The Unbearable Whiteness of Skiing
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Annie Gilbert ColemanÆs ôThe Unbearable Whiteness of Skiingö uses a variety of rhetorical devices to support the authorÆs contention that commercial ski resorts exclude ethnicity both on the slopes and in their promotions. Tracing the European ethnic roots of the popularity of skiing in the U.S., the author argues that the convergence of class and ethnicity in the ski industry has created a condition she refers to as ôethnic whiteout,ö an oxymoron in its own right as ethnicity typically refers to people of color (Coleman 144). In other words, skiing is not a sport or recreational pursuit in the U.S. that reaches out to ethnic or racial minorities; it is still, despite rapid advances in other sports once the purview of Anglo-Americans (such as tennis and golf), largely the private domain of a small group of white elites. ColemanÆs (163) main argument is that the American ski industry is an increasingly wealthy culture that excludes minorities and transforms people of color into ôinvisible workers or exotic objects of tourismö in order to appeal to wealthy whites because these patrons are less likely to want to be involved in a sport that is inclusive of minorities. Rhetorical devices such as simile and metaphor, euphemism, emotional and ethical appeals, hyperbole, allusion, and personification are employed by Coleman to illustrate her sense of the injustice reflected in the ski industry.
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etaphor makes it clear that the ski culture in the U.S. is not only white but lily-white which permits no trace of color. By using such a metaphor Coleman is reinforcing her argument that ski culture has rejected any attempts to include people of color, even if it has to reshape images and history for its own advantage.
The ski industry not only promoted its destinations in images of whiteness, but it also featured its resorts, restaurants, and clothing in such images that excluded people of color. At one point in her essay, Coleman again resorts to the rhetorical device of simile to show that ski resorts featured their non-ski offerings in images of European whiteness. This was done with clothing, rooms, food and even service and silverware. Using simile Coleman (151) writes: ôThey had all French dishesàand silverware, and the service was exactly like a small place in Chamonix or Val dÆIsere.ö Such images further reinforce the whiteness of ski resorts and their offerings, ones that necessarily exclude people of color. Such images not only serve to reinforce whiteness at the expense of ethnicity, but they are driven by the fact that whiteness is more of a marketing draw than ethnicity for those who typically have the money t
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Some common words found in the essay are:
American West, White Americans, West Ski, Tracing European, Whiteness Skiingö, Sun Valley, Europeans Scandinavians, Taos Mexico, Ukrainians Georgians, Vail Colorado, people color, ski industry, ski resorts, rhetorical device, ski tourism, unbearable whiteness, locals people, locals people color, people color coleman, american west, color coleman, rhetorical devices, unbearable whiteness skiingö, coleman resorts rhetorical, ôthe unbearable whiteness,
Approximate Word count = 2602
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)
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