Europäische Jugendbildungs- und Jugendbegegnungsstätte Weimar

Perceptions of Otherness

Time required : 3 – 4 hours
Age group: from 16 – Adults
Number of participants: 8 – 20
Previous knowledge: None required
Topics: Media Literacy, gender issues, decolonisation, diversity
Languages: English, German

Background

The world we live in is saturated with images; from television and movies, news, social media, advertisements and other forms of information sharing and entertainment. These images and how we are encouraged to look at them or interact with them affect the way we understand and thus behave in the world. Because of the large influence they have on our lives and the way we see and treat each other, it is important to understand how to deconstruct these images in a critical manner so that we can avoid media manipulation and passive ignorance. This workshop focuses specifically on portrayals of women and people of colour in mainstream media.

Aims

In this workshop, we will try to understand the way we have been encouraged to relate to the female body and the colonised body through popular culture and mainstream media and how this affects our own ways of thinking and behaving.

Procedure

We will use a combination of creative methods, personal reflection, group discussion and visual input to explore these themes. The main concepts we will use to explore and structure the topic are the »male gaze«, the »colonial gaze«, the »female gaze« and the »oppositional Gaze«. Through the input and activities, we will analyse representations of women and people of colour, examine how these representations affect our attitudes and preconceptions, and reflect on our own thoughts on visual culture and the act of looking or being looked at. The methods used are appropriate for both online and in-person sessions.

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