After last week’s class and exposure to the Vogue cover featuring LeBron James and Gisele Bündchen, I reflected upon myself and questioned whether I can recognize racism. Initially, I did not recognize this to be a racist or sexist representation. However, after awareness on the situation and understanding that I am not a part of the oppressed race I thought differently and was interested to see if there were more racist advertisements that I originally glazed over.
Image retrieved from: totallylookslike.icanhascheezburger.com
As a fan of Gisele, I searched her name and was surprised at my findings. I found more images that I myself consider both racist and degrading to the male gender.
Click image to be directed towards online site discussing the possible intended message(s).
I agree. Even being black myself and being part of an oppressed group it's often hard for me to relate to the oppression of another race. Yes, we are both oppressed groups but the type of oppression that we may face is different. It's hard for you to understand a person’s experience without being in their shoes. That’s why it’s important for us to educate ourselves and become more conscious and aware. Black people are often negatively depicted in the media. In my blog post for this week I talked about how the media plays such a huge role in encouraging racism and stereotypes within society. Every time you hear about a shooting or murder it's assumed that it's a black person without even seeing the perpetrator for yourself. I personally feel the media negatively profiles black people and certain communities especially in Scarborough. The fact of the matter is black people are NOT the only ones that murder people, other races murder people as well. I think that it's important for all of us to do some self-reflection when it comes to issues like racism so that we aren’t playing part in the cause, but instead are playing part in the solution.
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