5 Assignment 06

The other as described in bell hooks’ essay would be racial minorities who have cultures that differ from western norms. White people are seen as the default, or the standard and because of this some of them feel the need to rebel against this by taking on another cultures identity. In an attempt to add excitement to their lives, prove progression, or go against expectations, white people can sometimes submerge themselves in another race’s way of life which is their relationship to the “other”. hooks characterizes this relationship as productive because there was a time period where the other was completely shunned and any relationship to the other lacked consent. Not to say that this isn’t an issue today, but we have moved forward in racial relations even to the point where people would actually want to have a consensual relationship with someone from a different cultural background for various reasons. The desire to claim an identity makes the other seem appealing instead of appalling which is a step forward. Some white people have a desire to be changed in someway by obtaining the other. Either becoming more sexually advanced since people of color are stereotyped to be more experienced, or becoming more culturally aware because people of color are seen as being more worldly. Publicly expressing an interest in a person of color is a radical action in comparison to what is the norm for white supremacist. It helps to push away from the stigma of interracial relationships that are both platonic and romantic. Though the relationship to the other is somewhat productive it is also very flawed. From the very idea that there even is a default and an other, and the assumptions made about people, to people having a motive behind an interracial relationship rather than just liking an individual.

Bell Hook’s, in her writing piece “Eating the Other,” describes the relationships between different races. The interactions between different races is interesting and sometimes may be disturbing. For instance, if we go back in past, white people used and abused people of different races. Now, in a present Hook’s says that young people want to transcend the old ways and be open to new ways. However, it is not always that simple. If we look at the example she gave us about white guys who want to have interactions with females from different races, in a way it is still the intervention into their lives. Regarding to the “others” concept, I believe Bell Hook meant people of different races, cultures and genders.

She often uses the world “others” in her text, it might be an approach to show how different people are. Her relationship to it, I believe, is very strong because she tries to educate people on what is right and what is wrong. If everybody would go with a right route, then we would have probably lived in a more respectful society because everybody would understand the value of an individualism. In addition, “other” might also mean an individual because we are all different with our own beliefs and principals. Plus, people usually do not like when someone tries to change our beliefs our influence us somehow. In the example mentioned before, white guys want to influence girls of different races because for them it is some soft of a challenge to become someone new. Although, it is not always a good thing to do because it is very disrespectful to others.

Thus, I believe Hook’s meaning of the “others” is simple. “Others” are people who are just different and being different is normal. Hopefully in the future, people would not pay a lot of attention to where you came from and who you are and instead they would focus on your individuality.

The “Other”, as describe by Hooks, are all people that are not White. The “Other” is so different than Whites that they take on a mystical quality that Whites want to secretly come in contact with.   Examples of “Others” mentioned by Hooks are Blacks, Native Americans, and Asians.

White males want to come in contact but not because they see them as equal but because the “Others” offer pleasure that they cannot receive in their world. Moreover, conquering “Others” also served as a rite of passage. Hooks describe this in the passage where she overheard white college males. They felt that coming into contact with the “Other” would transform them.

Hooks characterizes the relationship to “Otherness” as productive because it is used as a commodity. Hooks describes how stereotypes are used in advertising when Whites encounters “ Others”. There is a fantasy image to encounter “others” in plays, movies, music, and fashion advertisement. Each commercialized venue tends to connect this encounter with “others” with an encounter with the “primitive”. According to Hooks, the intention is not to show domination as in the past, but highlight a desire to be connected.

One example of the relationship of “Otherness” as described by Hooks is in the movie “The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover”. Here one White man dominates black males. The connection with “others’ serves as a metaphor for pleasure and death. Here by eating black food supposedly one achieves power and privileges in the imagination of whites.

Another commodity of “otherness’ is seen through the advertisement ads of “Tweeds” magazine. Here the models are photographed in Egypt. Egypt and its people are not highlighted. According to Hooks, what is highlighted is the ability for Whites to travel around the world with the desire to come in contact with “others”. Furthermore, this connection shows that Whites have freedom, unlike “others”.

By using this desire to connect with “others”, Hooks implies that Black Nationalism becomes powerless. Racial stereotypes used in commodities further serve as a disadvantage and not a helpful method to providing unity between people from different racial groups.

