We’re All Born Naked, and the Rest is Simulation

WRIT 1133-67


Art I
    Picture this: it's the beginning of summer 2017.  The weather is getting nicer,  Kendrick Lamar’s new album DAMN. is blessing the radio, the Coronavirus pandemic isn't on the radar, and life is pretty good.  Furthermore, at the Alex Theatre in Glendale, California, lights pulse and a packed crowd of fans hold their collective breath as Whitney Houston’s “So Emotional” blasts on the glittery stage during the season 9 finale of Rupaul’s Drag Race.  Two out of the four top superstar finalists, Sasha Velour and Shea Coulée, are facing off for the crown in what is about to become one of the best lip sync battles in history.  With each rendition of the chorus, Velour releases a burst of red rose petals, beginning by pulling off each of her golden gloves.  At the apex of the song, she majestically lifts her auburn wig, shaking the final burst of petals out in a glorious expression of love and emotion, and as the last petal falls to the ground, so does Coulee’s last chance of winning.  Iconic.  
    Because of their intentionally transformative and illusionary nature, a drag queen can be classified as a simulacra.  The term simulacra was brought into popularity by French sociologist, cultural theorist, and postmodern philosopher Jean Baudrillard through his profound book, Simulacra and Simulation.  In said work, Baudrillard noted how certain aspects and objects of society are copied into meaning-removed or meaning-altered replicas, which he defined as simulacra.  Drag queens are perfect simulacrum, as these performers are essentially copies of women, but the artistic liberty they take with their drag allows for a purposeful disconnect between the meaning of the original woman figure and the meaning of the copy, creating an intentional simulacra and a different reality.
    In addition to simulacrum, Baudrillard also discussed in his book the concept of a simulation, which is the imitation of the function or process of something (rather than just the image).  Reality television itself could be considered a simulation, in that it appears as if it's a portrayal of real life.  However, drama is typically manufactured,  and lines can be scripted, therefore creating a simulation of life.   These simulacra and simulations can lead to a hyperreality, where there is no original, real meaning anymore, just a simulation of a simulation.  The process of creating copies and jumping onto new levels of reality varies from the extent of simple female impersonation (such as Derrick Barry, who claims he can do more than impersonate Britney Spears, but let's be honest-he can pretty much only do Britney), to distorted copies where queens exaggerate their image (such as overdrawing lips and adding hip pads), to making a reality-less copy with a completely unrealistic image (Crystal Methyd), to the final frontier of hyperreal: fighting with a teenage fan over a knockoff Trixie Mattel t-shirt. 
    Drag is just one of many ways reality is distorted in the world.  Not all of them are as positive and intentional as Sasha Velour performing unfortunately, and many of them happen to be more like Trixie Mattel impersonating RuPaul in front of RuPaul himself-painful and dangerous.  Nonetheless, the different existing simulacrum and simulations all contribute to the countless layers of inauthenticity in life.  


Social Media
    Scrolling through Instagram on any given day, one will assuredly see a myriad of content carefully curated for the user by the platform’s computerized algorithms.  Between the sea of amusing memes (such as the current combination of Tiger King and quarantine memes), beautiful photographs of sunsets in Bora Bora, and drool-worthy recipe videos for cheesecake brownies, there lurks something darker.  Something that almost everyone has come face to face with, most likely completely unknowingly.  This mysterious beast lives in the reposted Tik Toks agonizingly rehearsed for hours in the judging silence of an otherwise empty bedroom, and in the stress of the posed, heavily photoshopped and filtered selfie posted on Instagram for an audience of maybe thirty-six people.  There is such anxiety surrounding the perfect portrayal on social media, and users are enticed into building an inauthentic technological identity.
    Social media is an extreme example of a hyperreal situation.  For example, in his book, Simulacra and Simulation, Baudrillard inserts that, “The media represents world that is more real than reality that we can experience. People lose the ability to distinguish between reality and fantasy. They also begin to engage with the fantasy without realizing what it really is. They seek happiness and fulfillment through the simulacra of reality, e.g. media and avoid the contact/interaction with the real world.”  Here, Baudrillard describes the hyperreal contemporary media and how people are dangerously and unknowingly living in its simulation.  Social media is a simulation, in that it is a virtual copy of human interaction, and engagement with it leads people to assign it the same meaning as its copy.  In reality, social media is mainly staring at a piece of glass for hours and glossing over mildly interesting content, but it is regarded as possibly more important than real human interaction.  As a result of this enthusiasm for said simulation, people are sucked into a solitary vacuum of their own social media profiles, and begin to care and think too much.  This leads to the genesis of a personal simulacra, where the individual is portraying an inaccurate copy of themselves, and encourages others to do the same in order to compete with this idea of unattainable perfection, creating a horrible mass cycle of inauthenticity and self-hatred.
