Topic/ Idea #10 The Other

Topic/ Idea #10 The Other

- Quote 1 

"The outsider frequently overlaps with the Other, but they are not identical. The outsider has the possibility of being accepted by and incorporated into the group; offspring are very likely to be accepted into the group. The Other, however, is perceived as different in kind, as lacking in some essential trait or traits that the group has; offspring will inherit the same deficient nature and be the Other also. Therefore the Other and the offspring of the Other may be doomed forever to remain separate, never to become part of the group--in other words, to be the Other forever."

This section of reading was taken from an excerpt from a class offered at Brooklyn Collage. It continues to describe and define the other and the outsider. 

"The Other." Web. 11 Nov. 2010. <http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/other.html>.

- Quote 2 

"Somewhere, on the edge of consciousness, there is what i call a mythical norm, which each one of us within our hearts knows "that is not me" in america, this norm is usually defined as white, thin, male, young, heterosexual, christian, and financially secure. It is whith this mythical norm that the trappings of power reside within this society. Those of us who stand outside that power often identify one way in which we are different, and we assume that to be the primary cause of all oppression, forgetting other distortions around difference some of which we ourselves may be practicing...there is a pretense to a homogeneity of experience... that does not in fact exist."

Lorde, Audre. Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches. Freedom (Calif.): Crossing, 2001. Print.(long, 116)

I had a professor of another class present this material to me when I brought up the inclusion of the other in my current project. I researched and found more information and writings of Lorde. 

- a brief summary of how this topic relates to your work or how it could effect it

my work now is getting to a place where I become the outsider of these events. I am grappling with this uneasy feeling of trying to fit into the group or stand out. I feel by doing this and my experience with groups in the past no matter how hard you try to fit in the members of the group will notice you are different.