Dancing Around Objectification: In Victoria Merlino’s piece, two women from The Harlem Dancer and Invisible Man have the same role, dance and entertain the men. They are both shunned and dehumanized because of the work they do, but one key difference between the two women is their race. The Harlem Dancer is a black woman, while the Invisible Man woman is white. For the woman from The Harlem Dancer, everyone who sees her perform is only intrigued by the beauty of her body, rather than the talent of her voice. Meanwhile, the white dancer from Invisible Man is being surrounded by the males she is performing for, being touched by the men. Differentiated just by the color of their skin, the white woman is able to escape from her misery by defending herself from being touched by those “under” her based on the color of their skin.

Intersectionality 101: According to the reading, Intersectionality 101, the way a person is judged based on their gender, race, or class is often overlapped, or intersected, and happen simultaneously. When one is discriminated, it is often a combination of several traits and likely the most common ones, for gender, race, and class. In the reading, the imagery of a traffic intersection is made, and the example of a car accident was made to show that no matter who’s at fault for the accident, it happened none the less and every car at the intersection became involved.

The Urgency of Intersectionality: In Kimberle Crenshaw’s TED Talk, she shows how there is not frame extended to intersectionality, only frames for forms of individual social injustice. Because there is no frame for the discrimination of intersectionality, people can’t see the problem, and if the problem can’t be seen, it can’t be solved. When two or more forms of injustice overlap people can’t see the problem as a whole, they can only see the problem broken down and suddenly it’s not an issue anymore; but it’s not the same when the problem is one verse when its broken down. Just because an employer hires black males and white females it doesn’t mean that intersectionality does not exist in the problem because a black female has not been hired.

Bechdel Test: The Bechdel Test is a test conducted to evaluate the role or portrayal of women in fiction, writing or filmmaking. The requirements for the test are simple, two or more women with an identity and an interaction about a topic other than another man. The primary goal of the test is to increase female characters and their role in fiction, but most importantly bring light to gender inequality in fiction.

Victoria Merlino’s “Dancing Around Objectification” is an essay describing how the main character in “The Harlem Dancer” by Claude McKay and a party entertainer from Ralph Ellison’s “The Invisible Man” both depict woman in a matter that to some might be taken as not a person whatsoever, but instead an object of lust and desire. Merlino really goes into depth with just how much freedom each woman seems to have, while none seems to be expressed as a woman at all. “The Harlem Dancer” describes its main character as someone everyone can admire, but the entertainer in Ellison’s novel has a bit of an advantage, as she can choose who she may fend off the men who try to touch and admire her. With this comes another argument, which is one of racial contrast. It almost seems like Merlino is Joe trying to argue that in the objectification of women back in the early 20th century, white women were given more freedom to choose than the black women. Albeit plausible, this may not be as practical, since first of all, these are two different novels, and could be completely unrelated when it comes to setting, and timeline. Second of all, both Claude Mckay and Ralph Ellison are black, which limits the amount of perspective that is given for these situations. If Merlino gave an example of a white author who wrote about the objectification of a woman, there would be more evidence to point to race playing a part in objectified women.

And with that, I ask if there are such examples of white authors objectifying women of all races. I’m sure there are, but to what extent, what is the perspective given, how does the narrator react to it ( or what does he think of it), and how much freedom is the woman given to choose?

From what I have pieced together from the post on reddit, intersectionality is pretty much the blatant distinction, whether intentional or circumstantial, of inequality in society. This can include race, gender, social class, and dis/ability. Sometimes, intersectionality can be subjective, for example, one might see inequalities between men and women, while one sees no inequalities between the two genders. It could even be objective, for example, one who is paralyzed from the legs down won’t have the ability to do certain kinds of work, while a person with no disabilities would be able to. Intersectionality, to sum it up is just a focus on the contrasts in society that make people different from each other. The concept itself also may affect the way someone lives their life too.

