Bell hooks article entitled eating the other: desire and
resistance, exploits this idea of other for the individual. The curiosity, or
let alone, the intense attention of white people towards the black culture, is
very much emphasized in “Eating the Other: Desire or resistance.” Hooks
mentioned in her essay that white men like the feeling of crossing over to
another race because of certain primitive fantasies. One of the most important
and highlighted examples she wrote was having sexual intercourse with “the
other”. She said that this experience makes the white person feel more in touch
with the world. The reason is simply because the encounter is unusual.
To elaborate, Hooks said that the primitive race is more sensual. This
is because, historically, they struggled more than the white men. Being black
presents a notion of being sexually liberated since they are seen to be more at
peace with their bodies. While the black are seen as loose, white men are seen
more as stiff people .Another thing that was mentioned in the text was that
“the other” is turned into a commodity. It becomes somewhat thrilling to experience
what they’re experiencing. There’s more drama when you experience another race.
Because of this, we see how that idea is integrated into media.
“There is a looming interest when it comes to race. People are curious
of the other and are interested into finding out what it’s like being part of
“the other”. This is what makes their integration into media and in a way,
becoming a commodity, successful. Even the experience of having sex with
another race can be something that is turned into a commodity. It can happen
that even sex with another race is something one goes through in order to say
that he had already experienced “the other” (hooks, 1992).
A great example to identify with what hooks reveal can be
seen within the music video by The Offspring, called pretty fly for a white
guy. the concept of being cool is trying to pass as a black guy. In order to
get women, he tries to pretend like he’s black. The nature of his actions is
rooted to the fact that black men are better in getting women. In the current culture, black people are
usually perceived as better lover with bigger packages. They have the better
and smoother moves. In relation to that image, this thought can also be applied
to music. There is something more exciting when it comes to hip and R&B.
What comes to mind, whenever this genre is mentioned, is either gang violence
or smooth music to get the girl. Sex is a popular theme in this genre’s music
videos.
**** One of the things I was wondering was: how does one
know when white culture is appropriating black culture because it is honoring
and praising black culture, or because it is trying to exploit or
"eat" black culture?
- Georgia Tsiabas
I would say that at least most of the time “white culture” is really exploiting black culture even when it’s honoring or praising it. It goes back to what we talked about in class about how one month a year honors black history and all the others are all about white history. Which isn’t to say that black history month is a bad thing it just points to the notion that their needs to be some type of acknowledgement of this difference between whites and minorities. Look at MTV, BET, VH1, and all those other types of channels that attempt to appeal to a black audience by doing things that look cool and accepting towards blacks but at the same time separates them as this “exotic” commodity that can be purchased. Even when it comes to popular comedy tv shows and movies that feature blacks they always have these personalities that are reflective of black culture and even though the people in the show are accepting (or not at times) the minorities are always different from the regular folks, they are not “normal” but that is why they are liked so much and continue to be used. Being “different” is a great selling point from a marketing perspective, especially to teens because they are the ones that tend to consume the most and are more easily influenced. So in general white culture can praise and honor black culture all it wants but most of the time it is doing it for the purpose of consumption as well.
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