Reflective Passage fanghui lin
Since very early, I started to feel people treat me differently when I dress up and wear makeup. When I am with my glasses and in an oversized t shirt, apparently some people assume that I am a quite boring girl. But when I post photos in which I dress up well, I could easily receive many compliments. My followers message me and keep telling me how sexy and pretty I am. And I also got some nudes which I didn’t expect to see. So here is the question, which is the real me? The dedicate one or the one who look just like a normal college student ? Or neither of it? Do people or audience online or around me really know about my character? Are they just seeing the illusion of who they want me to be?
There are three parts of my research, which are all about undercover life of different communities. In 1991, the documentary Paris is Burning follows a group of predominantly Black and Latinx people who perform and compete at balls across Harlem, where a gritty, glittery ’80s and ’90s nightlife scene welcomed marginalized queer folk.Young African-American and Latin American members of the LGBTQ community “walk” and compete for prizes and trophies. They looked just like every normal individuals on the streets in the day time. But when darkness fell, they took off their uniforms and suits and dressed up themselves to become a member in the house and to win their glory.
As a negative case, the story of hostel exposes that some wolves are under sheep’s skin. Rich clients paying to kill and torture people isn’t just a story. In 2017, a 20 years old model was on an dark net actuation. Rich people around the world bid for her. Those successful ones, who look so friendly and sympathetic on newspapers, are actually having fun from abusing innocent people.
My last example is an interview of a Japanese porn star. People may have bias on sex workers, especially in Asia. But behind those exciting and sexual porn, she is just a lovely and optimistic girl who loves her job. And her professional spirit is honorable.
The cases above may seem far away from our daily life. So I did a survey online about followers’ impression on me. The conclusion is the real me is different from imagination of me which most people assume. Their judgment is a bit inaccurate. To better let people understand this, I took a video of me making up on plastic bags which were wrapping my head. Layers of plastic bags are like different faces of me in my life. They are also like restraint surrounding me and stop people from seeing the real me. I posted it online and wish my audience could understand it is too superficial to know about a person by their looks and behavior. Every individual’s inside world is complex. Making a judgement is more complicate than we think.
In short, my change is to making those who believe they are seeing the world clearly and correctly to rethink about how to understand others profoundly. Because sometimes blind judgment doesn’t only hurt others, but yourself.
Reference:
1.En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Ball Culture. [online] Available at: <https:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball_culture> [Accessed 14 April 2020].
2.Oprah Magazine. 2020. Half Of The Slang You Use Came From This ’90S Documentary. [online] Available at: <https://www.oprahmag.com/life/ a23601818/queer-cultural-appropriation-definition/> [Accessed 14 April 2020]. 3.Balcetis, E. and Lassiter, G., 2010. Social Psychology Of Visual Perception. New York: Psychology Press.
4.En.wikipedia.org. 2020. First Impression (Psychology). [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_impression_(psychology)> [Accessed 14 April 2020].
5.Hostel Wiki. 2020. Stuart. [online] Available at: <https://hostel.fandom.com/ wiki/Stuart> [Accessed 14 April 2020].
6.backpackers, I., 2020. Is Hostel Based On A True Story? Honest Movie Review For Backpackers. [online] HostelsClub.com. Available at: <https:// www.hostelsclub.com/en/magazine/is-the-movie-hostel-based-on-a-true- story-fact-vs-fiction> [Accessed 14 April 2020].