Bobby Noble "Our Bodies Are Not Ourselves" & 8 Mile

8 Mile - Final Battle - Eminem VS Papa Doc (HD Video & Audio)

In his book chapter entitled, "Our Bodies are Not Ourselves", Bobby Noble compares the idea that the movie "8 Mile" articulates a cultural parallel between gender, FtM trans-sexual men, and racial disparity regarding the notion of whiteness. Noble states that the film "works against the deconstructive labour of our frameworks", meaning that Eminem's character fights against a reversed system of racial discrimination, because he is considered to be "white trash", thus turning the usual racial paradigm of whites being the oppressors on it's head (96). In the film, the ruling majority are the African American rappers that control the record label and freestyle rap battles, and then go on to trade their power as social currency within that community. Eminiem's character Rabbit, can only appropriate his whiteness as a defense against such discrimination to earn respect and win the battle (as depicted in the video clip above), at the end of the movie. Noble analyzes this cinematic reference and extrapolates a similar argument for the FtM trans community as,"...the labour of making oneself--indeed becoming a man--is fraught with responsibilities that go with the territory whether we know it or not"(96). Noble concludes his thought with questioning, "how much of ourselves do we sell with intention and more how much we are willing to articulate our bodies against the hegemonic bargain offered to us...that is the measure of the privilege of masculinity without also being The Man"(96). In these statements, Noble offers a compelling argument that underscores the idea that appropriating racial culture and appropriating gender are very similar undertakings within our culture. The "last battle" scene in 8 mile shows exactly how Rabbit takes back his whiteness (and to some extent his masculinity, too) from the hegemony of the African American "Free World" rappers.

Noble, Jean Bobby. Sons of the Movement FtMs Risking Incoherance on a Post-queer Cultural Landscape. Toronto: Women's, 2006. Print.

8 Mile. Universal, 2003. Film.