The Tenderloin, early 20th Century

The Tenderloin, a high-class brothel, is the first home Ernest Young finds. Since the Tenderloin is a place that accepts the girls excluded from society, the brothel operates outside of society’s norms and accepts Ernest completely. Ernest feels that the opulent appearance of the Tenderloin suggests a world of possibility. However, despite the good working conditions and glamorous decor of the Tenderloin, the brothel is still a place where women sell their bodies for money and men reduce the humanity of women to that of a commodity.

Seattle's World's Fair, 1909 and 1962

The 1909 Seattle’s World’s Fair represents the superiority of American civilization by displaying its technological innovations and creating oppositions between America and its “others.” The white American fairgoers are contrasted with exhibits that highlight and exotify the racial difference of Indigenous peoples. Ernest is raffled off at the fair, making him...