Vlad Vandalovsky

ENGW1111H
3 October 2016
P1D3
MLA Documentation
Word Count: 1151

Can You Really Fit into Someone Elses Shoes?

Imagine a crowd of middle aged black men. Next to them lies a podium where three signs
read A, B, and C, respectively. The men congregate in silence wearing nothing but thin
pants, and nervously look around as they know that a slave auction will determine their future for
the rest of their lives. Such was the stage for one of the most famous comedy sketch groups in
America: Key and Peele. Key and Peele is a racially influenced sketch based comedy show
starring two black hosts of the titular name: Keegan Michael Key and Jordan Peele. Over the last
five years, this show has not only entertained millions of people of different ages, races, and
sexes from around the globe, but has also done so using controversial subject matter like racial
equality, slavery or sexual orientation.

Try to put yourself in the characters shoes, and imagine yourself in their place.

That is the saying that my primary school English teacher told all of her students in order
to encourage them to better understand a text. That is what she has told students in order to help
them empathize with a protagonists feelings, or perhaps analyze an antagonists point of view.
And yet, the instruction that seems so logical and innocent, is linked to the very premise that
Ursula Le Guin tries to capture in her essay Unquestioned Assumptions, and is the same
premise that modern media outlets, like Key and Peele, use to appeal to their audiences. In
Unquestioned Assumptions, Le Guin emphasizes the very nature of relatability of a story, and
how authors write with specific readers in mind. Ten years later, Key and Peele question that
same relatability in comedy, spanning across different genders, races, and cultures, and testing
the boundaries of political correctness and humor. That being said, even with all of these

analyses on assumptions and inclusion, an important question still arises: how can someone fit
into someone elses shoes if their shoes are meant for a different race, gender, religion, or age?
Throughout her essay, Le Guin points out five common assumptions that authors make
about their audiences they are white, straight, male, young, and Christian. Catcher in the Rye
by J.D. Salinger is a brilliant example, among many, that a revered classic actually fits the
stereotype that Le Guin points out. The plot of the book follows a young, white, Christian, male
named Holden as lives on his own in New York City. Throughout the book, Salinger makes many
assumptions about the reader; one of them is apparent in a scene where Holden tries to make
plans with his friend Sally. In that scene, Holden says I'll come over Christmas Eve. Okay?
Trimma goddarn tree for ya. Okay? (Salinger Chapter 20). This passage is a perfect example of
how a non-Catholic reader like myself might not understand what Christmas is, or even
comprehend the custom of trimming a tree and bringing it into someones house. Nevertheless,
Salinger assumes that the readers of Catcher in the Rye are knowledgeable in Christian holidays
and can infer certain information crucial to the text, which is very far from true.
Although classic books, like Catcher in the Rye, and their assumptions will never
disappear, some modern writers like Sheryl Sandberg are certainly becoming prominent figures
in literature who are working hard to break the mold. In Sandbergs book Lean In, which was
released in 2013, she discusses the gender gap in 2013 first world working societies, and
advocates for women to stand up for equality at home and in the workplace. Sandberg steps away
from the unquestioned assumptions and gears her writing towards older female readers with
excerpts like, The more women help one another, the more we help ourselves. Acting like a
coalition truly does produce results. (Sandberg Chapter 11), and It is hard to visualize someone
as a leader if she is always waiting to be told what to do. (Sandberg Chapter 2). With these

examples, and others in the book, Sheryl Sandberg addresses more than just white Catholic
young males, but also writes for those people often left out, including those of different ages,
genders, religions, races, and social classes. Sandberg does a great job of exemplifying Le Guins
plea for change Every group we belong to [] is surrounded by an immense out-group []
That out-group is called other people. It is for them that we write (Le Guin 249). Lean In goes
above and beyond to write specifically with the out-group in mind, and prove that popular and
modern writing does not have to make assumptions to stay in the circle of the young, straight,
Catholic, white male community.
As televisions, phones, tablets, and computers continue to envelop our everyday lives,
books are no longer the only medium for Le Guins examples of assumptions to change for the
better. More and more TV shows, movies, and games are using the opportunity of equality to
diminish the discriminatory equality of the past. For example, the videogame industry has greatly
improved the assumptions that it has made over the past 20 years. In the 1990s Nintendo clearly
advertised their games for 10 to 15-year-old boys, and almost never mentioned anything about
female or older gamers. Furthermore, one of their top selling gaming consoles in the 1990s and
early 2000s was named after the intended target audience for the machine: the Gameboy.
Nowadays though, Nintendo not only gears their products for other ages and genders, but a
recent study also shows that the average player of a videogame is 31 years old, and that only 2
percent more males play videogames than females (Entertainment Software Association). This
not only means that videogame companies like Nintendo have broadened their games to be
enjoyed by more people, but they have also improved their advertising skills to include more
demographics of people, and increase their target audience.

If a novel [and, by extension, a TV show, movie, or videogame] is centered on the

doings of men, or its major characters are male, white, straight, and/or young, nothing is said
about them as members of a group, and the story is assumed to be of general interest (Le Guin
247). As time goes on, and authors, producers, and designers change their views, the assumption
of general interest can be transformed to one of interest with no assumptions or strings
attached. When a teacher tells someone to imagine themselves in someone elses shoes, it
shouldnt have to be a struggle to imagine a time, place, or person in a given scenario. As
humanity evolves, Le Guins five assumptions could be a trend of the past, and could serve as a
lesson that literature, entertainment, and media can be all-inclusive. In the end, its not really
about the shoes we wear, but the places we go, the people we meet, the tales we hear, and the
stories we share in those shoes.

Acknowledgements
I would like to recognize Colin Riley and Fatimah Hassanali, who proofread and
critiqued my essay in the editing phase of the project. I would also like to acknowledge Professor
Musselman for helping me with ideas and edits throughout the entire process.
Works Cited
Angelo, Megan. "These Comics Will Play the Race Card." The New York Times. The New York
Times Company, 12 Oct. 2012. Web. 4 Oct. 2016.
Entertainment Software Association. "Essential Facts about the Computer and Video Game
Industry." 2014. Entertainment Software Association. 29 September 2016.
<http://www.theesa.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ESA_EF_2014.pdf>.
Key and Peele Auction Block. YouTube, uploaded by Comedy Central, 14 Feb. 2012,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zB7MichlL1k.
Le Guin, Ursula K. "Unquestioned Assumptions." The Wave in the Mind. Boston: Shambhala,
2004.
Lien, Tracey. No Girls Allowed. 2 December 2013. 29 September 2016.
<http://www.polygon.com/features/2013/12/2/5143856/no-girls-allowed>.
Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1951.
Sandberg, Sheryl. Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead. New York: Alfred A. Knopf,
2013.