We are the Other - David and Lou, South Minneapolis, MN (2012)
Link: http://know.wingyounghuie.com/post/32176877104

Little Picture: This picture depicts two men sitting on a front porch. One man is white, wearing a tank top and gym shorts, and is smoking a cigarette. The other man is wearing a short sleeve dress shirt and jeans. Both seem to be very relaxed and at home where they are.

Big Picture: The first thing that really jumps out at me is that the two men are separated by a pole in the picture. This is very symbolic. The photographer is trying to create a divide between the world of a black man and a white man. He does this by placing one man on each side of the pole to suggest the are part of different worlds. He then breaks the stereotype of each character. Being a black man in Chicago normally has gang connotations. The photographer breaks this stereotype by having the African american man wear a dress shirt and look professional . The white man is wearing what would be most related to an African American gang member. This clothing switch is the authors way of breaking the norms that are attached to each race.


Both presents the concept of othering as a negative thing. In the picture, othering is shown to be negative and biased. Both these men on a surface level should be inherently different. They grew up in different places, environments, social classes and with different skin tones. They shouldn't get along, but they do. In the description of the picture, the photographer talks about the conversation he had with the two men. He says the men couldn't be more similar. Every question he asked was greeted by an answer from one and an affirmative nod from the other man. This shows how the men should be inherently different but are actually quite similar. This shows the concept of othering to be false.

In The Handmaid's Tale, othering is presented through clothing. Each different group wears different color and type of clothes. This creates the foundation for othering that some characters in the novel follow. Some breaks from this idea is when people from different groups, people wearing different clothing, have interaction with each other. Examples of this are The commander and Nick. Both of these men break the rules and the society but for different reasons. The commander breaks the rules not because he doesn't thing Offred is different from him and therefore not worthy of his time, but more for selfish reasons. The commander doesn't want to help Offred he wants to have sex and a more intimate connection with her. I don't think this is displaying othering as a bad thing because of his selfish intentions but it is still a break from othering. A more positive break from othering is Nick. It is hard to tell what degree nick is trying to help Offred and to what degree he is just looking to have fun. The intentions of the actions that break away from the mind set of othering is very important. Nick's actions can be interpreted either way i would say. When Nick offers to have sex with Offred, it is hard to understand his motives. He seems to want to help Offred by getting her pregnant and offering her a break from her mundane life. It can also be interpreted as simply Nick looking for a sexual adventure. I think that Nick wanting to help Offred is slightly higher priority for him. Nick's display of othering is also a much more positive display similar to the picture. The commander is selfish and is promoting the idea of othering while Nick and the photograph are saying that othering shouldn't happen and that it is a negative bias causing people to feel left out.