While reading the first page of bell hooks’s essay, my eyes crossed and my brain froze. I had no idea what she was trying to say and I realized that I need to work on my vocabulary. And to be honest, I had to read over the first few pages of the essay before I could kind of understand what she was trying to convey. My first thought was that the Other she speaks of, was about sex and only sex. Then I started to understand her message more clearly, well at least my interpretation was that the “Other”, is a generalized word to describe people of color. Hook believes that there is a sensualization attached to people of color because their skin color and culture are different than white people. This difference of the Other is what white people find attractive and crave to explore. The media uses the Other by reinforcing this message through commercial ads and movies. bell used the movie, HAIRSPRAY, as an example of how segregation made white people more curious about black people and their culture. They desired what was against the social norm as a way to assert their own whiteness and cross personal boundaries (hook,378). There are some white people that view the Other as a sexual notch on their belt that needs to be conquered, to which hook believes is a way that white supremacy can grow. Hook also has the ideology that this Otherness should be used in a productive way to give black youth a voice, rather than continually be exploited for product placement and ticket sales. She argues that the ongoing desire of the Other will keep white people wanting more until the entire black culture is consumed and in danger of being eradicated unless the exploitations is closely watched and questioned.

Alfie Corteza

Professor Bullock

Assignment #6

In Bell Hook’s chapter “Eating the Other: Desire and Resistance,” the other is the non-white people, such as Asians, African-Americans, Hispanics, and people of color. In addition to that, when she mentions “Eating the Other” is a way of absorbing the culture, and values of other people of color. A large example used within Hook’s work would be related to sex. Such as the white jocks whose goals were to “fuck” as many girls from other ethnicities other than white. Another example would be the example of the film “Heart Condition” a white mans receives a heart from a black man named Stone, and shortly afterward Mooney finds a replica of a black penis between his legs, and that his personality is now sensitive and loving. All after he ate the other, by having his heart transplanted into him. By Mooney having the transplant into him, it is a literal transplant from the black male who was more seductive, and enlightened and as a result, he was able to acquire the girl that the black man was able to seduce.

Hook’s characterizes relationship to otherness as productive as it explains that there are white people who also acknowledge the struggles that black people go through. Bell includes two white rappers MC Search, and Prime Minister Pete NIce who want to bring a positive message to the black people of understanding, and that humanity as a whole has to get past the hatred. Another way that otherness is productivity is the way Sandra Berhnardt reveals the issues of white appropriation of black culture, and how there is no acknowledgment of whom they got it from, and not giving credit where it is due. By having otherness and addressing the issues of one race being dominant over a specific area, and overcoming it by solidarity or by bringing up the appropriation there can be an improvement of each society to be respected.

Hooks describes the relationship between primarily white people and, in general, people of “Other” races, but specifically black people and culture for examples to explain her arguments. She notices that this relationship can be observed by focusing on its correlation with consumer culture.

It seems that it is not beyond the understanding of the white males Hooks describes, while in a university town, as being unaware of the history of white supremacy and rationalizes their contemporary behavior and goals as being against those ideals. She describes their desires of sleeping with as many non-white women to leave their sheltered and uncultured lives and enter into a world, with these women as witnesses, of excitement that these cultures have to offer (Hooks, 368). The avenue of experiencing this culture is through sex and is a campaign not viewed as a conquest. Hooks, argues otherwise. Racism is exercised subtlety, as these white males want to consume the bodies of these women and enter their culture, leaving their more safe and reserved ones behind. The Others’ culture is highly sexualized.

For one thing to consume the other, these two entities must be separate. The metaphorical idea of consumption expresses Hooks concepts of the consumer being a dominant force between the two – the white males and women of the Others. This separation achieves two things. The first is to set a foundation on which one can return to and feel safe while the second is to open an opportunity to leave this safety and experience a perceived sense of accomplishment by exploiting the differences of the Other. This indulgence of the dominating group is achieved by taking from the Other group, hence a consumption, and not allowing the Other to retain an equality.

The desire to dominate and impose suffering on the Other is masked by the new narrative of the dominator as having been seduced whereby the seduction is a choice of the other (Hooks, 369). This is caused by subtle racism. The idea of seduction contradicts the ideals of past racially charged conquests which, without scrutiny, will disguise racism and even paint he dominator as a good doer. This is institutionally enabled by the commodification of the Others’ cultures whereby they are promised recognition, but in contradiction this actually does more social harm than good because it allows an avenue of asserting dominance by non-Others(Hooks, 370).

In more objective examples, Hooks draws upon the economic exploitation of the Other culture(s) through consumer culture. Through examples of modern advertising, we see that Other cultures only silhouette whiteness. The focal point is whiteness and it serves to pierce through the primitive (Hooks, 373). This creates a degenerating cycle that harms the cause of the Other(s) because it culturally appropriates them. They will then defend by responding with nationalism, which is interpreted by white intellectuals as naive essentialism, a predisposition to behavior based on inherent traits.

