The Meaning Behind a Name

Zoe Millbern             9/19/2014

My first name is Zoe. It's short, and slowly becoming more popular. Originally the name Zoe comes from the Greek word for "life" or "love of God", though honestly I'm fairly certain that my dad didn't really think about this when he named me. While most of history has seen names arise from a particular meaning that the parent wanted associated with the child in some way or traditional family names, I've noticed that recently a large number of people are moving away from this idea. My ancestry is for the most part comprised of Irish, Welsh, and a tiny bit of French, and my name being Greek further supports this more recent development of moving away from traditional means of deciding a name. One thing that I find ridiculous about some names today is that people seem to believe that there is a right and a wrong way to describe and define them. For instance, I know that my name is spelled correctly because the original Greek word was spelled this way. But more than that, it's spelled correctly simply because that is how I spell it, despite the fact that people have continuously told me that I spell it wrong, or that is just spells "Zoh", and I honestly think that is completely ridiculous that people fight with me about my own name. I've never really had a nickname, so I don't really find it significant to mention, but sometimes people just add another word to the end because it's so simple? It's a short name, so some people just say "Zo-___" to make it a little different. I love the names that I have found in fantasy literature, mostly the beautiful, meaningful names that Tolkien created in The Lord of the Rings, and think that it would be REALLY cool to have one. In all honesty though, I love my name, and wouldn't change it for anything because I think that it has grown to define and fit ME, and doesn't simply mean "Life", but represents who I am.

My middle name is Jean, which in Hebrew means "God is Gracious", and my mother's middle name was given to her in honor of my great aunt, whose first name is Jean. So, it has sort of started to become a family name. My middle name hasn't really been very influential during my life, but it serves as an example of how some traditional values are still holding true. I think that sometimes this passing of names is used to help the cohesion of a family by giving the something in common, but more importantly as a way to both remember and honor certain family members. 

My last name is Millbern, and all I know about it is that it is a Welsh name. A family's name might mean something social, indicating power, wealth, or position/career through the history of the family, and the last name has served to categorize people and show where they came from for a very long time. I think it is possible that sometime in the future people may begin to abandon this tradition method of name giving and instead more frequently start to choose a name that they feel represents them. On the other hand, it's the connection to a family and the desire to continue their legacy that could hold a lot of people back from it. In any case, that someone would want to keep their own name after marriage, or to keep it by hyphenation is their own choice. Whatever they like best or feels represents them best is their own decision and they should feel free to express themselves with it however they like. I don't really know yet if I will keep my name or not, I haven't decided yet how my last name connects with me completely.

Two Me's 

There has always been a sort of split between my life at home, by myself, and that which I have at school. They were always connected, however, and one affected the other. The life that I led at home was more open, but it involved a much different mind set. I would have to block things out but also be able to communicate on a more personal level, while at school I was able to focus completely on work and kept far quieter. There's a me that is part of a family and looks to improve myself, and a part of me that goes to school and out with my friends that is more reserved and looks to improve my abilities and image as it pertains to others. They've sort of been mixing together as they become more similar and I become more social, but there is still a divide that's hard to explain. Each has a different definition and way of thinking.

"Othering"

The Photograph that was chosen was found at this web address: http://photos.wingyounghuie.com/p709406511/h7d4c2f0b#h7d4c2f0b 


This photo was taken by Wing Young Huie as part of the "We are the Other" album dating from the years 2012 and 2013 and published in the Galleries of his website at http://photos.wingyounghuie.com/. At first glance the picture is of two people sitting/ standing on and around a bench, as a few of his photos are. Each person holds a small blackboard with writing on it and the bench is in front of a gas station, which means Huie possibly just found them there waiting for a bus. An Hispanic man stands to the left of the bench, looking at the camera, and holding a sign that says "Legalization all immigrant now" while a middle aged white woman sits to his right, looking off into the distance and holding a sign that says "Garden". But what reason would the photographer possibly have for taking this picture? This we can find by looking a little deeper.

The Hispanic man is standing and looking at the camera, and we can possibly take this to mean that he is truly paying attention and making an effort to be seen. His sign says "Legalization all immigrant now", which gives us an idea of his motivation. In contrast, the woman is sitting on the bench and staring off into the distance, which portrays an ability to go about her own business and not have to fight for anything. She can think about her garden and take no notice of how others are treated because of her racial "Superiority" and privilege. This is also loosely portrayed by the working class clothes of the "other" individual (the man) and the nicer clothes of the person in the majority, not having to fight for her rights. It is not entirely clear as the whether she is really looking away or looking up at the man, so another way to interpret this image would be that she is looking up to the man's stand as admirable, as she herself looks to have a less profound declaration to display on her board. 

The majority/ the "perfect" population as described by the governing power has far less to worry about than the "others" it degrades. This whole idea of "othering" not only shows a divide, but it also works to instill in the people this same idea, either that they are superior to those "others" and should be thankful they have the ease of life they do, or they should accept that they ARE the "others" and see themselves as lesser people. The biggest difference between the picture and the book that I could see is that the book only showed the point of view of the government that showed the "others" as being parasites and out of place and the the white Christians as deserving and respectable, whereas the picture showed the "other-ed" person as being hard working and deserving and the woman as simply being there and taking her position with ease and self-concern.
The concept of "othering" may not only refer to the degradation and separation of those viewed as lesser human beings, but also to the superior "others" that are given power and control over how other people are allowed to behave and think. Frequently in "The Handmaid's Tale" the narrator, Offred, refers to the government and the powerful, secret police type force as an entity with a completely "other" status. The are accountable to no one and a separate and mysterious force that does not follow the same rules as those they govern. This also opens the opportunity for the audience of the photograph to switch to the perspective of viewing the situation from the man's point of view and seeing the seemingly unobtainable realm of the "other" people in society who have more rights and privileges than he. 

"Othering" in The Handmaid's Tale 

The book serves to warn for the future and discourage the act of "othering" and the picture to promote action on the part of the audience to work harder not only for themselves, but for the equality of others. Speaking strictly in terms of narrator to audience, the narrator of the book is also sort of simply mentioning it as a way to provoke pity for her by describing the kind of society she is forced to live in than provide inspiration. One also may look at the author's point of view and bias, as Margaret Atwood is of a more privileged race and status than Huie, which causes their motivations and inspirations to be different because of their respective experiences concerning this concept.
In conclusion, the concept of "othering" has been prominent in our society for a very long time, and the statements about the different kinds of "othering" and the effects were described in both "The Handmaid's Tale" by Atwood and the photographs of Wing Young Huie. This concept causes a rift between races and classes in our society that is not only dangerous to those degraded by it, but dangerous to those that become the victims of self-importance and privilege that lead to a continuation of a downward spiral of deepening social differences and noncooperation.  



In the chosen photograph Huie presents to concept of "othering" through presenting an image of racial differences concerning motivation, clothing, and class. A similar concept is provided in Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale" as the government creates a society largely based on a desirable population and a clear split between those people and the "others". A fairly specific example is the divide in class represented in the book where the Wives don't have to worry about much besides their gardens, and are entitled to an easy life while the other people in their society have harder jobs, stricter rules to follow, and greater responsibilities. This is directly connectable to the picture where the white woman's sign says "garden", which is a considerably less demanding and important activity than advocating for equality, which is her privilege based on class and racial position. Both the book and the picture are a comment on the breaks in class and race in society even today that lead to unfair advantages and disadvantages in all areas of life. While in "The Handmaid's Tale" the society forcibly removed and relocated the undesirable people, on a smaller scale the same thing is happening today and the racial and social superiority of a few in blatantly clear.