Othering

From the Archive - Joe’s Barber Shop, St. Paul, MN
Frogtown (1993 - 1995)

http://know.wingyounghuie.com/page/2

At first glance of this photograph, I see a grumpy, old man getting his hair cut. He is looking off into the distance, seemingly distracted while the barber is cutting his hair. The black and white filter immediately makes me relate this photo to an older time. Peering deeper into the meaning of this photograph, the old man looks like he has a lot on his mind. He looks as if he knows his photo is being taken, but doesn't want to look at the camera for some reason. From his frown and his sad-looking eyes, he appears to be lonely. 

I looked up the definition of "othering" and found a blog that defined it as "any action by which an individual or group becomes mentally classified in somebody's mind as 'not one of us'". Connecting that definition to this photograph taken by Wing Young Huie, I tried to see a deeper meaning behind this older man getting his hair cut. I can infer that maybe this man feels lonely and even isolated from society because of his age. I realized that many adults, teenagers, and children treat the elderly much differently than the rest of society. We put them in care homes and treat them more like objects than actual people. I think this is because we believe they have contributed to society already and can't do much anymore or just want to give back to them somehow, but I don't think they appreciate our "efforts". I think most believe that the elderly are "outdated" and because of that, we treat them as outcasts.

This directly relates to Margaret Atwood's concept of "othering" in her book, The Handmaid's Tale. The Commanders, the Wives, the Econowives, and all of the other characters treat the Handmaids differently than how they treat each other. The characters almost segregate themselves from the Handmaids and objectify them. Atwood portrays the Handmaids as having little to no power although they are the reason the society still exists.