Analysis Of Sensing In Motion By Christopher Brown

Christopher Brown begins the chapter with a detailed kinesthetic description of an interaction he and his friends had once with three white police officers. Each and every movement and sense were described in detail and it truly immersed you in the story. The story describes how “people of color must coordinate the movement of their bodies, involuntarily, to the movements of whites for fear that at any moment their body could be seized or extracted without repercussion” (Brown and Sekimoto 78) and the affective implications this has on one’s agency and self. Brown and Sekimoto’s main argument is that these kinesthetic feelings of race immobilize black people in encounters with the white racist gaze and cause them to lose their bodily agency.

However, when reading “Sensing in Motion,” I found myself comparing Brown’s experience to similar experiences I have had with sexism. Of course, these experiences are not alike for the same reasons, but they have numerous similarities. As I thought about what to write about hate for the in-class writing assignment, I immediately thought about the kinesthetic feelings women experience from the male gaze. As stated in my writing assignment, women are constantly vulnerable to hate and objectification at the hands of men. Many women have experienced this first-hand, but even if they have not, it is ingrained in our bodies to be constantly aware of hate received due to our gender. As mentioned in the writing assignment, we manage this hate in many ways. Examples include changing the way we speak around men, wearing clothing that is not too “revealing,” avoiding walking alone at night, or making sure we never leave our drink unattended at a bar. However, “Sensing in Motion” expanded my thoughts on other ways women may sense and respond to perceived hate from

Once a woman is warned of possible danger, through verbal or non-verbal behavior, her body immediately evokes a kinesthetic response. The article describes this response well, stating that “first, the conscious process of proprioception [a sense of our body position and movement] provides us with knowledge of the intersubjective forces that direct, (re)position, and control our body. We not only give, receive, and feel kinesthetic messages from others but also are aware of how our bodies are positioned and moved in concert with others” (Brown and Sekimoto 81). In an interaction with a man, this response could manifest in a woman in a variety of ways such as avoiding eye contact, pulling up their shirt, crossing their arms over their chest, or turning their body