In honor of the last blogpost, I would like to write about how this class has changed my view on the world and the uncanny.
The uncanny to me prior to this class was a term I had thought meant "looking way too alike." After reading Freud's The Uncanny, I haven't stopped noticing things in my everyday life that come off as uncanny and eerie to me as a lot of my past has recently started to come up. These experiences are not necessarily too serious, but my favorite uncanny experience was actually through Tik Tok. A video came up on my For You Page where someone had made a display of books that our generation didn't even know we had remembered. These books brought me back to my elementary school days, where I had a creepy old lady librarian who had a collection of puppets...like...a whole section of bookshelves in the back full of puppets... Although you may not know what my elementary school library looked like (unless you went to Haslet Elementary here in Fort Worth), you can only imagine it to be dark and awfully sinister. Anyways, I just thought this last blogpost should be dedicated to the entirety of the class and how it has affected me over the course of the semester. Even though I have just provided one example, there have been many times where I experience the uncanny in my everyday life, and I just have a feeling it won't stop anytime soon.
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The first critique towards the bodies of particular marginalized people was “the bourgeoisie will coo” (Duffy), meaning that people will be paying to see and glorify the piece of art’s body, as well as how they will be looking “at such an image of a river whore.” Duffy claims that it also does not look like her, which indicates the art piece that represents her has conformed to what the public would like, rather than who she really is. The objectification of women suggests to women themselves that they are not good enough in their own bodies, and must constantly fix themselves to what society has deemed “hot” or “beautiful” instead of loving themselves. It also implies that they are no more than their looks, and that their mentality doesn’t contribute to who they are as a person. The most uncanny thing I found between these 2 works was in “Mannequin: like a delicate child, her arms pathetically thin.” This gave me a very unsettling feeling of how women are forcing themselves to look just as thin as a child is.
Adding onto this freewrite, I think it is vital to shed more light on the dangers of modeling. The mental illnesses, suicidal attempts, eating disorders and medical issues that come with modeling happen due to the objectification of people, but in this freewrite I speak on the objectification of women. There is no reason for women to have to conform to society's standards of "beauty." I find it saddening that women do not find their natural selves beautiful. I believe all bodies are beautiful however they are naturally made, and it should be normalized to want to show off what you already have rather than having to conform to what the media wants to see. Dubois’ idea of the “double consciousness” experienced by African-Americans is able to relate to the idea of doubles since they had an identity, yet were not treated correctly by that identity (citizenship). With Dubois, he felt his double consciousness because he was a free African-American, and did not feel he belonged anywhere since his people were enslaved, and he was living freely. A parallel I can see to Basquiat and Braudy is how he has 2 personas. He has to act a certain way around these certain groups, and feels he doesn’t have just 1 identity being perceived by everyone, and even himself. I can see a parallel with the PDG, and how he cannot truly express himself around a certain crowd do to the time period of oppression, as well as with the YWP, since the main character in the novel could not tell John how she really feels without getting shamed upon.
Where “Double Consciousness” and “Passing” intersect is the fact that it is written during the time of slavery: the fact that Jack in “Passing” needed certain qualifications to be a freed boy. Where they diverge is that while people did know Dubois was Black, no one knew about how the boy was light skinned in “Passing.” In my opinion, I do think these are 2 different ways of experiencing racial identity since Dubois knew the horrors and non-innocent things about the topic, was much more wise and knew he was black, while Jack only sees the surface of what is going on while being protected by the woman and her idea for him to pretend he is white in order to be free. In this world full of infinite experiences, hate, oppression, racism and much more, I can say from experience that there are many ways that affect whether or not people experience conflicted divided internal and external identities. For example, I am personally biracial, and I am half white, half Vietnamese. To this day, I don’t know what group I identify with. Our families do not get along well with each other, yet I love each side. There are many different situations out there that cause people to have a divided identity. With passing, you create a whole other perception for people to see instead of the real you, now having an unexpressed self. To add onto this freewrite, I will be talking about today's view on racism. While our country has come a long way, we still unfortunately experience racism for reasons I will never understand. All Black people in this country have another self, and it is sadly the fact they have experienced slavery and extreme segregation. FOR THOSE WHO ARE STILL RACIST: maybe realizing that everyone has a divided self will be the only way you can stop treating others poorly, since our country's history doesn't seem to be quite enough for you. The first thing that came to mind when I started reading this quote are the rumors of certain celebrities actually being dead and being replaced by their doppelgängers. The same thing for those celebrities who claimed to have died, but are rumored to still be alive. I feel they needed an escape from the duality of fame and had the need to start over with their lives without their “famous” identity. This is a connection to Basquiat’s diptych, “Famous,” since his work seems to represent the realities and evils of being famously known. The reason I believe those who have risen in fame have a different persona, name, and face when seen by the media is because that is their only way that keeps them successful in the industry, other than just sheer talent. What also comes to mind is the theory that KPop stars are being controlled and are used as dolls to make money. When Braudy says “in the incessant spotlight the constant tension between those stories – of the talked-of self and the unexpressed self – becomes more acute,’” it explains how one’s fake persona for the media can end up taking over their real selves, for that persona holds all the power. To me, it seems as if fame is a drug. It is addicting, since your ego feels high and amazing for being recognized, but feeling good doesn’t last forever. Fame is what creates the incredible highs and the severe lows. It creates a more divided self than before, and pushes the famous to do things that their real selves would have deemed immoral. This passage by Braudy is able to describe why there is a divided self, and even uses the word “propaganda,” as well as explains that “the famous person is thus not so much a person as a story about a person.”
