Gaze can reproduce social violence in interpersonal relationships

A gaze can bring social violence between individuals since the facial expression has the power to communicate hatred, powerlessness, stereotype and rebellion. In the article, Black Women Spectatorship black men and women are used to represent the victims of racism and oppression. The article shows how gaze causes social violence in the social settings of white people and black people. White gaze is displayed in the article which shows continued oppression and mistreatment of the black people. The mass media only displayed the white people when the black people first watched the television and this depicted white supremacy in the United States. The people in power described the black people as black monkeys. These forms of racial inequality made the black people develop movements to fight for the rights of the black people and emphasize on issues of racial equality and social justice.

The power dominations of the white people showed the white supremacy and how the white people were treated well as compared to the black people. This widened the gap between the white and the black people due to the political and the racial differences. The protests and the rebellion of the black people created enmity between the black and the white people. The black people were not given the first priority in the learning institutions as compared to the whites. The black people were victims of racism in the job market; they were perceived as uneducated and thus were not employed to handle white collar jobs. They were seen as the only fit to handle the blue collar jobs. All this formed the basis of social violence since the white people were seen as educated and the ones with skills and knowledge in the job market.

This made the black people feel inferior and devalued and this lowered their self-esteem and they perceived white people as unfair and self-centered individuals (John 2014). The black men and the white women could not even interact with each other. They could not even meet to share ideas and learn different things from each other. This destroyed the social circle of the white and the black people (John 2014). In the seminal film the Birth of the Nation, there is no black representation. The black women are only used as a representation of the phallocentric gaze. The white man gaze affected the sexuality of the black women and the way the women expressed themselves. The white man gaze lowered the self-worth and the self-esteem of black women and this traumatized the black women since they felt devalued and discriminated.

This ruined the relationship between black women and white men since the black women developed a negative attitude towards the white men and they could not even dare to interact with them or even try approaching them. This is formed the basis of social violence since they could not interact with each other and white men perceived themselves as superior. An example of the white man gaze in the text is in the Dash Strategy “illusions”. Shared gaze showed the solidarity of the black women trying to show their reality and to challenge old norms that the white people had towards the black women. The shared gaze maked the black women defined the complexity of the black identity and that the blacks were also superior and that they deserved to be treated well with respect and given equal opportunities as the white people.

Shared gaze created social violence between the black women who were fighting for the rights of the black people and the white people since the white people wanted to use black people as slaves and casual labourers. An example of shared gaze from the text is in the film passion and remembrance that shows two black women Loise and Maggie looking at each other in the mirror when they were dressing to go to a party. They were fully interested in showing how they are proud has the black women (John 2014). The white and black people should be given equal opportunities in the job market. All the people should focus on ending racism, discrimination and stigmatization and focus on racial equality.