    A friend of mine from high school, who I will call Sana, is a prime personal  example of this simulacra snowballing effect.  When I was friends with her in high school, she had an odd Instagram page, consisting solely of photographs of herself standing in front of the same white wall in her house.  At that time, Sana also had an unhealthy interest with name brand products, took great pride in showing off her Lexus at school, and shamelessly used the Tiffany & Co bag from the necklace I bought her as a decoration in her room.  However, it was only after we all graduated and she lost her main source of socialization that her behavior crossed a line.  It can be inferred that the time she used to spend at Yogurtland with me was used to perhaps scroll through social media and stalk the likes of Kylie Jenner.  As a result, photos in front of her wall became increasingly Facetuned, with wavy lines echoing her new hourglass figure.  The same photos began to include an increasing number of counterfeit designer items, whose packaging she kept and displayed on a special shelf in her room.
    Sana’s social media journey is unsettling, but she is not alone, as many others  also create social media simulacrum as a response to the simulation.  Regarding one of the reasons behind this creation, a recent study by Oren Gil-Or, Yossi Levi-Belz, and Ofir Turel on the “Facebook Self” states, “Hence, our results show that the false Facebook-self is driven, in part, by shortcomings in one’s personality, which may relate to his or her upbringing and the consequent social traits he or she has developed. Specifically, false Facebook-self is enhanced when self-esteem and general authenticity are low, and these traits tend to be lower among individuals with avoidant and anxious attachment styles.’’ Furthermore, this study stresses that this “false Facebook-self” is important to study because it can lead to worse behaviors resulting in psychological problems and pathologies.  This demonstrates how social media simulacrum can grow out of one’s personality weaknesses, and evolve into something much worse where individuals can drift further away from their real selves.
    The difference between the simulacra and true self can be painful.  In an article written for the Child Mind Institute by author Rae Jacobson, Doctor Jill Emanuele, a clinical psychologist, is consulted on the matter.  For example, the article reads, “‘“Social media alone is unlikely to be at the heart of the issue, but it can make a difficult situation even harder.” Teens who have created idealized online personas may feel frustrated and depressed at the gap between who they pretend to be online and who they truly are. “If you practice being a false self eight hours a day, it gets harder to accept the less-than-perfect being you really are….’” Not only are individuals engaging in the artificial world of social media as if it were real, but they are also ruining their true selves with their false selves.
     In fact, as a result of social media, many take the creation of a separate social media simulacra further by ruining their true selves with their false selves on a more physical level.  The constant comparison and immersion in the simulation of social media encourages people to feel the need to alter their bodies in order to reflect their filtered and Facetuned selfies as well as compete with others.  For example, a 2019 study published in the journal, Current Psychology, suggested that frequent social media users who viewed other cosmetically enhanced females were more likely to desire cosmetic surgery.  In addition, this study’s researchers discuss, “Social media use was a stronger predictor of a participants’ desire for cosmetic surgery than body dissatisfaction. These findings therefore suggest that viewing images of females with cosmetic enhancements can have an effect on young women’s desire for cosmetic surgery, especially if they frequently spend a significant amount of time on social media, follow many accounts and are less satisfied with their appearance.”  Here, the study states how over-saturating oneself in the simulation of social media can create the need to look as good as everyone else online (even though most influencers are Facetuned themselves).  Even if someone didn't originally hate their body, social media could make them feel they were inadequate.
    Social media, while useful in instances of keeping in touch with friends and sharing ideas, has become an appalling outlet and catalyst of self falsification, vehicle for unhealthy comparisons, and simply a blatant waste of time and energy.  In my opinion, we should all take a step back to reexamine what we are putting out in the world, and why.  Maybe then will we realize how stupid social media can be, and express ourselves for our personal purposes without feeling the need to prove ourselves to others.
Fake News
    Vaccines cause autism!  Barack Obama was born in Kenya!  COVID-19 is a democratic hoax!  Oh wait, COVID-19 is real now because everyone is actually dying, but don't worry, it can be cured through the consumption of bleach and cocaine!  These are all real, contemporary examples of the outrageous fake news that, despite having literally no backing evidence, still manage to sway certain members of society, and exist in the world as simulacra for true news.   