As to why cultural appropriation is so damaging to the Other(s), Hooks expands on the concepts of essentialism. She mentions Langston Hughes and his essay, “ Hip, and the Long Front of Color”, and how a critic of his work, Andrew Ross, describes it as a complaint (373). Hooks raises a defense for Hughes saying that he was simply making a point that the art created by his culture had been robbed and how it was a way for it to be expressed and separated from white culture to achieve a sense of freedom. This sense of freedom is indeed needed in the context of a culture, political and economic system that so heavily favors, presumably, middle class and higher white people. As mentioned before, Ross would be an example of someone who does not understand the difference between nationalism as a way to reclaim relevance to resist a dominating force and essentialism.

Taking a part of the Other(s) culture and appropriating it results in consuming said culture. The consumer gains by decontextualizing causing the culture being consumed to lose by not being accredited for this avenue of indulgence and being denied their opposition against a history of the aforementioned oppression. The concept of consuming the Other(s) explains how the dominant consumer participates in the relationship without regard for what the Other is gaining, or losing.

Bell Hooks describes the “other” as a human being that is sexually possessed, culturally invisible, used as a label to increase consumption of products and as someone that is eventually used and dehumanized due to their “otherness”. It seems as if otherness is used as the general term to define the race of that “other” individual. When Hooks describe the “other”, she uses sexuality, race and market to develop her argument. For example, she gave an anecdote about a group of white students trying to be sexually pleasured by the Other in which race played a primordial role for selection of that one female. We can say that white superiority and willingness to oppress color people using a relationship towards the “other” just as Hooks describes. They want to form a bond with the “other” by acting as if they want to heal the past be part of their new beginning. However, their motive it’s completely different because Hooks mentions how Mooney obtains a heart from a black men and suddenly obtains all and the women Mooney and the black men were in love with. In other words, once the black person is death and the white men accepted the diversity in race then he was able to fulfill his pleasures. There is gain in this white men meaning that there is effective production for the white as they accept a black people. For example, when they contract a black cook to make their food or when they allow them to be the cover of a product they are advertising. This is what Bell Hooks characterized as a relationship to “otherness” as productive. Making some modifications and not limiting to a group of only one racial group will eventually open new doors and generate different forms of wealth for the white. To prove this Hooks used the example of the consumption Pepsi products by black people and in their how on their advertisement the use minority race representations as a strategy for production.

In Bell Hook’s piece, “Eating the Other”, she portrays the “other” as a sort of commodity that people of opposite races want to experience. It offers a new way of feeling and and creates an intense event for people who are looking for different pursuits. Hooks creates the idea that the “other” can allow a person to bring their wildest fantasies to life. The “other” can be thought of as the opposite race, culture, or class. The main focus is sexual experiences with the opposite race. She describes white supremacy and how their desire for the other can be exploited. These exploitations can bring an end to racial domination. Some people fear the “other” for fear of exploring other sexual desires outside of their race. The racial difference essentially marks one as the “other” and it threatens to take over due to the amount of immense pleasure one can experience from the “other.” The seduction of difference allows mostly whites to exploit their sexual desires. They are essentially shopping for sexual partners based on race and ethnicity. It seems as if the more non-white girls they can have sex with, the more accomplished they feel. White people had this imagination that non-whites had more life experience and that because they were different they were more wildly sexual. The idea of having sex with non-white people was considered transcending and it had the ability to transform your mind. This relationship to the other is considered productive because it allows people to keep an open mind and bring in an end to the division of races and cultures. These young white men who openly expressed their sexual desires for black girls, essentially made them non-racist. It was quite different from slave masters who basically violated black women to assert their dominance, these men now wanted to have sexual relations with black girls. These men exploring the realms of sexuality, hope that their world will remain the same. These men don’t realize that they will re-enter the world a different man and that these thoughts will remain and most likely get stronger.

Due Sunday, October 15th, by midnight. Word count: 300 words. Please make sure everything is in your own words. No quotes should be used. If you paraphrase from the text be sure to include the proper citation (either MLA or APA). Late assignments will be accepted for partial credit if they are submitted no later than one week after the original deadline.

Attempt to explain the relationship to “the other” that bell hooks describes in her essay, “Eating the other.” Who or what is “the Other”? Why do you think hooks characterizes the relationship to “otherness” as productive?