What is Empathize This?
What is Empathize This?
Panel 1
Image: The Empathize This Logo
Caption: Empathize This is a project exploring the way the world is experienced by those who don’t fit into the mainstream narrative.
Panel 2
Image: Two people, one short with an excited expression, and the Author, who is tall, male, and wearing glasses. He has an unimpressed expression, with arms crossed. Background is the Canadian flag.
Caption: It all started when I was explaining to friends how I experienced things a little differently as a Japanese Canadian.
Speech:
Person 1: “Nice to Meet You. Where are you from?”
Author : “Umm…Canada.”
Person 1: “I mean where are you really from?”
Panel 3
Image: Author, with a confused expression, looking at their hand. On this hand is a bandaid, which is a starkly different shade than the author’s skin tone. The person asks “Why the heck do they make it stand out so much?”
Caption: For example, looking at a bandaid confused the heck out of me when I was four.
Panel 4
Image: A zoomed-in image of a bandaid with the word “Abnormal” written in the centre. A series of arrows point outward from the word “Abnormal” to the skin on which the bandaid sits.
Caption: When I realized why it was coloured that way, it made me see this:
So I “experience” Bandaids a little differently from the mainstream narrative.
Panel 5
Caption: I don’t think everyone who is non-Caucasian had the same experience with Bandaids as I did, but I do think it’s an experience that only non-Caucasians could have had. And that is the type of story that this project collects.
Panel 6
Image: The Author holding a sheet of paper with comic panels visible.
Author: Each story is presented anonymously, and is accompanied be a webcomic style visualization that we create.
Panel 7
Image: a faded, sketch-like silhouette of a person, on top of which the text sits. Text is arranged around the entire space of the panel, in different sizes and fonts.
Caption: It could be about Race, Class, body image, mental illness, surviving abuse, mental illness, gender…we’re so complex, I can’t possibly think of everything.
Panel 8
Image: Author, in close up of head and shoulders
Author: “and follow us on Twitter and all that jazz.”
Caption: So if you have a story to share (or questions), we want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]
Full story
Empathize This is a project exploring the way the world is experienced by those who don’t fit into the mainstream narrative. It’s a collection of stories – and a webcomic of those stories – that show how power and privilege affect the way we see the world.
It all started when I was explaining to friends how I experienced things a little differently as a Japanese Canadian. For example, looking at a Bandaid confused the heck out of me when I was four – I couldn’t understand why they would colour it in a way that stood out so much. When I realized why it was coloured that way, it made me think that being non-Caucasian was abnormal. So I “experience” Bandaids a little differently from the mainstream narrative.
The interesting thing is this: I don’t think everyone who is non-Caucasian had the same experience with Bandaids as I did, but I do think it’s an experience that only non-Caucasians could have had. And that is the type of story that this project collects. Almost everyone has a story like this, whether it is about race, or gender, or class, or body image, or mental illness, or experience with abuse…the list is longer than I could imagine.
Each story is presented anonymously, and is accompanied by a webcomic style visualization that we create with you. We vigorously moderate comments, and require people to practice empathy. And by empathy I don’t mean sympathy, but to imagine what it would be like to be someone else.
We’re always looking for people who are willing to share their stories with us. We have a submission process for people who don’t feel comfortable writing, as well as a process for those who feel like they can adequately express their story in print. So if you have a story to share, we want to hear from you.
If you have any ideas for a story, please feel free to contact us at info(at)empathizethis.com, and we’ll work with you to help you share your experience.
This is such a cool idea.
Thanks! 🙂
I’ve had a similar band aid experience. I know they’re supposed to be flesh toned, and that’s made me feel particularly strange my whole life, because even though I’m European, band aids look incredibly unnatural on me, because I’m so pale. They make my skin look like the skin of a corpse next to them. It’s very disconcerting. I buy themed band aids (like for children) because I want to avoid the whole thing.
I think the range of skin colors flesh toned band aids look real on is much smaller than anyone even considers. Just my thoughts.