The Atlas of Reds and Blues by Devi S. Laskar

Author:Devi S. Laskar
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781640091542
Publisher: Counterpoint
Published: 2018-11-14T16:00:00+00:00

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Until 1997, Barbie was 38-18-24.

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Prisoners of technology, that’s what people are. Chained to their personal digital assistants, their iPods, their BlackBerry devices, and, of course, their cell phones, their smartphones, their ability to videoconference, to see each other when they really shouldn’t be able to see each other. Her man of the hour, her hero, is definitely in the loop. Unfortunately, he is allergic to the cleaning solution that came with his new contacts, and he has just lost his glasses.

“I can’t see,” he says, stretching his hand out in the general direction of the bathroom.

She guides him to the door, but her ears are still tuned to the Sunday talk-show discussion about minority rights, voting rights, incarceration rates, mortality rates, literacy. A group of middle-aged well-educated white men talking about women and people of color.

What does it mean truly, to be invisible? Her stillness, her ability to remain calm while high-decibel insults are hurled inches from her face and ears. To pretend nothing has been said. To pretend deafness. Or her chameleon’s ability to blend in, a nondescript body in a dark blouse and black jeans leaning against the pay phone at the hospital waiting room, or standing outside the courtroom’s double doors or by the fire engine at the crime scene, yellow do-not-cross tape isolating one place from its larger context. To pretend the oak tree across the street’s steadfast patience, to pretend paralysis. To watch but pretend blindness. Never look anyone in the eye. Or maybe restraint. Knowing her lack of reaction is the only thing keeping her alive, over and again. Knowing the first time she hits back is the last time she’ll ever have the opportunity to do so.

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