seen many different opinions on the subject. Although it is obvious that a lot has changed regarding how black people are treated in North America compared to how it used to be a hundred years ago, there is still so much that needs to be improved. In Desmond Cole’s memoir titled The Skin We’re In and Jordan Peele’s movie Get Out, the spotlight is put on the experience of Black men in the United States and Canada.

To start off, it’s no secret that history has enforced this way of treating Black people as “other” that has persisted through the years, until now. However, many of us fail to realize how much the effects of the past persist today. Some may argue that this is the case for almost every other race, that everyone’s had a bad past with colonizers and that everyone has experienced negative treatment from them as well. Although that isn’t necessarily false, the fact is that this is much more severe when directed towards Black people. In The Skin We’re In, Cole defines white supremacy as a “system of power that seeks to benefit white people above others.” (Cole 8) Evidence of this is that for centuries, Europeans have gone above and beyond to ensure that they stay at the top with all the power. This has been particularly evident when it comes to Black people. For example, in 1785 Nova Scotia, officials in the town of Shelburne created a bylaw that forbid Black people from “dancing” and “frolicking.” It is explained that this could’ve meant “anything from drinking to gambling to mere socializing.” (Cole 7) So basically, they were painted as criminals and persecuted for simply being and it’s because of countless laws like this one that a kind of fear surrounding Black people was created long ago. For many generations, their mere existence was unjustly seen as a crime so it’s no wonder why there is a divide that persists to this day. Perhaps one of the best evidence of this in our day is the disproportionate use of force by law enforcers against Black people. Cole’s memoir recounts a horrible incident that happened to his friend in on New Year’s of 2017 where his friend got arrested by police officers for no reason and got his art gallery destroyed. It then explains that this is no isolated incident and that there exists a pattern where police are more likely to scrutinize Black people as they did to his friend. Because of this, he states that they are “subject to surveillance and physical searches without a warrant, to target [of their] homes and businesses with multiple police units in response to non-criminal issues; to arrests using overwhelming physical violence, to charge [them] with violence after using violence against [them]; to steal [their] personal property, particularly [their] money, as if [they] have no claim to it.” (Cole 6) Even though many claim that Black people are treated with equality today, it’s clear that if you pay attention, this isn’t the case. And it’s not because they don’t work hard enough to get higher up on the social ladder; these attacks are done without any good reason. Sure, it isn’t “as bad” as it used to be, but the inequality towards them still very much exists and it’s still bad.

Because of this fabricated difference around Black people, they are sometimes seen and treated as inhuman. I think that the movie Get Out demonstrates a few of the many ways this can occur. In certain cases, Black people are subject to fetishization. In the film, the members of the Armitage family are perpetrators of this. For example, during the family dinner Rose’s family, her brother insinuates that Chris has supposed physical advantages because of his race and tells him: “With your frame and your genetic makeup, if you really pushed your body […] you’d be a fucking beast.” (Peele) Similar peculiar statements and actions were made by guests all throughout the day of the party from touching and getting a feel of his body to making comments about how “black is in fashion.” (Peele) They do all of this without second thought or remorse which is indicative of how they don’t see Chris as a person like they are. I’m sure that if he was white like they were, they wouldn’t have made such remarks. Going back to what I said in the first paragraph, white supremacy seeks the benefit of white people above others. (Cole 8) This means that most of the time, white people won’t bother understanding or changing a system that benefits them. A great example of this was made in the scene where Chris is explained when he’s explained what they plan to do with him. He asks the blind man why it is that they choose Black people in particular and he’s met with a chuckle followed by a chilling response: “Who knows?” (Peele) He doesn’t care to find out and know the reason behind the system that benefits him even though it obviously particularly affects and targets Black people, possibly because he doesn’t exactly see them as human or as equals. Through the examples given in Get Out, it’s made clear that there is an issue about how Black people aren’t seen and understood as regular people like it should be.

In conclusion, The Skin We’re In and Get Out give us insight on the realities of Black people in North America. These works help us understand the historical origins of the injustices that they’ve had to live with and the ways that they manifest in today’s society. I think that further understanding and education concerning this issue is imperative for creating real change that’ll ensure the betterment of the lives of Black people.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Cole, Desmond. “‘negro frolicks (January).’” The Skin We’re In, Doubleday Canada, 2020, pp. 1–17
Peele, Jordan, et al. Get Out. Universal Pictures, 2017.