Something I’m curious about though is about the emphasis on intersectionality in today’s age. Why does so many people seem to express their disapproval for inequality, but actually do nothing to stop it? I know this isnt the case for everybody, but some contrasts I’ve seen on a societal scale have been created due to the fact that it didn’t actually exist there in the first place, but instead thought it was there, and such a psychosis lead to its fruition.

Dancing Around Objectification

Down to its core, this article is a simple “compare & contrast” of  two different fictional characters. One is a black woman, one is a white woman. They are both exotic dancers. While they are both in very similar situations and are “idealized and dehumanized,” the author draws a line based on the racial difference. The main takeaway is that the white woman, while still not at the top of the totem pole, is high enough in status that she can use this privilege to take back her own agency, while the black woman cannot.

 

Intersectionality 101

This reading as the title suggests, is quite literally Intersectionality 101, this is to say; a short introduction to the theory of intersectionality. It starts by defining it: “a methodology of studying “the relationships among multiple dimensions and modalities of social relationships and subject formations.”…” Gives a little history about the term; coined in 1989 by Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw. And, explains the three approaches used to study and conceptualize intersectionality; interlocking matrix of oppression, standpoint theory, and a third unnamed one (resisting oppression.)

 

The Urgency of Intersectionality

Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, the speaker of this ted talk, explains intersectionality in such a way that a layman could understand. According to her when a person has more than one feature placing them at a disadvantage and/or unprivileged position, it places the person in the intersection of 2 or more roads, which could be race, gender, sexual orientation etc. Being aware of that and analyzing it is what she calls intersectionality. She heavily uses black females as groups to derive examples from, as she is a black female herself.

 

The Bechdel Test

The Bechdel test, first coined by Alison Bechdel in the 80’s, is a method to evaluate the portrayal of women in creative works. It consists of 3 rules. There must be at least 2 women in the work. They have to talk to each other. They have to talk about something else than a man. This test is often modified to suit different objectives and whatnot, but overall they are all at least tangentially related to evaluating the portrayal of women in fiction. It’s been criticized for being too shallow, and there’s been a barrage of new tests/methods created as superior alternatives such as the Mako Mori test.

 

Response

 

While I do believe “intersectionality” is an extremely important concept be aware of in order to understand the interactions between defining features of people and discrimination (amongst other things) I think it’s too try hard to actually label something that should come naturally when thinking about these “intersections.” It’s basically common sense to see how they all connect and interact, so I think this is just over-intellectualizing something that should be tacitly understood. I’m probably wrong though, since I’m out of touch.

Regarding what we’ve done and seen before in class, this topic clearly correlates to it in numerous way of which i’ll detail one. The labeling of this concept, and all the massive theory surrounding it, is rhetoric in its purest form. A framework which these people use to push this onto the general population, the masses, so they can use this tool to understand the experiences of people situated in intersections and more.

 

Question

How do complex theories like this trickle down to knowledge in the unconscious collective?

 

Dancing Around Objectification Summary

In the article Dancing Around Objectification by Victoria Merlino, the author discusses the different perceptions people have for women who project their body in public. Although these perceptions can’t be changed, the women being perceived can at least have some right to defend herself only if she is white. In this piece, Merlino puts forth a contrast between Claude McKay’s main character in The Harlem Dancer and Ralph Ellison’s party entertainer in Invisible Man. Even though both women are being objectified and sexualized in a very similar way, what distinguishes both cases is that Ellison’s dancer has some sort of “agency,” since she is white, to fend herself from white men who are above her (men below her, such as black men, don’t have any right to even speak about her). While, on the other hand, Mckay’s Harlem Dancer has barely any social rights since she is black, therefore, she is “forced to bow to the weight of her audience’s perceptions.”