    The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide defines modern fake news as, “Deliberate misinformation or a hoax spread via the print, broadcast, or social media, with the intent to mislead readers for financial or political gain.”  The encyclopedia continues to explain that the term gained notoriety in 2016 and 2017 because US President Trump and his right-wing nutballs were labelling information with which they disagreed or disliked as fake news when it was in fact factually true.  Although fake news in the misinformation sense was originally by nature a simulacra for news, this newer, equally harmful second meaning of the term attempts to invert this simulacra, substituting the real news as the distortion, and therefore slandering the actual truth in the situation.  When people dispute real facts in the circumstances where it benefits them most, it steals the trustworthiness of the portion of news that ISN’T actually false news, and making news in general seem flimsy.  This debate over truth in turn creates the opportunity for more misinformed fake news, and endangers the world.
    False news isn't actually a new phenomenon, although the debate over factually correct news is recently more prominent.  In fact, in response to a prediction that a free press would create a more informed, knowledgable public, US president John Adams (served from 1797-1801) once wrote, “There has been more new error propagated by the press in the last ten years than in an hundred years before 1798.”    As demonstrated, the issue of fake news continues to seem novel to different generations, perhaps due in part to the evolution of technology.  With each revolutionary invention, whether it’s the printing press or the internet, reality is further altered.  
    Currently, the internet is one of the main outlets used to access information, which is often circulated through social media sites such as Facebook.  Such sites are built around engagement algorithms, which is where the posts with the most likes, comments, shares, or retweets get promoted more, even when they don't necessarily deserve this heightened platform.  As fake news stories tend to feed off emotions, rather than logic, these stories receive more leverage and power from said algorithms.  For example, a story along the lines of, “Criminal Immigrants Are Taking All the Guns and Jobs in America,” will receive many fearful and hateful comments.  This extraction of more online reactions will propel the factually incorrect news even further, and also quicker than a relative piece of true news. 
    It also doesn't help that these algorithms show the user similar content to what they already like and agree with.  This not only feeds the deadly cycle of fake news, but it reinforces the news for many, as they are trapped in a vacuum of the same propaganda.   If individuals aren't already convinced by the fake news, the more they are exposed to it by algorithms, questionable friends, and bots, the more likely they are to start believing it.  
    Its rapid rate of spreading only further increases the danger of misinformation- in other words by its nature, fake news has the raw potential for very real consequences.  Take, for example, Pizzagate.  Pizzagate is a prime example of a hyperreal situation born out of response upon a simulacra, and was when an armed man bizarrely stormed Washington D.C. restaurant, Comet Ping Pong, under the impression that presidential nominee Hillary Clinton was satanically sexually abusing children in the basement, and felt the need to investigate the situation himself.  In reality however, the claim that Clinton was a criminal pedophile was completely false, and had originally gone viral off an unfounded Facebook post.  There wasn't even a basement at Comet Ping Pong.  Luckily, nobody was physically harmed in this dramatic escapade; however the danger of accepting simulacrum as truth was clearly portrayed, and foreshadows the potential for similar and most likely more catastrophic events in the future.  
    In fact, the fake news surrounding COVID-19 is potentially deadly for me personally, as my heart and immune system were weakened by my cancer treatment, so it wouldn’t be ideal if I caught the virus.   When individuals publish, share, and believe articles dismissing the pandemic as a hoax, they don't take appropriate measures to prevent spreading it, therefore putting my life at risk and demonstrating that fake news can have very real consequences for someone like me. 
    The post-truth era is undeniably terrifying and dangerous.  However, not all is lost, and there are some ways to lessen the effect of fake news.   As the general public is mainly responsible for the effects of fake news, it's important to be responsible with sharing stories.  For example, in his article, “Truth is What Happens to News: On journalism, fake news, and post-truth,” author Silvio Waisbord suggests, “Notions of news and truth are linked to what people do with information rather than what journalism unilaterally decides are accurate portrayals of reality.”  Here, Waisbord claims that, regardless of the level of validity in a piece of news, it's the audience that determines its impact.  Therefore, it's important that the public chooses to share and respond to stories in an appropriate manner such as sharing only verifiably correct information, while shutting down fake news (and preventing others from shutting down true news).  Other ways to challenge fake news include regarding all information with a critical eye and sharing stories that are both creative and non-emotional in order to divert the algorithms.  To determine the level of truth of any piece of news, the Harvard Library "Fake News,” Disinformation, and Propaganda Guide also suggests considering the actual legitimacy of the source, author, and supporting sources, as well as reading beyond headlines, checking the publication date, considering personal biases, and consulting an expert on the matter (or a librarian or fact-checking website).  If we remain vigilant, it's possible to see through the fake news and wipe away just one of the many levels of inauthenticity in the world and in society.  The search for truth in the age of misinformation is key to a better world. 


