Hotel Maid Nafissatou Diallo:
Reuters Pool Photographer
Seth Wenig’s Brilliant Portrait
What I see is brilliant — a photo capturing the hotel maid, Nafissatou Diallo, looking quite alluring, actually, in this sea of headless male-male-male power suits. (And this is sick, I know, but it’s there … the guy’s hand in his pocket, far right, causing the front of his jacket to press forward just so … and she, looking away. As well, there are the hands of the man in the middle, especially the lower hand on his middle chest, conveying a sense of vanity.) The photo was taken at her settlement hearing in her civil suit against Dominique Strauss-Kahn.
Update: Thanks playera. I should have said power suits/robes. That the middle figure is the judge makes it that much more interesting. Because it’s the judge though, it makes his hand gestures less about vanity than about expressing the last word perhaps. All in all, it’s a wonderfully intriguing photo. As always, I’m interested in your further thoughts.
(photo: Seth Wenig/Pool/Reuters caption: Hotel maid Nafissatou Diallo appears in New York State Supreme Court for a hearing where a settlement in her civil lawsuit against former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was expected to be announced, in the Bronx, New York December 10, 2012. Strauss-Kahn and Diallo who accused him last year of attempting to rape her have agreed to a settlement in her civil lawsuit against him. In a court hearing in New York on Monday, Bronx Supreme Court Justice Douglas McKeon announced the two sides had reached a deal to end the litigation, but said details of the settlement, including the amount of any damages to be paid to Diallo by Strauss-Kahn, will not be made public.)
__________________________
What was
Dominique Strauss-Kahn
wearing?
Yesterday Nafissatou Diallo “agreed to settle” the civil lawsuit against prominent French politician Dominique Strauss-Kahn—she had accused him of sexual assault last year—for an undisclosed amount. Diallo has also settled a lawsuit against The New York Post. (The newspaper, without any evidence and citing “anonymous” sources, had reported that she worked as a prostitute.) After the settlement was announced, Diallo thanked the world and the skies, “I thank everybody, and I thank God.”
You know the story of Nafissatou Diallo already, and you know the story of the story, the ways in which much of the Western media, and in particular the U.S. and the French media, covered it. There’s no question who is the settler, that French guy, and who’s the native, “the African chambermaid.”
True to form, Reuters reported on Monday’s proceedings under the headline: “Strauss-Kahn, NYC hotel maid settle civil lawsuit over alleged assault.” The article names Strauss-Kahn four times, over the space of a sub-heading and three paragraphs, and names the judge in the case, Douglas McKeon, before whispering Nafissatou Diallo’s name. And here’s how Reuters introduces Nafissatou Diallo:
His accuser, Nafissatou Diallo, was present as the judge had ordered, wearing a green blouse with black pants and a gray and white scarf around her head.
Seriously? What matters is … what a woman wears? What do you think that French guy was wearing? Please, don’t answer.
The New York Times report isn’t much better, except that, thankfully, they don’t focus on wardrobe.
The AP mentions Diallo sort of quickly, in the second paragraph, and then can’t resist:
Strauss-Kahn did not attend the hearing on Monday at a Bronx courthouse. Diallo, her hair covered by a leopard-print scarf, looked composed and resolute as the deal was announced.
The Guardian as well mentions Diallo earlier, and then:
Dressed in a snow-leopard skin print headscarf and emerald blouse, she made no statement while in the courtroom. But in brief comments on the steps of the Bronx Supreme Court, Diallo, who was born in Guinea and who is the mother to a teenage girl, thanked her supporters.
The BBC actually mentioned Diallo in its second sentence, did not mention her clothing, and did end with this:
In the wake of Ms Diallo’s accusations, other women came forward with sexual assault allegations against him.
It’s worth noting that this miscoverage, a portmanteau that melds miscarriage and coverage, of this event is a fitting end to the International Human Rights Day and to the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence.
>via: http://africasacountry.com/2012/12/11/the-african-chambermaid-and-the-media-r...