Intersectionality 101 Summary

The reading Intersectionality 101 explains how different aspects of our identity interact and forms a “systematic social inequality.” This is also known as the theory of intersectionality. The primary focus of this theory is the minority group rather than the majority group which further helps the audience understand why these minority groups have been labeled as troublesome or the “others” in the western culture. To better understand this theory, approaches such as the “Interlocking Matrix of Oppression” (explains how oppression based on gender, race, class, sexual orientation, age, etc, is interconnected) and the “standpoint theory” (societal knowledge is gained through one’s own personal experiences) are extremely helpful.

The Urgency of Intersectionality Summary

In this Ted talk by Kimberlé Crenshaw, tries to explain her theory of intersectionality in the most simple words. In her view, many social justice problems overlap, like racism and sexism, resulting in the creation of unidentified levels of social injustice. To further expand on this, Crenshaw shares an anecdote of a woman she encountered whose claim for gender and race discrimination at a hob hiring was dismissed in court because the company she sued hired both men and woman and people of all colors. But the real problem the court failed to see was that woman of color weren’t offered the same job due to their race and gender. In other words, Crenshaw emphasized the fact that “if we won’t be able to see the problem, we will never be able to solve it.” Intersectionality is just a tool that helps broaden our frame through which we see the social injustice around us.

The Bechdel test

The main purpose of a Bechdel test is to identify the “gender inequality in fiction.” It is named after American cartoonist Alison Bechdel in whose comic this test first appeared. The only requirement of this test is that a dialogue takes place between two women whose point of conversing is not about men. So, in simple terms, the test evaluates how women are depicted in fiction. An astonishing fact about this test is that only half the films actually fulfill this test which shows that most of the movies we watch are gender biased.  

Response

In this modern era, I feel that we are judged only through an extremely small and impartial lens called “intersectionality”. After reading all these articles and listening to Kimberle Crenshaw, I am confident that most of the people nowadays look at the identity of the person and then his credibility or his/her accomplishments. In doing so, they have an opinion about them that is already prejudiced. In other words, intersectionality defines who we are and determines the oppression we are going to face. To make matters worse, the more diverse one’s identity is, more prone he/she is to facing severe oppression. In my opinion, intersectionality is the most important lense which is why I feel like in my analysis, I will focus on it the most.

Connection

In connection, intersectionality can be best used to describe the male-female stereotypes that were discussed in the reading we went over in class, The Egg and the Sperm by Emily Martin. The whole point of the reading was that men are stronger in every way when compared to women. The intersectionality part comes in when the gender is combined with our culture that allows such imagery to prevail in silence. Eventually, letting the male-female stereotyped to influence our society.

Question

Is there a limit to how far can we go in defining intersectionality?

Dancing Around Objectification Summary & Response

Two dancers prance around naked on their own platforms, elevated for the viewing of all [appropriate] audiences.  Men gawk and imprint their “objectifying gaze” upon the women, objectifying and dehumanizing their very beings.  One dancer immerses herself into the act as she displays all her curves and a flute-like voice to an entranced viewership; the other dancer, unable to shake off a feeling of discomfort, awkwardly entertains a more hands-on crowd. Certain onlookers simply stare, wide-eyed.

Without bringing race into question, the scenes depicted could have been a day in the life of any burlesque dancer or exotic dancer in the Twentieth century.  But Merlino, author of the article, makes clear that the individual scenarios of each woman had as much to do with race and social class as it did their racy clothing — or lack thereof.

The white dancer (or the one that got away) is attacked by the author for making a decision to run from her post, fleeing from her touchy audience.  She is a “privileged white woman” able to “take back her own agency”.  Is it not both of these women’s agencies to dance and strip in the first place?  Is it not work that they willingly took?

Intersectionality 101 Summary & Response

Coined by feminist Kimberle Crenshaw, intersectionality creates layers of oppression based on the different identities that a person feels he or she (or zie, etc…) IS.  Of course, this gives way to the creation of countless new identities and the apparent need to accept everyone, as to not offend anyone… With some time, “laws of intersectionality” were fabricated by Patricia Hill Collins, attempting to explain the theory that would eventually spawn an angry hate mob of social justice warriors and radical leftists.

