You Are What You Eat
When I try to encourage my kids to eat well, I remind them- “You are what you eat”. “So will I become a carrot if I only eat carrots mummy” is the sort of standard response I expect to get from my 8-year-old. If we really are what we eat, we need to consider what else we consume on a daily basis. What we read, watch, listen to, what and who we give time to also affects how we see the world around us and how we exist in this life.
Our early childhood experiences and what we consumed, help shape our perceptions of the world around us. Which voices and perspectives were given the most attention at school, in the books we read, in the histories we learnt and in the cartoons we’d come home to?
Let us consider our favourite cartoons and how the messages inform our understanding of the world. A good story involves a problem or event which is overcome by a protagonist. Which characters did we connect with and see ourselves in? How were heroes and villains characterised?
I grew up with my two brothers and being the only girl, meant we spent our afternoons and weekends watching cartoons like the X-men and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Both had main characters who didn’t belong and were ostracised because of this. X-men pitted ‘good mutants’ against ‘bad mutants’. And although X-men was meant to be a representation of the Civil Rights Movement in the USA, I feel that there was something in the struggles and stories of the mutants that almost felt relatable – especially after 9/11. The demonisation, surveillance and targeting of the Muslim community through the War on Terror, was terrifying as a young Muslim woman in London.
I had no real superpower that would allow me to read minds, heal my wounds, control metal or fly. During that time, I found strength in the allyship of those who could see through the propaganda of fear and othering. Over the years, we saw and still see people and allies who are willing to stand against injustices, bigotry and genocide.
It was never really Professor X vs Magneto; it was the two of them together against the structural and systemic institutions that existed to keep them apart. It was and always is about striking a balance between accountability and hope, “by any means necessary”. How do we do this?
Firstly, accepting that perhaps we are what we consume. Educating ourselves and thinking critically to better understand history, facts and the wider context of global narratives and how interconnected everything is. Asking ourselves – who has power and who is oppressed.
Secondly, we have to deeply reflect on what we have been exposed to in our lives and accept that there is a lot of unlearning to do. Stories matter and those narratives which “other” and dehumanise populations have vast and unimaginable consequences – we have learnt about this in history and have witnessed this through social media and mainstream media this year.
Thirdly, use our collective power to affect change. It is up to us to challenge problematic discourse and support each other to rewrite and amplify our stories and amplify the stories of those who are not often centred.
In this new year, let’s eat more carrots to see clearly the impact of what we consume.
– Reflection by Faaria Ahmad, Head of Global Learning London