Presentation: The Silly Husband

The movie Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) features one of the most challenging and subversive representations of masculinity through a character named Waymond Wang. Usually, when we think of the perfect man, we think of someone who’s tall, muscular, stoic, assertive, and powerful. Waymond is almost the complete opposite of this. He’s short, not particularly muscular, vulnerable, meek, lenient, and timid. His wife Evelyn, the main character, is aware of this and resents him for it for almost the entirety of the film. She at first, as many of us did during our first watch, saw him as weak and useless because the movie has her say things like “Sometimes I wonder how he would have survived without me” and “My silly husband, probably making things worse.” Evelyn downplays every decision and action he makes and since the movie is set in her perspective, we see and understand the same thing she seemingly does: that Waymond Wang is a weak naive softie.

However, towards the end of the movie, there is a complete shift in perspective. As Evelyn experiences multiple universes at the same time, Waymond from another universe reveals why he is the way he is. In one of the most beautiful and impactful scenes in cinema, he lets her know that he is aware of how people view him, reminding her that her father once said that he was “too sweet for his own good,” and then explains to her that when he chooses to see the good side of things, he’s not being naive, but that what he does is strategic and necessary. It’s how he’s learned to survive through everything. He tells her that in the cruel world that we live in, he fights by choosing to be kind. And so, in the middle of a multiversal fight and after getting stabbed in the stomach by his own wife, he still fights to protect her: he faces the people who are trying to kill Evelyn and begs everyone to be kind.

Though Waymond isn’t your typical male protagonist and exhibits more feminine traits, we come to comprehend that there is so much power in his way of thinking because it’s through this kinder and empathetic approach to problems that Evelyn is able to save herself from spiralling into madness, as well as save the villain instead of defeating them. 

I think that Waymond’s representation of masculinity was such an important one because throughout history, men have often been made fun of and ridiculed when they deviate from the ideal traditional man. Through his character, people are able to see that men can be so much more as well as simply just different and still be valuable or important. Films that include and promote male characters like Waymond gives the exposure needed for us to broaden our collective definition of masculinity and make men who don’t necessarily adhere to the current one feel more accepted and seen.

Blog 2: Shift in Society

In the past few years, I’ve seen the popularity of “incel” behaviour and hateful ideologies rise through social media, more particularly on YouTube and TikTok. The documentaries Charlottesville: Race and Terror and Inside Incel as well as Michael Kimmel’s essay, Masculinity as Homophobia, have given me insight on why it is that men have been gravitating towards ideologies of racism, sexism and homophobia. I think that part of it is because men feel as the they automatically deserve respect, but feel threatened by the loss of power they’ve experienced in the past decades. I believe that these hateful movements are a way for many men to regain a sense of power and importance within Western society.

To start off, it’s no secret that throughout the past decades, we’ve seen a shift in the western world in regard to the importance of the traditional role of men in society. We’ve seen the development and acceptance of the feminist movement and with it, the dismissal of traditional masculinity where men were viewed as strong, powerful, and authoritative. The past decades have also shown a significant diversification of its communities in the in more and more places, instead of just in major cities. And more recently, we as a society have learned to accept queer people and their culture. I think that these rapid and drastic changes have made many men feel that the importance of their role in their communities is under threat. In Masculinity as Homophobia, Michael Kimmel explains that insecure men have a tendency to exclude and bully those that they deem as less manly such as women, gay men, nonnative men, and men of colour in the hopes that they can “reground their sense of themselves without those haunting fears and that deep shame that they are unmanly and will be exposed by other men.” This is the basis of the hate that they demonstrate which Kimmel calls “the manhood of racism, of sexism, of homophobia.” I think that this is a good start to understanding why many boys and men could have more racist, sexist and homophobic tendencies. We see examples of this kind of behaviour in the documentaries. For example, in an interview in Race and Terror, Christopher Cantwell expresses a deep hate for non-white people by claiming that they are more inclined to violence, while completely dismissing the idea that many white men have committed violent crimes.

In Inside Incel, they explore the how loneliness is a big factor that influences how young men think and act, more particularly towards women. A lot of men have been struggling to find their worth because of their lack of romantic relationships. I think that this loneliness is the main reason why this sort of incel behaviour has become more prevalent. They try to find a reason as to why they’re having such a difficult time making meaningful connections with women, but some fail to see the faults in themselves and end up blaming women for their suffering. It’s easier for them to make women the target of their anger than to acknowledge and to understand that they, as men, are no longer as valuable to society as they always were. This results in tragedies, like when Alex Minassian drove over pedestrians on a mission to seek revenge. Sadly enough, this has caused men who relate to his feelings of isolation and exclusion to admire him and use his case as a way to justify their own anger and thus are inclined to following his horrible example. We can observe a similar phenomenon in the documentary Charlottesville: Race and Terror. We see how the loss of power white men have experienced has made them angry, and that this anger has manifested through racism. In the film, a group of racist men work together to commit violent acts towards groups of people that they think are below, notably people who are non-white. As it was for the incels, we can deduce that a feeling of inferiority is what led them to become overtly racist and proud of it. When interviewed about the movement, Christopher Cantwell proudly proclaims that “you can’t feel about race as much as I do” and that he’s like “a much more racist Donald Trump.” In the documentary it is said that their displays of hate give them the illusion of control over others which in turn makes them feel more important than everyone else who isn’t a white male.

