Rasheed Harding
As people, our faces, and thus our pictures, are not always indicative of the types of people we are. This is especially true for writers, yet when I began writing for Technician, I was informed that I had to have my picture taken. This picture was to be attached to any opinion columns I wrote, and this requirement wasn’t brought up in any other section, which is evident in the newspaper itself. Out of the four sections of this paper, the opinion section is the only one that displays the writer’s face.
By its nature, the opinion section of any newspaper contains the most subjectivity, and it is the section in the most danger of bias associated with the writer’s physical features. While every writer is not subjected to the same biases, the mere existence of this type of bias should permit writers the choice to not have their pictures attached to their columns. If the picture is not associated with the content of the column, then it should not be there at all.
News articles, sports columns and arts & entertainment coverage contain pictures related to the story’s content, which only makes sense. Due to the objective nature of these articles, the best way to prepare the reader for the information is by giving them a preview of the context. Thus, the reader will associate the message being conveyed with whatever sad, entertaining or concerning imagery is presented beforehand. Even without ever reading the article, the headline and attached picture represent an idea of what the article is about.
An opinion column is different. To an expected degree, they can be personal, but they are also expected to be supported by facts and ideas that aren’t pulled out of a hat. While significantly more subjective, the essence of each column typically aims to educate, inform or convey some sort of evaluation or insight to the reader.
Subjectivity plays an important role. While these columns aren’t published as knee-jerk reactions, they are still opinions. Opinions are always personal; they can be shared, but they are neither enforced nor forced upon us (in theory). We all choose our own opinions, and that element of an opinion gives it a more author-revealing nature for the reader.
Truthfully, there are things that people think about only after they’ve been brought up by someone else. However, the absence of active thought doesn’t imply the absence of subconscious awareness, which goes a long way in influencing our perception or speech, writing and everything in between. This is where bias comes into play.
Bias refers to our unconscious tendency to create judgments or perceive experiences based on presupposed information about something or someone. This usually manifests from the spread and influence of stereotypes, as well as from personal past experiences.
Bias is undeniable and typically difficult to detect, combat and overcome. Certain biases are rooted in history and culture, and through our archival and behavioral access to the past they become extremely difficult to extinguish. However, while the source of a certain bias can be a tangled mess of multiple factors, the avenue through which we access or express said bias can often be traced back to a uniform concept that is easily eliminated.
Sight is definitely one of these avenues. As social beings, we base most of our evaluations and judgements about the world on what we actually see or hear. Therefore, eliminating visual influences that can negatively affect our judgements would completely restructure our frame of reference in a more effective and positive light.
As a professional judge or a casual audience, properly assessing the quality of what someone produces takes top priority. The goal of a writer is to make the written message resonate with the reader through words alone. Therefore, the words should be assessed alone. Just like a reader deserves words worth reading, a writer deserves readers worth writing for. Unconscious bias creates unworthy readers.
The face of a writer is by no means a representation of a column or the knowledge it contains. After all, words come from the mind, and a person, especially a writer, is their mind before anything else. When a writer shares their words, they share their mind, and their words should not be polluted by any unconscious bias that their physical being may instill.
Hiding my face is not obscuring my identity; my name identifies me, and anyone could have my name. My words, however, come from me, and they are all that should matter. I doubt anyone would ever demand to see my face after reading my words, so I would prefer to keep those words unmolested by something out of the reader’s control.