Thoughts of “I wish I wasn’t this dark,” “I wish I had looser hair,” “I wish people saw me for me,” to “I wish people loved me and my Perception. appearance” is not only something I have dealt with, but other people in the black community have as well. Becoming self-conscious of yourself then seeing nothing but negative images of people who look exactly like you only provides the though of “how will I survive?” “How will I prosper in society?” “How will I change this perception towards me?” “How can I break free from this box of stereotypical constraint that society has placed on me and my people for years” and “ How can I free my mind and soul from thoughts of never
Perception Written by Alaysia Jetter
This book was written in regard to studying perception towards me as an individual through surveys to others and how I perceive myself.
Š Alaysia Jetter, December 12th, 2018
Perception: the ability to see, hear or become aware of something through the senses; a way of regarding, understanding, or interpreting something; a mental impression
The history of perception is deep. How you are perceived by others determines how you will be treated as an individual. Perception is a subtle importance that not a lot of people are aware of nor do they know they do it subconsciously. In history, perception has been more and more influenced by the media. Growing perceptions equates to growing judgement. For example, the judgements based on race is something I deem to be due to the perceptions by the majority. Whether the perception is positive or negative is up to the audience.
Reverting to the perception of race, I want to focus on the perception of color. Black to be specific. This analyzation of black individuals in regard to media perception will allow a smooth transition into my views of perception within myself. Negative perceptions towards people of color especially black individuals have been apparent and have been established by the majority. These perceptions have harmed the black individual’s Credibility, Esteem, and
Character.
One way to influence the stereotypes that society has enforced is with the use of the media. Inputing images into society to exhibit the stereotypes and perceptions that have been applied was important. This brings light to the negatives. For example, the use of lynching photographs and images of other atrocities against black Americans was one of the strategies used in at least the early 1900s. Strategies like this were used to bring awareness to Americans and knock them out of their state of denial. Images such as these were heavily enforced within the Civil Rights movement to remind people of the racial hatred within America. Photographs and motion pictures documented and proved the reality of racism in America.
Media perception in current society goes along with these perceptions. Showing black individuals being beaten by authorities, participating in violent crimes and gang violence, poverty and low-income living, roaming the streets not being “successful� in society, etc. All these perceptions follow black individuals even when they are prospering... some more than others. This media perception leads into important the topic of colorism.
Colorism: the prejudice or discrimination against individuals with a darker skin tone, typically among people of the same ethnic or racial group. This applies in situations such as lighter skin individuals in the black community being deemed more beautiful or prettier than individuals with darker skin. This creates mental and self-identity issues in most in regard to the black community. Not wanting to recognize yourself as a certain shade of black enforces a sense of self-hatred within yourself. I speak on this because I have once felt this way...
Free mind, body, and soul from socie This is the goal, but perception holds indivudals back. How can I influence other black individuals to see their worth especially if I still have yet to see my own?
Thoughts of “I wish I wasn’t this dark,” “I wish I had looser hair,” “I wish people saw me for me,” to “I wish people loved me and my appearance” is not only something I have dealt with, but other people in the black community have as well. Becoming self-conscious of yourself then seeing nothing but negative images of people who look exactly like you only provides the though of “how will I survive?” “How will I prosper
etal locks.
in society?” “How will I change this perception towards me?” “How can I break free from this box of stereotypical constraint that society has placed on me and my people for years” and “ How can I free my mind and soul from thoughts of never getting out of this social construct of life?”
I decided to explore the idea of perception with myself. I wanted to display visually how I perceiv find out if I view myself in a more positive or negative light.
ve myself within different roles and how they view me in those same roles. I feel this would be great to
13
Thirteen people who I consider as friends have responded. This edit is based on these questions and responses: First impression of me?: Quiet, cool, annoyed, weird, goofy. Five words to describe me: Funny, creative/artistic, nonchalant, real/blunt, and chill. Strongest physical characteristic: Smile, eyes, skin, and legs. Rate my physical appearance: 7,8,10 (The largest number of responses said 10) Personality rating: 8,9, and 10. (One person said 8, two people said 9, and the rest put 10). One weakness about me: Procrastination, self-confidence, and being comfortable with people Predicted zodiac sign: Pisces, Virgo, Sagittarius, Taurus, or Gemini. Character I remind them of: Wendy Williams, Squidward, Hey Arnold, Daria, Pocahontas. Songs that remind them of me: Anything with Kirko Bangz, 90s Songs, Anything about not caring, and anything Disney related.
Perceptions of me in the friend role based on the questionaire.
Perceptions of me in the friend role based on the questionaire.
All this discussion about perception brings me to the point of how do I perceive myself. Honestly, let’s start with my physical characteristics. I have always thought my physical appearance was lacking. Even when I was younger, I thought I looked like the back of a trashcan but slowly became less ugly. Even currently I think I look alright, nothing too nice but just alright. It started even in elementary school being called “too dark” or “midnight” or even people saying “where are you? I can’t even see you since you blend in with the night.” Those things hurt my self-esteem and my mentality. At some points, it got to the point where I did contemplate suicide... The bullying was intense when I was younger but thankfully it was never physical. Everything was mental abuse. It became a thing for me to not to want to wear clothes or anything I actually wanted to wear, but instead I wanted to buy clothes from Walmart. My logic formed into thoughts of “Even if I look my best, they will still bring me down to my absolute worst.”
Mentally, I knew I was breaking. Once I moved schools, it got worse due to my high school being predominately white and racist. I went to Gibbs high school in Corryton, Tennessee. It was terrible and I don’t even like speaking on it. It was not until I met my three current bestfriends that my self-esteem started to increase. Art also helped me to become noticed by people and helped me express my internal issues. Being surrounded by black females around the same age as me that can also relate to me heavily helped.
Representation helps.
My current perspective of myself still relates back to my past perception of myself. I am still learning to love the way I look, but I know where I am right now mentally and physically is not where I want to be. The media heavily influences how I want to be seen and how people view me. When I look in the media, I don’t see people who look like me. I see people who are light or fair skinned with loose curls and green/ blue eyes. For myself, representation is not something of dire need compared to younger little black girls out there who need to see representation of people who look like them. Perception skews the mindset of people and understanding how that occurs especially within and towards black individuals is important in society.
esentation helps. Representation he esentation helps. Representation he esentation helps. Representation he esentation helps. Representation he esentation helps. Representation he esentation helps. Representation he esentation helps. Representation he esentation helps. Representation he esentation helps. Representation he esentation helps. Representation he esentation helps. Representation he esentation helps. Representation he esentation helps. Representation he esentation helps. Representation he esentation helps. Representation he esentation helps. Representation he esentation helps. Representation he esentation helps. Representation he esentation helps. Representation he esentation helps. Representation he