“Eating the Other”
Bell Hooks introduces the idea of “the other” in her essay “Eating the other” as people of different races, cultures, and ethnicity than oneself. She talks about people who look for “the other” in order to discover new experiences and know about different sexual pleasures of different racial groups. In the essay we are informed that different races have different experiences during sex and that many times people look for different partners of different backgrounds in order to try something new. In the beginning we’re told about a group of white men talking about different partners they would like to conquer and the main priority were Asians because they were easy and blacks were a must on the list. It is understood that if someone has been with not only multiple people but of different backgrounds that they are looked up to because of more experience. Hooks also informs us that by men openly expressing their interest in women of color that they are considered more masculine to other people. This is because it shows their openness and their acceptance in other people that are not of their own race. This dilemma is also most common in white people since they are seen as the “original” race and everyone else are the different, exotic ones. It seems that “the otherness” is mostly a way for white people to diversify their lives and it is portrayed through magazines, movies, and all sorts of advertisement. For example, in the movie hairspray the main characters break boundaries by dancing with black people and therefore making them more liked by viewer by showing they are different and accepting of other races. Hooks also writes about the photo shoot in Egypt that barely focus on the Egyptian people, but mainly on their land and the white people visiting. Showing us how Whites desire diversity yet still want to be distinguished as better or “the others” be distinguished as not good enough. So they blurred them out of the photos to establish this.
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