What's in a name?

          My name is watered down.  The name Justin is not an uncommon name today in America, and a number of celebrities share it with me.  However, I do have a nickname that contains more meaning for me:  JMillz.  This is a nickname that was given to me freshmen year by the JV Soccer coach at the time.  It has meaning because up until then I had always been known as "Harry's brother" because my brother had gone through the program before me, but now I had my own name.  I was no longer identified by my brother but I was my own person.  I was finally being recognized for my skill on the field rather than my relationships off the field. 

          As a part of the soccer team there are many times where I am faced with the dilemma of being an individual and part of a larger whole.  The whole in these situations is the soccer team, and as a member of the team I usually have to sacrifice who I am for the good of the team.  To clarify, there are many times during games in which I have to choose between what I want to do on the field, and what I have to do for the sake of the team.  For example, during a corner kick I always want to go up the field and try to score.  It is something that every player wants to do because scoring is the only way to get recognition in soccer.  However, if you ever choose to attend a Millbrook soccer game, you will almost never see me go up during a corner kick.  This is because it is my job as a part of the team to stay back and make sure the other team can't attack us off the corner.  I am sacrificing my own agenda and my own goals so that as a whole the team can achieve its goals.  Any time someone is both an individual and part of a whole, there will be a conflict of interest and the individual will have to make a choice between what's best for them, and what's best for the group.  

Atta Girl, Atwood. Blog post 1

     The photograph I chose from Wing Young Huie's blog is titled "Young Girl Wrapped in  Dora the Explorer Blanket".  It was published in South Minneapolis in 2012.  At a glance, when you look at this picture you will see a young latino girl getting out of a dark red mini van while wearing a blanket that has a picture of Dora the Explorer on it.  But after reading the description of the photograph you find out that the girl pictured had been attending a birthday party at her mostly latino church.  The fact that she is wearing a Dora the Explorer blanket shows that she has been influenced by the mainstream media portrayal of young latino girls, and that it has become a part of the latino community.  

     When comparing Margaret Atwood's novel, "The Handmaid's Tale" and Huie's photograph, "Young Girl Wrapped in Dora the Explorer Blanket", both Atwood and Huie use the concepts of color and clothing to portray "othering" in their work.  In "The Handmaid's Tale", Atwood uses the colors of the clothing that each person wears to define their social class.  For example, the handmaids wear red and the marthas wear green.  This makes it very easy to tell who is of what social class and makes those of lower classes feel alienated because their status is so evident.  Everyone who is a martha is forced to wear green, and no one else will wear green.  This separates the marthas from the rest of the population by making them look different from everyone else.  Huie uses a similar technique to show othering in her photograph.  If using a structuralism lens, then it is noticed that both the latino girl and Dora are both wearing the same color.  This is significant because it could be assumed that they are both wearing the same color because of their race and their socioeconomic status.  Given the fact that the young girl is attending a birthday party, and her attire is something that is socially acceptable to wear to a birthday party in her community.  Which means that the girl in the picture is being perceived differently to the community based on her apparel and her race.  

     From her clothing it can also be inferred that Dora the Explorer is popular in the latino community.  This could be because it is the only kids show staring a latino main character.  This is also a form of othering because TV networks are alienating latino kids by only showing them white kids on TV.  This is similar to the way Atwood portrays othering in, "The Handmaid's Tale" because she portrays the wives as the more ideal class.  The wives are a more desirable position in the Republic of Gilead, and women such as the handmaid's are alienated by the praise of the wives.  The wives are stars of the show during the prayvaganza when their daughters get married, and become wives themselves.  Just as networks fail to represent latinos, the Republic of Gilead fails to represent the handmaids.  Through this, both the handmaids and the latinos are alienated from the rest of the population.  

Huie's photograph can be found at:  http://66.media.tumblr.com/8491d1d67a04fe6552f2dbdea55e4852/tumblr_mi69gkj4LY1r3166lo1_1280.jpg