The issue with interesectionality is that it creates a hierarchy of oppression, placing those who are “most vulnerable” to oppression based on identity at the very top of the pyramid, and those “least vulnerable” at the bottom.  Explicitly speaking, your average white American male would be at the bottom, then building upward with the introduction of different ethnicities, religious beliefs, cultures, education and wealth levels, statuses, sexes (and genders), etc…  As a result, there are new identities being born by the day.

Another problem arises when people begin to take offense at microaggressions, defined as “the everyday verbal, nonverbal, and environmental slights, snubs, or insults, whether intentional or unintentional, which communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative messages to target persons based solely upon their marginalized group membership.”  By this logic, anything determined to be offensive to a marginalized people group is a worthless opinion, as is anything else that comes out of the “aggressor’s” mouth.  We have also seen university professors declaring that the appropriate response to a microaggression is a macroaggression, or by layman’s terms: a knuckle sandwich… and also anything else necessary.

The Urgency of Intersectionality Summary & Response

Kimberle Crenshaw says female members of the black community in dire straits thanks to their intersectional identities.  Notwithstanding the fact that intersectionality has blown up beyond measurable proportion in today’s social justice landscape, Crenshaw focuses on how being a black female in America makes it increasingly difficult for one to find work, dispute cases of discrimination in a court of law, and puts her at greater risk of police brutality and murder.  

Ever-clearer becomes the scope of discrimination against minority groups and marginalized peoples in America with the theory of intersectionality.  She didn’t get the job because she was a woman or because she was black — it was because she was a woman AND black.  How illuminating.  It is unfortunate that such a sheer number of black women were met with tragic fates in encounters with the police.  If such happenings were on account of purely race, or purely sexism, further legal actions against the cops could be justified; however, championing the motto “say her name” and stepping on the graves of the dead women is simply useless virtue signalling.

We are not given context of the murders in the rapid-fire listing of names taken by the cops, which makes us wonder: weren’t at least one of the cops met with violence or resistance from any of the women in the long list of victims?  Could Crenshaw have taken some things out of context in order to push a narrative?  If so, how much of the presentation founded in objective facts and evidence, and how much of it is biased and simply there to stir hatred toward the police?

Dancing Around Objectification

“Dancing Around Objectification” by Victoria Merlino discusses the differences between seemingly similar characters in two different stories. Claude McKay’s The Harlem Dancer and Ralph Ellison’s The Invisible Man both feature female dancers. Although both face admiration and degradation, the trait that greatly separates them is their skin color, which determines how they are treated in their respective stories. The lady in The Harlem Dancer is black while the dancer in The Invisible Man is white. McKay’s dancer is gawked upon by everyone, her self-possession is taken away almost instantly. She swiftly becomes nothing but and idealized object to her audience. However, Ellison’s white dancer, performing in front of black teens, manages to take away the self-possession of her audience instead. She becomes something they can never have. They feel fear. Ellison’s white dancer comes with rules and restrictions while McKay’s dancer is available to anyone.

Intersectionality 101

This text is basically a summarization of what intersectionality is all about. It discusses how discrimination isn’t always split into separate categories but are usually linked together and can create different perceptions. Intersectionality explains how some groups of people have been viewed as “troublesome” since their experiences don’t always match with the generalized perceptions of other groups.  The text also brings up the Standpoint Theory, which is the idea that a person’s perceptions are influenced by their own unique living experiences. An example is brought up about how two Hispanic women may have similar perspectives in regard to race and sex, but if one woman is in a higher economic status, their standpoints will not be completely identical.

