Exotic Dancer Symbolism
The naked blonde-haired woman was an exotic dancer paraded around the ring for entertainment. She is a symbol of another thing that a white man can have and a black man cannot. Not only did the elite white men from the community place her in front for all to see, but also to show their ownership over her. The dancer’s sexuality demand attention from the fighters, as she stare with her impersonal eyes. In fact, the black men looked down and not at her in fear of repercussion, after all, “some threatened us if we looked and others if we did not” (p. 19-20). Another way she is described was powerless and an object by referring to her as a doll, particularly, “a circus kewpie doll, the face heavily powdered and rouged, as though to form an
abstract mask, the eyes hollow and smeared a cool blue, the color of a baboon’s butt” (p. 19). The American flag tattoo on the lower portion of her belly displays freedom, liberty, and equality. At the same time, money, sex, and power replaced the symbol of the flag. In my final analysis, the woman represents the same issue as African American, which is the struggle for equality. Wealthy white society controlled their life.
abstract mask, the eyes hollow and smeared a cool blue, the color of a baboon’s butt” (p. 19). The American flag tattoo on the lower portion of her belly displays freedom, liberty, and equality. At the same time, money, sex, and power replaced the symbol of the flag. In my final analysis, the woman represents the same issue as African American, which is the struggle for equality. Wealthy white society controlled their life.