A Real Mirage
[Vulnerability and Power - XXXIII]That picture on the cover of the magazine isn’t real. It’s a real person and a real picture printed on real paper. But it doesn’t correlate with the real. It’s not representative of something that exists. That woman (or man or couple) does not exist in this world. It’s real in the way a mirage is a real mirage but not a real lake. The woman represented in the picture left the complexity of her life behind when she arrive at the studio. She was no longer Janelle. She was a figure with a “look” rather than a woman with experiences and a story. Her physical blemishes were covered when she sat down to have her makeup done. And parts of her were distorted—slimmed, exaggerated, re-colored, and enhanced—during the editing of picture. She was no longer a human figure but a crafted figurine. The picture on the magazine is a *dehumanized other*: a lifeless, story-less, idea of beauty. This is how we deny others their humanity. One by one, we omit the details from their lives. Leave out that detail. Cover up that blemish. Hide that fact. To the point where the other is no longer human at all, but a figurine of our own creation. More detail. More scars. More complexity and nuance. This is how we give people back their humanity. It’s vulnerable to “re-humanize” others. Especially when they are your enemies. It’s also the only way to *empower* a different future.+++++
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