Hello and welcome to my blog.
In a country like South Africa being black and being the help,
is not a new phenomena.
I will be maintaining my intervention both publicly and privately for the next 10 days. During my 10 day period I will balance my blog with a combination of videos, relevant research, diary entries and visuals.
Day 1: The body (un)comfortable
Today I am dressed as a Domestic worker in South Africa and it is
like nothing I have ever felt before.
The reason I chose to dress like a domestic worker was because psychologically
it made me feel uncomfortable and out of my skin.
I'm rushing to Vega to hand in an assignment. The receptionist I speak to everyday, doesn't recognise me today. She stops me and asks me if I need help, I yell No and rush past her only to realise 5 minutes later that she has been following me. I stop to explain to her that I'm not lost and that I am a Vega student and that this is part of an assignment. I then make my way past a group of 1st years on the staircase, on my way back from handing in the students are whispering 'See, I told you she is not a domestic worker, she can speak English properly'.
All in all I have had so many different reactions. Some barely recognised me and walked right passed me. others stared as I spoke to my friends. others laughed. and others asked me questions.
Rushing home I realised that I didn't feel like cooking and should probably get a snack on the way. stopped at a restaurant 2min away from where I stay and for me this made me crawl out of my skin. I was extremely uncomfortable as the people there know me and I knew some of the customers in the restaurant. I realised today how important my appearance is to me and how it was so easy for me to feel small and out of my skin. I felt like my reputation was flushed down the toilet and that people would never look at me the same way.
x
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