The Other is Alive and Well

In Practices of Looking, Sturken and Cartwright say that “the norm is always set up in opposition to that which is deemed abnormal or aberrant in some way, hence other,” and “thus binary oppositions designate the first category as unmarked (the “norm”) and the second as marked, or other" (111). Take the ad below, for instance. (You can click on the picture to see the full ad because it is too wide to fit here.)

Upon my first glance at the ad, it was clear that the “norm” is presented as being white, which can be deduced simply from the fact that there are five Caucasian-looking women and one Asian man, who is clearly the “other”. But further, the women all look like they are American, again presenting them as the norm, America as the norm, and Korean as a deviation from the norm. (I am fairly certain the ad is Korean and the man is Korean because the website displaying the photo contains all Korean ads). So it can be assumed that whatever product is being advertised, this ad is trying to sell the idea that using this product will allow the other to be accepted by the norm, and not simply accepted, but maybe even sought after.

When I put the name of the product “Essor White” into Google, I learned, shockingly, that this ad is for a skin whitening lotion that essentially bleaches and brightens skin tone. So this takes the notion of the other to a whole new level. This ad is not only saying that white is the norm and that using Essor White will help the other gain acceptance by members of the norm, but also that this product will help you achieve the norm, make the shift and get closer and closer to achieving a position as a member of the norm. The man obviously still looks to be of Asian ethnicity, but the ad is trying to communicate that this lotion will get him closest to the norm.

And just an unrelated side note regarding the norm: if you happen to be in a taxi in New York City soon, watch for an ad for Lord and Taylor on the in-taxi television. Unfortunately, I could not find a clip of the commercial on the internet. In one snippet, the ad shows a white woman (the norm) arm wrestling an African American woman (the other). Another part of the ad shows three women behind bars (incarcerated by fashion perhaps?)—one African American and two Caucasian women. The two white women lean on each other in the cell, supporting one another, while the Black woman stands apart from them, all alone and isolated. For whatever reason, the white women are being shown together and the black woman is completely separate from them—alienated from the norm that the two white women represent. She is in the cell with them, but obviously not sharing in the support that they are providing to one another.