The Comfort Of Staring

Jordan Meisles
Waggoner
W170 21773
17 September 2012
The Comfort of Staring It’s easy to say, “don’t stare”, but when our minds wander, so do our eyes. An unusual spectacle of a disfigured human may catch our eyes, but once you make eye contact with the disfigured person, we often promptly look away hoping that they did not actually see us. It is a typical reaction for most people to feel uncomfortable while looking at deformed persons, however, its often just sheer curiosity that steers our eyes in their direction (Thomson 79). Thomson vigorously argues that it is ok to stare, rather than look away. Throughout the article, Evidence is constantly shown through the use of pictures and their analyses to encourage us to stare at them. Additionally, Thomson uses language to support her claim by repeating some words multiple times in order to drill those words into our head, and realize staring is ok. A ‘freak’ has no restricted definition, but often time’s disfigurement among people leads to the connection of ‘freakery’. Evidence is recurrently used as a tool to preach Thomson’s main claim by making us familiar with deformities. As viewers, it is hoped that our constant exposure to deformed individuals through pictures and paintings, will make us all the more familiar with the subject, giving us the ability to not feel guilty about staring (Thomson 81). Graphic pictures exploiting burns and scar tissue intrigue our eyes because it is unusual to see, but many artists paint primarily disfigured people for the purpose of constant exposure (Thomson 81). Constant expose helps to prevent unfamiliarity when a deformed person is seen in a real world situation, because the starrer will have seen visuals similar in paintings and pictures before. Repetition in language is a vital technique that Thomson uses. The repeated words that Thomson chose, express common accusations and assumptions in regards towards deformities. A few of the heavily repeated words are: stare, pity, and discomfort. Starring is by far the number one most repeated word because Thomson believes that not only is it ok to stare, but its encouraged. Thomson alters the definition of staring into a comforting and curious action. ‘Pity’ and ‘discomfort’ are commonly used because the artists that are written about and whose art is shown create art on the subject matter of deformities, to eliminate the feeling of pity and discomfort. By constantly being exposed to the pictures, as described earlier, pity and discomfort is more seldom felt because its won’t seem as uncommon (Thomson 84). Staring appears justified by all means according to “Looking Away, Staring Back”. Visuals were used highly effectively in order to condone staring. By getting the reader used to seeing disfigurements, it is hoped that we will not feel uncomfortable in a real life encounter with a disfigured person. Constant repetition of language is an immensely powerful tool that Thomson uses. As a direct effect of her word usage, we are able to justify staring as opposed to just blatantly ignoring the deformed person.