Fanon and "Two-Fers"

As I took in our lecture/discussion today in class, I had a question about the nature of Fanon’s (Sartre’s, Hume’s) concept of the “gaze” and alienation. It seems like the situation where one is forced to step outside of and objectify themselves after an insult is one that applies to everyone in our class, regardless of their color or sexuality. I certainly feel like the situation applies to instances that have occurred in my past; the concept appears to be one that is centered on a necessary part of one’s existence in our society.

So, for Fanon’s theory, is there a threshold for the amount of times that this experience occurs that one has to pass in order to live their lives in an entirely different existential manner (as the author mentions)? Or is it just the case that some (blacks especially) experience this alienation phenomenon so often that it simply appears like they are objectifying themselves all the time, when, in fact, they are just objectifying themselves in those instances where they are influenced by the “gaze?”

The concept of the “gaze” interests me because of its focus on physically noticeable traits. Distinguishing between the quality and quantity of discrimination that different groups face brings a new light to the nature of systems of racism, anti-semitism, sexism, etc. For example, it could be argued that our society is just as male-dominated as it is white-dominated; is the experience of “being” as a female also different from the experience of “being” as a male? If so (which seems likely), are there as many different ways to exist in our society as there are groups of people that exist in it? Or are there only two manners of existence: alienated or free?

I believe that Fanon’s work supports the latter. If the theory of the “gaze” and alienation by objectifying oneself holds true for both blacks and females, and it seems that it does, isn’t the way in which each group is alienated the same? At the same time though, as a group, females are surely not seen as phobogenic objects (although the latter part of the term still applies), and that might mark a difference between the two types of discrimination. Also, this seems to point to the idea that black females exist in a doubly alienated, doubly objectified world. In my African American Literature class, the female Harlem Renaissance writers have been described as “two-fers,” for their “being” involved the two most difficult physical traits to live with at the time. What do you guys think?