Raialized And Colonized Bodies By Julie Maroh

Julie Maroh is the talented author of Body Music. This graphic novel aims to express the realities of relationships. Maroh discusses in the introduction how stereotypes remind us how political the body and love is, also how she wants to write other realities and her own story (4). Throughout the novel there are numerous examples which could illustrate how she challenges physical, intellectual, and social stereotypes. Focusing on chapter six, “Fantasies of the Hypothetical”, will provide support that Maroh challenges the stereotypes that DeMello outlines in her chapter on “Racialized and Colonized Bodies”. DeMello begins the chapter on race - a social, economic, and political system of division and inequality (DeMello) – which Maroh has used

Maroh challenges this stereotype, that an indigenous person is primal and not civilized, through the storyline of a short relationship which is complicated by intercourse. Many individuals can relate to the story of enjoying someone’s company and falling in love, then one day it ends. Through the Indigenous spirits, Maroh elegantly illustrates a normalcy of their visits and participation throughout the chapter. Maroh also challenges “the notion that black men pose a special [sexual] danger to white women” (DeMello 106) through the use of Ahmed. Ahmed is illustrated in a stereotypical ‘black’ manner; tattoos, short curly hair, white tank top, and distinguishing African American features. Ahmed challenges DeMello’s stereotype, of posing a sexual threat to women, through expressing guilt for not calling after his beautiful evening with Charlene. This guilt illustrates that Ahmed too experienced an emotional connection and was not looking for just a sexual encounter. Perceptions of racial stereotyping “can become self-reinforcing, as lighter-skinned people will get hired and promoted more often, leading to more light skinned people in positions of power and authority” (DeMello