In conclusion, I believe that the majority of men are unable to adapt to the radical shift in society that has occurred throughout the recent decades. Because of this, they are falling behind and suffering from loneliness and loss of power. This has led many to turn to hateful ideologies to give an explanation to their suffering because it’s easier to blame others than to accept that the traditional man that they wish to be is no longer as valued in the communities that they are part of. This also shows why it is so crucial for men to grow up with positive role models, particularly in real life rather than online, to guide them in the proper way of manhood, the one that is secure and accepting, and to not let them fall into a hateful way of life. Finally, I think that it is also important for us as a society to educate and try to understand the men who have fallen into it, rather than shun them and unintentionally fuel their anger.

Blog 1: Suppressing the Feminine

The rigid idea of masculinity that we collectively have and enforce upon men can have a very damaging effect. Carlos had been influenced by his peers and his family throughout his entire life to be more masculine and it worked; he’s athletic, into sports and engages in typically masculine activities like going out to clubs and hooking up with as many girls as he possibly can. However, on the inside, this has caused Carlos to be very much conflicted. There are many things that he wants to explore about himself, but he feels as though he could never do so because of the expectations and dismissal of the people around him. This has been made evident. For example, when he brings up the possibility of him being gay to his mom, she completely shuts the idea down and says that he’s being “mean.” As a result, Carlos feels unfulfilled and confused about who he really is as a person. She might not have meant it in a negative way against gay people, since Carlos said that he thinks that he learned to be inclusive through his parents, but it’s clear that the idea of her son being gay made her uncomfortable. He also feels conflicted because he wants to accept and believe that it’s okay for people to be fluid in their sexuality but gets taught the opposite by the world around him. The only people in his life that he mentions that encouraged fluidity were his girl friends in college that asked invited him to go to a gay club. Other than that, his family, friends, and peers all frown down on it. Some more explicitly than others, but they all do, nonetheless. 

Marc also suffers from a similar problem. He’s a young boy who cherishes his little sister very much and who has a love for literature and poetry. The youth centre he’s being detained at is supposed to be a place where he gets to better himself, or at least that’s what the director claims. However, the ending of the short film makes it clear that this wasn’t the case for Marc. At the youth centre, they make the teenage boys engage in more typically masculine or physical activities like playing basketball, swimming, and gardening. This can be helpful for many people, but for someone like Marc who’s more feeling and emotional, not so much. He’s probably the type to benefit more from more creative outlets, which we see a complete lack of except for that one scene in the classroom. Even in that scene, he’s reluctant to share his poem and be vulnerable, maybe because of how he noticed that showing emotion is frowned upon among the young boys when his friend mocked another kid for crying over the weekend. The officer also dismissed the signs that Marc was showing of having potential suicidal thoughts, probably because he was also unsure of how to react to it. 

I think that if these two main characters had people around them that could see their potential beyond masculinity, they would’ve been saved from a lot of the mental turmoil that they experienced. If someone around them had known how to, they could’ve nurtured the less masculine aspects of their personalities and given them the opportunity to explore their true selves without the fear of being different. Obviously, this is something that’s difficult for people to do because the majority of us in the western world have been taught to encourage masculinity and discourage femininity in men. This is something we see in Marc’s story when the director, who’s pretty perceptive of what the boys do, notices his struggle, but fails to approach him and help him. It’s clear that he genuinely cared for Marc, but because he had most probably never been taught to deal with such emotions whether it be within himself or others, he failed to give Marc the help that he actually needed. Even though Carlos and Marc don’t stray too far from the norms of masculinity, they are harmed by the fact that it’s only that aspect of their person that gets reinforced. 

In conclusion, I think that the text and the short film that we discussed in class give an interesting exploration of the negative effects that the enforcement of masculinity can have on young men. I think that it showed the importance of accepting people’s differences especially while growing up. We shouldn’t keep holding onto strict standards imposed on men because everyone could adhere to some of them, but most of us will deviate from it in many different ways because we’re all different. This is why representation in media is incredibly important, because it exposes us to these differences and makes us understand that just because someone is different, doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing.