Bodies – reflection on image taken from Auschwitz
What am I doing with my body?
By Skylar McVicar
Looking at that picture
I feel sick
I feel nauseous
I wish I hadn’t seen it
I quickly turn away
Glad I could ignore it, forget it maybe
Never going to forget it really
My stomach is turning
So many bodies
So many limp bodies
So many limp, cold bodies
So many limp, cold, sad bodies
So many limp, cold, sad, ignored, beaten, deceived, disrespected, hopeless, dead
Dead bodies
The fire will warm them up
Fire is good, fire gives heat, heat gives health, heat makes food, food gives health
Good fire
Wait
Bodies by the fire
Dead bodies by the fire
Limp, cold, sad, ignored, beaten, deceived, disrespected, hopeless, dead bodies
By the fire
In the fire
In the fire
No
I can’t look
Turn back around
Turn your strong, warm, fed, healthy body back around
Don’t look
In the fire
The bodies are in the fire
Feeding the fire
Fueling the fire
The fire survives
The bodies don’t
The fire gets stronger
Remains strong
Because my body is turned
I am ignoring it
But by ignoring it, I am feeding the fire
Fueling the fire
My Jewish body is still fueling the fire
No
Turn your strong, warm, fed, healthy body back around
Toward the picture
Look at it
Feel sick
Feel nauseous
It is a blessing to have these feelings
To be alive and have these feelings
Use these feelings
It is time to fuel a different fire with my strong, warm, fed, healthy body
*This image was first seen in Auschwitz and is analyzed in my research paper
*I took this photo while at Auschwitz
Cremation of corpses at Auschwitz-Birkenau. This photograph was taken clandestinely by prisoners in the Sonderkommando. Poland, summer 1944. Provided by USHMM Photo Archives
“CREMATION OF CORPSES AT AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU.” United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Accessed April 1, 2020. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/photo/cremation-of-corpses-at-auschwitz-birkenau.
Something New: Textual and Non-textual
I am often frustrated by the entertainment and media industry as they only portray one body type and appearance as the model everyone should strive to be. These industries are sending subliminal messages to the majority of readers and viewers who do not look this specific way saying “you are not equal, you are not loved.” Repeatedly receiving this message is exhausting and dehumanizing. Because of this unrealistic beauty and talent standard, most of the population is considered less than human which can negatively impact health and productivity. Staying silent to this discrimination hinders the ability to incite change. So, for my textual and non-textual piece, I am creating a magazine including representation from all body types and ethnicities. Hopefully, this magazine will remind minorities that they are equal and important and inspire others to defy social norms as well.
*The cover image is taken by me. It depicts a Peruvian woman in traditional dress in Ollantayambo. She represents the beauty in the real and unedited.
Something New: Collaborative
For my collaborative piece, Grant, McNeill, and I created a series of three podcasts discussing our individual themes and how they connect to Humanities and Revolution as a whole. Each forty-five minute podcast is centered around one specific topic with questions connecting to class material as well as daily life. We decided not to edit the podcasts to prevent providing misguided information. By editing the podcasts, we would create a specific narrative and infuse our bias into the discussion. Therefore, we uploaded the podcasts in their original form.
After participating in the spring units and being sent to our respective homes due to the outbreak of coronavirus, Grant, McNeill, and I reconvened over Zoom to record a new, updated podcast discussing revolution in the wake of a global pandemic.
Happy listening!
Discussing Framing – Grant Hearne
Discussing Body Image – Skylar McVicar
Discussing Identity – McNeill Franklin
Updated video podcast YouTube link
