Blog #1

This a photograph found in the Homelessness collection by Wing Young Huie copyright taken in 1982 (http://www.wingyounghuie.com/allprojects). This picture is of a middle aged black male and a female who appear to be homeless in the early 1980's. Both citizens are most likely in front of a grocery store because of the shopping carts pictured around them. The male is dressed fairly nicely, yet he is holding a bowl which symbolizes him begging for money. In a deeper context, the picture alludes to the inequality that minorities experience in America. This is due to the man wearing a nice suit like he is prepared for a job interview, but he cannot find work. It is not very common to find a homeless person dressed in a nice suit which must symbolize this inequality. 

The term "othering" refers to the societal labeling of a person as either one thing or not. For example, the two people pictured would be stereotyped as homeless in America. From a US citizens perspective, these two people are either homeless, or they are not homeless. There is no grey zone or in between, either they are poor homeless people or they are simply not such. This is due to the labeling of society that people are constantly considered to be in one group or in another. In comparison, The Handmaid's Tail by Margaret Atwood uses "othering" to keep society in its 'natural' order. In this novel, Offred is a handmaid and to her, the people are either other handmaids or they are not. In both the photograph and the novel, bias is present to convey the theme of "othering". The device of stereotyping is used in both of these because it is a common ideology of most people. For instance, a wealthy man walking down the street seeing these two people will automatically stereotype and assume they are homeless, most likely because they are drug addicts. Stereotyping is also seen in the novel, because the government judges women and assumes they are not worthy of having many simple freedoms. In conclusion, both the novel and the photograph convey the theme of "othering" and allow the reader to stereotype the situation.