History
    Most children who grew up in the United States celebrated Thanksgiving in a similar fashion.  From reading stories and acting out plays about the friendship between settlers and natives, to crafting paper headdresses, and eating turkey with mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce with family and friends, this holiday was no doubt fun and festive.   I know I personally had fun making paper pilgrim hats and hand turkeys in the first grade.   However, it’s truly a shame that this elaborate celebration has grown to mask the true history of the gruesome and deadly conflicts between the Pilgrims and Native Americans (both around the time of “the first Thanksgiving” and in times to come after), including the smallpox epidemic, massacres, and pillages.
    As demonstrated by the simulation of Thanksgiving, the discourse regarding historical events can overshadow the actual event.  In this same village lives the quote, “History is written by the victors.”  Although the origins of this popular quote are unknown, its meaning is truthful and applicable in that true history can be altered to filter out certain things, such as Native American genocide for the sake of a holiday, which often makes the event in question seem different or more black and white than it truly was.  From downplaying the Native American genocide, to wiping out mentions of Abraham Lincoln favoring slavery in instances, Americans have a precedent of portraying themselves as heroes in situations where they weren’t, but got away with it.  This inaccurate portrayal creates a simulacra of the event, and takes away from the reliability and worth of history.
    An example of an inauthentic historical portrayal includes Thomas Jefferson.  In school, kids learn about how he drafted the Constitution, fought pirates, held a spot on the two-dollar bill, was the third president of the United States, and founded the University of Virginia (and perhaps a little about how he owned slaves), but rarely about how this pioneer of freedom repeatedly raped a teenage slave and had six children with her, that were all born his slaves as well.  
    In an informal content analysis conducted on 25 online reliable and neutral resources with general information on Thomas Jefferson, I paid attention to the degree to which this dark side of Jefferson was portrayed, if at all, and recorded it once for each text accordingly.  I found that 40% of these sources completely disregarded Jefferson’s racism and predation, only mentioning his accomplishments.  As mentions of Jefferson’s past increase in their severity, the frequency of them decreases as well, where only 12% describe the likely rape situation.  Since I already knew about Jefferson’s crimes against humanity, it wasn’t difficult to find more critical sources, as long as I used the right keywords.  That being said, the purpose of the sources I analyzed was to educate an audience who needed to learn more about Jefferson in the first place.  Since they presumably didn’t know the truth in the first place, they wouldn’t know to go looking for it, and would just accept the incomplete history from the meek sources, which perpetuates the main problem.  It can be awkward and complicated to include such disturbing facts when educating the public on one of history’s winners, but it isn’t right to belittle the struggles of others by ignoring Jefferson’s faults and erasing his humanity, as it makes racism harder to fight.
    This forwarding of an incomplete or inauthentic history transforms each differently portrayed event into its own simulacra.  This can be done as a result of retelling history in different contexts.  For example, in the 1995 article, “Truth and Myth in History: An Example from the Spanish Civil War” published in The Journal of Interdisciplinary History, author John Corbin writes, “Any story of the past is determined only in part by the event itself.  The story is also determined by the circumstances by which it is told.”  Here, Corbin explains how history can be twisted through fitting the story to fit certain audiences and times (such as excluding Jefferson’s poor behavior when telling his story to children).  In addition to context, bias can be a factor in creating simulacra out of historical events, such as portraying white Americans as heroes and Native Americans as savages, because the white Americans were the ones actually writing the history.  
    However, history can be inauthentic to a degree purely due to the nature of writing.  For example, in his book, Phaedrus, philosopher Plato writes (ironically), “…writing is unfortunately like painting; for the creations of the painter have the attitude of life, and yet if you ask them a question they preserve a solemn silence. And the same may be said of speeches. You would imagine that they had intelligence, but if you want to know anything and put a question to one of them, the speaker always gives one unvarying answer. And when they have been once written down they are tumbled about anywhere among those who may or may not understand them, and know not to whom they should reply, to whom not: and, if they are maltreated or abused, they have no parent to protect them; and they cannot protect or defend themselves.” Here, Plato airs his concern that writing is flat, dead, subjective to the author, and can be twisted depending on the audience and their context or level of knowledge.  Likewise, history can seem complete and full of life and completely legitimate, however it is still written records of the past, therefore is flat, incomplete, likely confused, and shouldn’t be taken as the entire complete truth.
