In class we discussed the idea of the "single story" and how these stories are constructed using various techniques like Erasure, Racebending, and Essentialism. Explain the concept of Erasure, and give ONE example of how it was used to construct a single story (you can choose an example from movies, television or literature).

 

Erasure is the concept of rendering some people, groups, ideas or beliefs invisible in a work of art. These ideas, people or beliefs could be playing a significant role in a story, yet someone decides to delete the significance. For example, in a film, if a group of people die fighting for rights, the death of some individuals can be highlighted more than others.

In 2015,the media did not cover the death some black transgender women as they covered the men in the same death row. The lack of representation of the transgender women deaths is referred to as "Erasure".

Step-by-step explanation

Erasure is the concept of rendering some people, groups, ideas or beliefs invisible in a work of art. These ideas, people or beliefs could be playing a significant role in a story, yet someone decides to delete the significance. Erasure goes the extra mile, sometimes to discourage telling of some stories. For example, in a film, if a group of people die fighting for rights, the death of some individuals can be highlighted more than others. Unfortunately, the story of other individuals is not represented so that a single story is created. In most written works of art, especially those whose central ideology is to showcase the importance of the roles of men in the society, women, the poor and children suffer erasure a lot. This is done intentionally to concentrate the story on men hence, a single story.

For example, in a film, if a group of people die fighting for rights, the death of some individuals can be highlighted more than others. The larger group of those who were murdered were black transgender women. However, the rest of the media did not cover the stories of the black women as much as they covered those of the men. In fact, the public has to hold a "say her name movement" to force the media to tell the story of the transgender women too. In this case, the transgender women's story was almost being deleted by the media. The "erasure" of the transgender lives loss made the story about the men.

Also, in the movie "stone wall", a bunch of gay men have a stand of with the police. However, a few transgender women of color help in the conflict too. Unfortunately, their contribution is sidelined in favor of a fictional male character. The director must have felt that the "erasure" of the transgender women would have done the film good by making male characters standout.