The Urgency of Intersectionality

Kimberlé Crenshaw’s Ted Talk clearly displays the importance of understanding intersectionality. Crenshaw starts off by listing a few names of black police brutality victims to see how much of her audience knew about them. Most of the audience had heard the names before. She then lists a second group, and most of the audience has never heard of them. She points out the first group was all male, while the others were female. It indicates the fact that black female victims of police brutality receive far less attention than males. Crenshaw goes into further discussion of how black women face discrimination against both their skin color and their sex.

Bechdel Test

The Bechdel Test is a way for evaluating a work of fiction’s portrayal of women. It requires that a story contain at least two women who discuss anything other than men. The test is named after a cartoonist named after Alison Bechdel since it first appeared in one of her comic strips. The point of the test is to call attention to gender equality in fiction. Apparently, only half of all films pass the test.

Response

All these posts have really clarified the meaning of intersectionality for me. I never really thought about how a person’s identity is dependent on all their qualities and how they can all affect people. The TED Talk was especially interesting to me once it discussed how black women can face discrimination both for being black and being a woman. That connects back to how there are several lenses to use while evaluating anything. Intersectionality is an interesting and important concept, why isn’t more widespread?

“Dancing Around Objectification”
The women in Claude McKay’s “The Harlem Dancer” and Ralph Ellison’s “Invisible Man” are objectified in both stories, but their circumstances are different due to their race. Instead of being wowed by the Harlem dancer’s personality and talent, the crowd is enthralled by her “blackness”. Meanwhile, Ellison’s white character finds herself stuck between being a divine entity and a whore for the racially different men. Both woman find themselves losing who they are as they perform, but Ellison’s character is able to fight back to a certain extent while the Harlem dancer does not. Although they face similar situations, their difference in race displays a problem with how black and white people are treated.

“Intersectionality 101”
As defined in the reddit post, intersectionality is a way of seeing how multiple aspects of life, such as class, gender, and race, relate to and affect one another rather than independently. Oftentimes, it has a focus on minorities, allowing us to see why some may be viewed in a negative way. Besides from seeing how the different social classifications are linked to one another, the standpoint theory discusses how one’s own experiences can influence their own perspective. In the example given, two Hispanic woman may share the same opinions on race and gender, but their opinions may be different if they grew up in different economic classes. Therefore, with intersectionality, we are able to see how these connections make people dislike or favor certain groups.

“The Urgency of Intersectionality”
In this TED Talk, Kimberlé Crenshaw discusses how we should be aware of intersectionality, particularly with black women. While we are aware of the black men that have been victims of police brutality, most of us don’t even know the names of the female victims. Due to how they are black women, they fit into two social classifications that are seen to be “weaker” or “lesser.” This means that when it comes to media coverage or applying for a job, they face issues with being treated fairly. As Crenshaw mentions in the video, we have to be aware of intersectionality and how it affects groups like this so we can stand up for them.

“Bechdel Test”
The Bechtel Test looks to see if the portrayal of women in a work of fiction is an accurate representation of women. The test is quite simple, with the requirements being that at least two women have to be present and have a conversation with each other on a topic that isn’t about a man. Since its introduction, it has spread awareness and pushed creators to have gender equality in their work. Not only that, it has also inspired the creation of other tests for sexuality and for people of color, such as the Vito Russo test and the the DuVernay test. As a test for gender equality and an inspiration for other tests for equality, the Bechtel Test is a very useful tool that can be used various forms of fiction.

Response:
As a lens, intersectionality is highly important when it comes to understanding people and their situations. Most of these readings discussed how we lack awareness in how black women are portrayed and treated unfairly due to being a combination of being of black and female. Unfortunately, racial and gender stereotypes have made others perceive them in a degrading way. Now that we know what intersectionality is, I think that it is important to use it to look closer into the picture and determine whether or not there is equality for all. This, in turn, will allow us to have a better understanding of what is happening and push us to change how people are perceived in all types of work.

Question:
Are today’s creators aware of any issues with regards of intersectionality in the characters in their work, or do they not realize it until their audience addresses it?