Adding onto my freewrite, I want to say that after completing all the units in this course, I can see how each unit has connected with one another. Models who have suffered from the advertising of the mannequin have also suffered with the divided self, and can relate to both Basquiat and Braudy. Although Basquiat's diptych revolves around fame, we can see that the divided self resides in all of us. I'm sure many of us have obsessed over the show The Vampire Diaries...but if you have yet to see this AMAZING show, you should know there is a running theme of the Doppelgänger.
This show seems childish to many people because of the show title, yet it is one of the most well-researched science fiction series, as well as a book series. Many centuries ago when vampires and werewolves sought destruction and chaos towards the Aztecs, a moonstone and the sacrifice of Petrova blood was used to cast a curse upon the vampires and werewolves: vampires would burn in the sun while werewolves were servants to the moon. If you have watched the show, you know that the Petrova Doppelgängers are 2 huge main characters in the show: Katherine and Elena. Since Katherine was considered the first doppelgänger, she was evil, crazy, inhumane, murderous, and much more. Elena was destined to be the second doppelgänger, which was why she was kind, caring, sweet, and everything good. This shows the power of the doppelgänger and how polarized they are from each other. What I found the most interesting about this was that after Elena had fallen in love with Stefan Salvatore, a vampire, she discovers that his ex was Katerina Petrova, better known as Katherine her doppelgänger. This was only season 1 of 8. This series contains an immense amount of plots that involve the doppelgänger, and it's not all just about Katherine and Elena. People with dissociative identity disorder aren't just murderers and criminals. Herschel Walker, former NFL running back actually wrote a book about his DID that landed him a Heisman Trophy, a spot in the NFL, and the position of an Olympic torchbearer.
Walker was just as surprised as the public was, for he had no idea he had another side to him. After coming to terms with his diagnosis, he believed it was developed as a coping mechanism for his speech impediment as a child. In his book, Walker talks about a dozen personalities and their roles: the Hero, the Coach, the Enforcer, the Consoler, the Daredevil, the Warrior, and more. Although he struggled with violent behaviors after his football career, it is important to see that not all DID individuals are out of hand or criminals. Walker was able to put himself together when he realized his violent behaviors and seek help. If you wish to read more about his life and how he has lived with DID, he wrote a book called Breaking Free: My life with Dissociative Identity Disorder First off, I would like to add that I am writing about Shane Dawson's June 4th 2018 conspiracy theory video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_53cGxAUuDk
Shane Dawson explains multiple different mind-blowing conspiracy theories that have been brought up in the media by the public since the news doesn't want to talk about the corrupt truth. On 23AndMe's website, they state that: "The test uses qualitative genotyping to detect select clinically relevant variants in the genomic DNA of adults from saliva for the purpose of reporting and interpreting genetic health risks and reporting carrier status. It is not intended to diagnose any disease." It is stated that this is now the LARGEST FBI database in the world with more than 3.5% of the country's DNA on file. According to one of 23AndMe's board members, the kit is to get the "base-level data." Once you get the data, the company becomes the "Google" of personalized healthcare. 23AndMe states they will NOT sell your data or share with anyone, but as of 2007, Google actually ended up investing $3.9 MILLION into 23AndMe. Now here is where it gets...creepy... The founder of 23AndMe is MARRIED to the man who founded Google...and the sister of the founder of 23AndMe is the CEO of YouTube, which was bought by Google???? Now, not only does Google already know what I'm searching online, doing on my computer and some personal data, but they now know everything about what is inside my body, health, nationality, and so much more that the kit of my own DNA can display. Here's the conspiracy that has already been taken into effect by doctors and researchers today: Reversing one's age. A scientist needs frozen and young DNA in order for this experiment to take place. How has 23AndMe sold to children?: through the most popular YouTubers with young viewers. If you would like to see the visuals and hear it on video, copy and paste the YouTube link at the top and start at 14:19. Another criminal who claimed to have dissociative identity disorder, except this time was sent to prison and not put in a mental institution.