    As a result of the unsteady foundation history stands upon, it’s important to always regard it with a critical eye.  It's beneficial to look at past events through multiple viewpoints and remember that it's impossible to know the full extent of the event.  Doing so will help uncover more of the truth and aid the future.


Art II
    It's difficult to fully define drag given all that it encompasses, and can differ with each person’s experience of it.  However, for the purposes of this essay, I will offer my own definition of drag, which is based off personal experience with drag queens.  I truly found drag through RuPaul’s Drag Race, just months before Sasha Velour was crowned the winner.  It just so happens that my body began to grow cancer around that same time, and I spent countless hours binge-watching the show when I was too sick to sleep or stand up.  Furthermore, drag helped me find confidence when I lost my long hair to chemotherapy and gained thirty pounds from steroids, because I watched numerous queens apply wigs and lashes, contour away that double chin, and totally own their appearance, so I did the same.  In fact, it was because of this that my Make-A-Wish was to attend the season 10 finale of RuPaul’s Drag Race, the year after Sasha Velour won.  As RuPaul Andre Charles always says, “We’re all born naked, and the rest is drag,” meaning whatever we choose to wear is drag in the sense of self expression and we all create a different version of ourselves for any purpose.  As a result of my experience, I can define drag as a form of art where one can express whatever they want through altering their outward appearance, like how I attended school each day in my best cancer drag.
    Drag demonstrates the significance of embracing the simulacrum and simulations in life, and how this can help rather than hinder.  Despite the warping of reality, through purposefully indulging in the simulation of drag and suspending their disbelief, both the queens and audience members are able to find joy, meaning, and inspiration.  Further than drag however, many forms of art also yield similar positive outcomes from simulacrum and simulations.  It’s because of this that art can serve as an escape from reality and an enhancement to quality of life.
    Most forms of art are similar to drag in that they are best enjoyed through the audience’s suspension of disbelief and enjoyment of the simulacrum or simulations.  Theatre is one of these art forms, where it’s vital for onlookers to temporarily ignore obvious faculties and take the play as reality for the sake of a complete entertainment experience.  Paintings are more art forms where inauthenticity is key.  A literal illustration of this is René Magritte’s surrealist painting, “The Treachery of Images.”  This famous painting depicts a simple pipe, with the below inscription, “Ceci nest pas une pipe,” meaning this is not a pipe but rather a painting of a pipe.  “The Treachery of Images” is a blatant synecdoche for most paintings, where their subjects are regarded as reality, but really the painting is just some pigment on a canvas.  It can also be interpreted that counterfeit paintings are part of the final frontier hyperreal situation, where they are meaningless copies of a copy.
    Art may be inauthentic in terms of how these artists display themselves and present their work as pristine reality, however this situation can be paradoxical in that this art can be used to further express the artist.  Returning to the idea of drag queens, the man in a dress may not be an actual woman, but could feel the sense of freedom and power that they couldn't find anywhere else, which helps achieve a higher sense of self.  Philosopher Katharina Bauer writes in her article, “To Be or Not to Be Authentic. In Defence of Authenticity as an Ethical Ideal,” that, “I would like to stress that persons can find out and decide who they really are and who they really want to be in the very moment of an authentic self-expression, in which “we both discover and get in touch with who we are ‘on the inside’ and actively constitute (or ‘produce’) ourselves at the same time” (Varga 2012, 107).”  Here, Bauer stresses the need for continuous reflected self-evaluation and adaptation as a condition for being humanly authentic, and that one’s identity can change consciously and unconsciously over time while still remaining authentic.  This reflects how drag queens can apply their false image while still being authentic.
    In all, while the arts can portray a false image of reality, they still have the potential to remain authentic in a sense.  The degree of inauthenticity in art encourages us to take ourselves less seriously and have fun, which is something everyone could use a taste of.  In addition to taking advantage of the simulations and simulacrum, it's important to recognize their prevalence and power in order to not get trapped.  Next time you’re stressing out about posting the perfect photograph, or reading an article that you agree with but may not be legitimate, or learning about a historical event from a biased perspective, or even neglecting to spend time with your pets because you have too much homework, I hope that you are able to see through the levels of inauthenticity in order to be your authentic self and enjoy what’s really important in life.




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