Final answer:
Frantz Fanon's discussion of the white gaze explores how it places individuals as passive objects under scrutiny and judgment, reflecting power dynamics and impacting identity. This relational power frames the observed through an imperialistic lens, linking to W.E.B. Du Bois's idea of double consciousness and causing internal conflict and dehumanization.
Step-by-step explanation:
According to Frantz Fanon, the concept of the white gaze constructs non-white individuals, including himself, as objects among other objects. This gaze represents a sociocultural and psychological relationship of power, wherein the person or people being observed are unaware of the observer, reminiscent of an anonymous peeping Tom. The imperial gaze of colonialism was one such historical example that rendered lands and peoples subjects to European scrutiny, dehumanizing them and maintaining control over how these cultures were viewed and understood.
Similarly, Fanon's involvement with the gaze reflects a state where someone's self-perception is overwhelmingly influenced by the perceptions and judgments of others—in his context, those of white people. This perspective, which can also be linked to W.E.B. Du Bois's concept of double consciousness, involves seeing oneself through the lens of dominant racial ideologies. The result is a conflict of identity, where individuals see themselves not directly, but as a reflection of the stereotypes and power structures imposed upon them.
Fanon's critique suggests that these imposed views can have a dehumanizing effect, framing individuals as passive subjects to be observed and judged, rather than as autonomous agents. This has profound implications on personal and collective identity within a postcolonial and racially charged context.