Dwayne claims to have a "homicidal personality" named Kiko who killed his sister, Marcia Wilson, her daughter, and her son. Instead of sending Kiko and Dwayne to the mental institution (which can often happen when one claims they have multiple personalities), the prosecutor called this theory of Kiko "insane." According to the South Pacific Daily Voice, “It would not matter that the act is something that the actor would not commit when the normal, non-violent part of their personality is in control,” said Theemling, a former Hudson County prosecutor and a congressional candidate in 1992, “…so long as the defendant was conscious and his or her actions were a product of their own volition.” https://dailyvoice.com/new-jersey/southpassaic/police-fire/multiple-personality-theory-rejected-in-murders/629179/ I decided to blog about Dwayne Wilson since it contradicts the case with my previous blog: Billy Milligan. The case with Billy was one where the victims did not get their justice since he was sent to a psychiatric hospital after raping, robbing and kidnapping. I personally find this controversial since one criminal who claims to have dissociative identity disorder was not sent to prison for his crimes, while another individual who claims the same thing was. There needs to be some sort of CONSISTENT system when it comes to the clashing of mental illnesses and the justice system, for it has been inconsistent over the course of time with no universal solutions. The "psychology of oppression" is a phenomenon that conveys oppression on the human mind to inhibit the ability to control the society people are currently in. What ends up occurring inside the oppressed individual is essentially what we call the divided self, which involves: the talked-of-self and the unexpressed-self.
As a woman, I have experienced gender oppression and have been significantly affected by the standards of society's "beauty." I have always felt the need to wear makeup when going to school. I remember crying when my mother didn't let me start wearing mascara when all the other popular girls were starting to wear makeup to school. High school was when I began to skip meals...I became anorexic and bulimic during my freshman year. Sophomore year was when I started cutting myself and attempted suicide. Junior year was when I started using drugs and drinking alcohol and a very unhealthy level. I got raped for the first time. My senior year is when my anorexia and cutting came back up again. Why do I tell you these things about myself? I was the captain of the drill team and dating a football player. People told me everyday how pretty, smart, and talented I was. Just because I looked pretty and put-together did not mean I was okay. This is an example of one of my many divided selves. Perception creates this divide: my family, friends and peers perceived a pretty, smiling girl while my unexpressed self was only perceived by myself. Gender oppression is often an issue that essentially causes the division of the self. In this case, I grew up in a society where women and girls are put on a pedestal both by peers and by the media. Perception allows for individuals to have different versions of themselves, and it is important to remember that everyone has an unexpressed self. TRIGGER WARNING: RAPE
https://youtu.be/gAPPzmRb4r0 There is speculation to believe that criminals lie about having dissociative identity disorder to avoid the consequences for their actions, but how do we justify their punishment? Billy Milligan had 24 personalities, including a 3-year-old girl. He not only committed a robbery, but also captured and raped 4 girls, where 1 of the 4 rape victims had said that Billy also acted as a lesbian female and a child. It was concluded that Billy was "put to sleep" during these crimes, and his personality "Ragen" planned to only rob these victims to pay some bills and "Adalana" the lesbian had raped the victims. Billy Milligan was never punished for his crimes, and the rapes have been forgotten about. How easy could it be for someone to study dissociative identity disorder and pretend to have this disorder to commit crimes? Psychiatrists have claimed it is difficult to distinguish between having true multiple personalities and those suffering from hysterical neurosis. If you want my real, full opinion, I'm genuinely stuck. I am a rape victim and a psychology major, so not only do I have these 2 identities, I have 2 opinions that shouldn't go both ways. I empathize the girls who never received justice for their suffering, yet as a psychologist, it is hard to justify that punishment when Billy's core personality claims it wasn't him. |
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