Author: prodriguez

Gone Home Reactions:

As a fan of horror play throughs (although I am too scared to play on my own haha), Gone Home was an interesting experience. It was not a horror game in the sense that there was a monster chasing after you, but it did have a creepy vibe to it, due to the dark lighting, thunder outside, and the antiquated house. I think that this element adds to the overarching theme of queerness. Sam, the sister, was going through a confusing time of adolescence and her identity. This was emphasized by her “rebellious phase” of listening to rock and sneaking out with her first love. This, coupled with feeling unaccepted by her parents, might be why we see the house as this horrifying, creepy place. It just didn’t have the warmth and security of a home because it wasn’t the right place where Sam could be who she is. The theme of home applied to us in a literal sense (we came home and uncover the mysteries) but it also applied to the parents (leaving home to go to couple therapy) because the “home” was breaking apart for them. Lastly it of course applies to Sam most of all, she ran away from the house to be with her true home, Lottie. This game is a lot like the coming out simulator by Nicky Case. The player doesn’t really have an option, as by the end we find out all the events have already taken place and really we are just by-standing viewers. It touched on the similar subject of homophobia (parents stating its just a phase and lover is a bad influence) as well as acceptance through oneself, despite what others believe. To me this game also connects to the newer reading by Audre Lorde in the sense that being true to oneself, or speaking out and rebelling, is the only way to make change. This is why Lorde’s story, despite being silent and complacent for so long, as well as the story in Gone Home, is so important to tell.  

“Tell them about how you’re never really a whole person if you remain silent, because there’s always that one little piece inside you that wants to be spoken out, and if you keep ignoring it, it gets madder and madder and hotter and hotter, and if you don’t speak it out oneday it will just up and punch you in the mouth from the inside.” Lorde pg. 42

This line emphasizes the rebellious spirit that the Riot Girls Movement was about. It is a defiant cry against societal norms, such as patriarchy or in the case of Lorde also heteronormativity. It went hand in hand with art, as it was an expressive movement (music, zine), which we see in the game through cassette players, posters, and writing of Sam.  

Ideas for research paper:

Something that I would like to explore for my project is the feminist art movement of the 1900s, which I am using as a stepping stone for my art project in a different class. I think it might be fun to learn more about it. Another idea is exploring the concept of virginity and how it plays into gender. Possible culture artifacts for the feminist movement are art works by Miriam Shapiro, Judith Butler, Frida Kahlo, etc. while an artifact for virginity could be common tropes in popular media (virginity as a rite of passage, stigma if still virgin by certain age, etc)

Everything is whiteness

the art that we call fine art versus the art that we call “ethnic art”

Oluo

Here Oluo is talking about this white standard in our society, which dictates what is appropriate, and what is not…like African American braids and afros being unprofessional, when it is a common hairstyle. She also mentions a standard of race in the art world. In my creative invention class, we also discussed this idea of elitism and classism in art. For example, the Venice Biennale, a huge event in the art world, was infiltrated by a female artist who goes by “Swoon.” She built a raft out of trash found in NYC and sailed it through Venice as a statement. I just thought it was interesting that Oluo mentioned this, as I’m an art major and a person of color. 

As white women ignore their built-in privilege of whiteness and define woman in terms of their own experience alone, then women of Color become “other,” the outsider whose experience and tradition is too “alien” to comprehend

Lord

 This quote points out to me how those in privilege ignore the oppressed, continuing to benefit from the cycle. Rather than joining together for a common cause of women’s rights, Black women are excluded as this “other.” This connects to the idea of the white standard in our readings this week as well as the connection to last week of the idea of intersectionality affecting people even within the same group (women) differently based on race. 

Our situation as Black people necessitates that we have solidarity around the fact of race, which white women of course do not need to have with white men, unless it is their negative solidarity as racial oppressors. We struggle together with Black men against racism, while we also struggle with Black men about sexism.

Combahee Statement

What I interpret from this quote is that Black women not only have to face adversity from other white women, but from black men as well. Thus the Black Feminist group, while alienated from who should be allies, seeks for better understanding between the groups as well as joint effort to end systemic racism. 

Connections

While playing Momo Pixel’s Hair Nah, I felt a feeling of disgust as well as being overwhelmed. The hands which kept constantly reaching out in increasing intensity just felt wrong in so many ways. Not to mention, the people saying phrases like “can I touch it?” without waiting for a response just solidified this idea of entitlement and privilege. While researching this topic more, I learned that this act can be considered a micro agression according to Simone Aba Akyianu. She is a lawyer and an educator who wrote in Parents for Diversity. She explains its a micro agression because in wanting to touch this particular hair, it is singling out difference by making it seem as an exotic “other” and dehumanizing them by petting their hair like you would a dog. She also talks about how its a privilege to always be able to walk into salons and have them know how to do your hair, which relates to the white standard of our society. Overall it was an interesting read and if you would like I’ll leave the link here: https://parentsfordiversity.com/touching-black-hair-as-micro-aggression/

Some questions I have left after this are if this phenomenon of exotic hair being touched is common in other parts of the world. I’ve heard for example that blondes travelling to asain countries will get their hair touched. Another question I have is about the Combahee statement. It was a bit difficult for me to read and I’m wondering if anyone else interpreted it the way that I did 🙂

Key Words: Alien, standard, opression, privilege