Eating the Other: Desire and Resistance, by Bell Hooks discusses how in our culture, the other or things and people who are different than the majority of the culture, tend to be made into commodities. They are labeled ethnic and “ethnicity becomes spice” (366). It seems that in our society people have a craving for the other, and this is what is marketable. They have “…desires for the ‘primitive’ or fantasies about the other…” (367). I personally have seen and know what Hooks is discussing in his writing. In the fashion world, specifically modeling, you can see that exotic is what is in right now. I watch America’s Next Top Model quite a bit, and Tyra Banks and the other judges often say to some of the models, “your look is very exotic and is marketable.” Many of the themes for the photo shoots the girls do have to do with exotica as well. Here are two examples…
I also link Hooks reading to Hebdige who discusses subcultures. Subcultures are unique and different and try to stand out from the rest of the culture. Our culture does one of two things to these subcultures. We trivialize, domesticate or normalize them or we transform them into exotica. Exotica is accepted and loved in our culture, and therefore is a normalized. It is interesting to see how our culture has changed. Exotica used to be looked down upon by our culture. Anything that was different was questioned and usually not accepted in the culture. Now, as a culture, we embrace it but I wonder do we embrace it because we think it is beautiful or becomes it is marketable?
1 comment:
kaymac hooks
Man, Starfish took my thoughts and picture idea straight out of my head. I'm an avid watcher of America's Next Top Model. So, since Starfish pretty much summed up everything I was going to say, I also want to add how in most fashion advertisements, women of color are usually portrayed as the animalistic ones, further exoticizing not only themselves but animals as well.
Think about it. You have your typically beautiful women with their blonde hair and blue eyes and they are usually portrayed in scenarios where they play a human or flower. Many clored women, not just in America's Next Top Model but in general fashion advertisements as well play some sort of animal, illustrated or photographed. I could not find any great examples online, but here is one: http://www.periwork.com/coates/research%20projects/Juliegaez/Image86.jpg
By animalizing these women we increase their exoticism and therefore make their exoticized forms more marketable, hence the saying of a female being a "cat" or "tiger" in bed.
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