As the person physically bearing
the banana costume, my experience and observations of the impact of deviating
from the “norm” were slightly different than my group members. Throughout the
process of entering and performing in several public environments, I
encountered multiple emotions and feelings—many of which I did not expect. By
nature, I am a social person and generally do not get embarrassed easily. Due
to my personality traits, it only seemed fitting to have me serve as the
strange banana wondering around campus.
It was a beautiful day, fest season
was beginning and we were at Ohio University— a place where abnormal sights can
be witnessed practically on a daily basis. Who would question an innocent
banana costume? It’s festive!
Over
the course of several hours and many locations—the student center, restaurants,
a gas station, College Green, Mill Street—I felt every emotion from excited and
enjoying the humor of the situation to slightly embarrassed and worried about
possible negative reactions. Spending a Saturday morning walking around in a
banana costume was not something I would ever anticipate myself doing, however,
through this project I caught a brief glimpse of what it may feel to live as a
person with an abnormality—handicap, political stance, ethnicity, etc.
This picture was taken at CVS
Pharmacy. I simply walked inside, looked at a few items on the shelves and
picked up a jar of salsa. A young woman in the same isle walked by and
complimented my banana suit. I stared at her perhaps a bit too creepily;
however, I could see how my strange choice in attire made her feel
uncomfortable and possibly question my motivation.
While
walking down Court St—a main street within Athens and the Ohio University
campus—I received multiple reactions. Groups of people walking by along the
sidewalk would occasionally laugh, glance awkwardly at me, or whisper something
to their companion while staring at me. Even cars driving down the street
showed many people staring, pointing, and yelling out the window, “Banana!”
The location that made me feel the least comfortable was Brenen’s Coffee. It was packed on this particular morning with students, professors, and visiting parents, as well as employees. I walked in the door and immediately felt a wave of eyes stare straight at me. Some people simply glanced up and looked back at what they were doing. Conversely, several tables and people waiting in line for their coffee and bagels held their gazes, laughed, talked amongst themselves without breaking eye contact with me, and/or continued to eat with perplexed expressions. As far as I know, there were no rude comments made toward me. The entire time I was in the coffee shop, I never completely felt like no one was staring at me. I was definitely the main attraction while I was in the establishment.
At the College Bookstore on Court St., I was most surprised by the LACK of reaction I received from the parents, future students, and employees within the store. There was absolutely no second glances, whispered comments or laughter. I wondered around a little longer than I would have in the hopes to get any attention. Interestingly, I felt as normal as any other person browsing the merchandise. It was a little confusing; yet, I appreciated the absence of harassment or judgment.
Close to the top of Mill Street where a group of guys passed by and a joke was exchanged. Again right before Mill fest this might seem not out of the ordinary for people that are about to partake in the festivities.
The
worker in the green shirt at the computer noticed Kellie and started laughing
to himself. He didn’t want to be obvious about it so he put his hand over his
mouth, especially when Kellie took a seat at the computer and looked over at
him.
Then
we went to Baker Center. Kellie rode up and down the escalators. There weren’t
that many people present, but those that were would just look at her.
Especially when she was going up or down the escalator and her back was turned
to people, people would stare a lot, probably because she wasn’t looking at
them, or couldn’t see them looking at her.
This is just another image of
Kellie riding the escalators. There were people on the other side who were
looking at her, that’s why she turned and waved.
Lastly, we ended our journey at the BP gas station on court street. Kellie was going to pump gas into her invisible banana mobile. She received some looks from passerby's, mostly likely because she was pumping gas into nothing, and also because she was dressed in a banana costume.
Being at Ohio University I see many different things in just the average day, from someone with flamboyantly pink hair to someone in a banana costume. What, and who is to say what is normal. We all have a sense of what the “norms” are, but yet every person has a different bandwidth that they consider normal behavior. In a college town, especially during fest season, you can expect to see and be apart of new things. A banana consume walking around campus could be normal for one person but not another. When I see someone in a banana costume walking around campus I know how I would think and react, but it is another thing to see someone else react to it. It goes to show how individual we all are. Some people point and stare, whereas others merely laugh and go along with it. I am sure many think “what in the world?” From an early age society tells us how we should act and think, how this is a girl and this is a boy. Some people think that a person in a banana costume is completely normal with a large fest coming up, and others might just throw the thought away labeling it as immature. There is a saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover” yet we do almost everyday. You see someone in a banana costume and think they are weird just because they don’t look like everyone else. We base our norms on what the masses are doing and how they are looking, and as a society sometimes look down on someone who is different from the rest of the crowd. We are all people and all of us should be treated equally and yet here we are. We still are treating handicapped people with pity when they don’t want it. People just want to be themselves. I am gay and I am treated differently, and made to feel differently when in a crowd. When around a crowd of guys I feel slightly out of place because some think that it is not “normal” to be gay, yet all I want is to be myself and be treated with dignity. I didn’t make a choice to be different. Being gay isn’t who I am it is just a small part of what makes me, me. So when looking at someone else I try not to judge that book by its cover, and I am not perfect and am guilty of doing it as well, but I am aware of it. I try not to treat people different of myself, or of the social norm of the day, any other way than I would wish to be treated or even thought about. We are so hypocritical we teach diversity but not too much or else you’re ostracized. Through the course of this project I have come to realize yet again that the golden rule is still the golden rule, and if someone has flamboyantly pink hair or is wearing a banana costume that might just be the way they want to be different.
