Reflective Blog: Unveiling My Own Assumptions
I now have a deeper understanding of how language shapes perceptions and constructs identities thanks to Wainaina's satirical guide "How to Write About Africa," Miner's anthropological parody "Body Ritual Among the Nacirema," and the insightful TED Talks by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Sierra Leonean activist Mariama Baht-Williams. These pieces have exposed the nuanced but potent ways that exoticization, stereotypes, and false information reinforce otherness and lead to skewed perceptions of individuals and societies. When I consider my own presumptions, I see how I have unintentionally reinforced prejudices. I became aware of the simplistic narratives I had internalized about Africa after reading Wainana's article, which was filled with overdone clichés about the continent. For example, I used to have a monolithic perspective of Africa, emphasizing poverty and violence while downplaying the continent's enormous cultural richness and complexity. It was a sobering epiphany that made me realize how much my narrow viewpoint had led to the marginalization of a whole continent. Miner's humorous depiction of the strange ceremonies practiced by the Nacirema caused me to reflect on my own ethnocentric prejudices. Through an anthropological and distanced presentation of American customs, Miner demonstrated how ordinary behaviors may become exotic when viewed through the eyes of an outsider. This made me face the ways in which I could unintentionally stigmatize and exoticize cultures that are not like mine, seeing them as 'strange' or 'primitive' instead of gaining an understanding of them on their own terms. To sum up, these pieces have shed light on my personal prejudices as well as the ways that language and representation affect how I see other people. I can work toward a more complex and sympathetic understanding of many cultures by critically analyzing and rejecting these presumptions, which will lessen the construction of otherness in my own worldview.