Frantz Fanon was a black man born in Martinique, formerly a colony of France. He had a very interesting life. He was sent to Paris to study psychology, psychiatry and philosophy. During his education, World War 2 broke out, so he joined the French army to fight. Shortly after joining the arm, he moved to Algeria, another country formerly colonized by France. He taught the Algerians how to survive French torture tactics. He survived 2 car bombs and an ambush of gunfire in his hospital room. He studied Jean-Paul Sartre and took a lot of Sartre's beliefs on existentialism. One of the biggest similarities between the two philosophers is the belief of facticities.
Fanon mentions how he feels when a child calls him a "negre". He alienates himself and can picture exactly what a black person "is". He also feels objectified; as if being a black person is completely a facticity and has no transcendence.
I can relate to Fanon's experience being not only a black person, but a woman. Being in both minority groups gives me a lot of struggle to be up against.
I feel like there is a variety of people who can relate to Fanon's idea about human objectification. At any point a person is treated less than another, in some way they are being objectified. I like that you tied in being a woman to this. Although I am man, I definitely identify as a feminist. I find it absurd that a woman is treated so radically differently solely based off being a different sex. Woman are objectified daily, whether it is through the media, in the workforce, or even when being "catcalled" just walking down the street. Even worse, is that this is a social norm, and that the man (or woman) doing the action is held accountable. I find it a grotesque violation against the woman's social liberties of her own body.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you both. I relate in the same way as Lydonia because I am a black woman. I feel that it is wrong for anyone to objectified but as Payton stated everyone is going to objectified in some way in their life.
ReplyDelete