With the end off Week 7 I have officially been in college for two months already (counting welcome week); I vacillate between feeling like I’ve been here for no time at all and feeling like I’ve been here for ages. It hasn’t started yet, but I’m excited for Week 8 to be over so that I can finally be done with all my midterms work. I know that AU schedules midterms over three weeks to try and reduce stress, but I feel like it just stretches out the stress and anxiety over a longer period of time. I didn’t even get to really relax over “Fall Break” because I have three midterm projects. . .
Anyway, today I just wanted to briefly discuss my feelings on identity and the intersectionality of multiple (marginalized) identities within society. Identity is something that I’m always thinking about, and questions of identity have plagued me for as long as I can remember. The glasses example that we did in class was a microcosm of the decisions that I have to make every time I introduce myself. I am a Chinese immigrant (but not like a FOB [Fresh off the Boat]); I am Chinese-American (but also an adoptee with white parents); I am a Chinese adoptee (but also not ethnically Chinese). Everything that I say or don’t say has its own connotations in the way that I am perceived by others, and so I must make decisions that I think will be most beneficial, while also not trying to “hide my authentic self” and alienate other aspects of my identity, while also not blabbing my whole life story to everyone because truthfully the guy chatting me up at the bus stop does not need or deserve to know the intimate details of why my parents wanted to adopt me. People with contacts had to make a decision of which part of their identity was stronger: having glasses, or the appearance of not having glasses. In that choice is the anxiety of double-consciousness and having to actively cultivate your identity, but also strength in being able to understand multiple facets of identity. Truthfully, it was a bit disheartening how quickly people in the glasses group were willing to tout their own superiority. Of course it was all said in jest, but at the same time I couldn’t help but wonder if it was a deeper representation of how quickly identities and superiority complexes can be formed and internalized. There is something extremely primal and intrinsic about identities- you physically are or you aren’t a race by virtue of your birth (no Rachel Dolezal, “transracial” is not a thing outside of the adoptee community), yet race, ethnicity, and nationality are also at the same time completely arbitrary concepts that society gives value to. Of course we are all born a certain way, but it is the actions that take place afterwards that really define how we understand, internaliz, and interact with those innate characteristics. My birth parents are some kind of ethnicity which they have passed on to me; regardless of that I don’t know my birth parents and thus was raised believing myself to be Zhuang (a Chinese ethnic minority). What I was raised to be does not change what I am per se, but it does show how arbitrary identity classifications can be. A Han Chinese person born and raised in China and a Chinese-American person will all experience the same racism in America - the people shouting “Ramen!” at me out of their car in Bethesda honestly couldn’t have cared less whether I was Chinese-Chinese or Chinese-American - however the way that we think about and feel that racism will be different. The Chinese-Chinese person will maybe be annoyed and then move on with their life knowing that this racism does not severely impact their future or their standing in “society” (because to them the important society is not American society, but Chinese society). There is no “double-consciousness” here. To the Chinese-American however, this racism reinforces how no matter what they do or how they think and feel about themselves, they still will not be accepted into American society. Then given this, should the Chinese-American try to integrate himself into American society or Chinese society, knowing that neither will truly accept him? That is the bind of being a racial minority in the US, and that is what creates the double-consciousness. Even if others feel aspects of oppression, they will not necessarily gain double-consciousness. That distinction needs to be made clear in order to really understand the complexities of racial categories and racial discrimination. Why can’t white people experience racism and double-consciousness the way people of color can? Because racism is systematic oppression due to your race that stems from institutionalized imbalances of power. You may have been bullied or felt weird being a “minority” in a school filled with POC, but at the end of the day you are supported by a society where people like you are represented on TV, in the police force, and making laws which benefit you. Therefore, you cannot feel double-consciousness because of your race. This is not to say that American POC are inherently “woke” or are somehow “morally superior” due to having to contend with racial oppression or double-consciousness, or that people in the dominant culture do not deal with problems. It is only to say that racial minorities must deal with these problems in addition to the problems experienced at all levels of society such as sexism, classism, or homophobia. Originally I did not mean to make this post as long as it is here, but all of this has weighed on my mind heavily since class on Thursday. I look forward to exploring these ideas more as we continue on throughout the semester.
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W. E. B. Du Bois introduces the notion of the "double consciousness" as part of his discussion of the experience of freed slaves and their descendants in the United States. How specific in applicability is this concept? Do other groups experience the same, or at least a similar, sort of of "double consciousness," either in the United States or elsewhere? Is Du Bois' concept helpful for an understanding of other societies and other experiences, beyond the United States?
W.E.B. Du Bois describes double-consciousness as “a peculiar sensation. . .this sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity”. Although he originally used it to refer to the black, newly-freed slave’s experience, I do think that other marginalized groups in America and beyond do also have similar varied experiences with this concept. As Enloe’s “Margins, Silences, and Bottom Rungs” discussed, no matter where you go in the world there exist hierarchies which prioritizes one group above others, centralizing that groups needs, desires, and experiences while relegating all others to the wayside, the margins. The habits of the dominant group defines societal norms, standards, and expectations, and becomes the standard to which all others are judged. This creates systems of privilege and inequality. Those in the dominant group, as Blake brought up in class, do not need to be aware of or acknowledge the struggles of others. They can choose to ignore inequality if they want, and that in and of itself is privilege. However minorities (racial, ethnic, religious, etc.) are forced everyday to contend with the realities and limitations that exist as a result of marginalization. Minorities are stripped of their individuality and must instead always represent something else. Minorities are divergent, and their very existence is a political statement against the standard. For example, as a Chinese immigrant taking a Chinese politics class, I am not allowed to simply have my own opinions. If I say something more neutral or perhaps “favoring” China (even if my reasoning is objective), people will say that I have those opinions just because I’m Chinese and therefore I must subscribe to a certain set of beliefs (pro-communist, anti-democratic, etc.). In order to be respected and have people listen to my opinion as my opinion, I first must work to convince others of my knowledgeability and competence. Others may not have these initial barrier. There are innumerable examples of these types of double-standards in the US and beyond. In each of these cases, the marginalized is always made acutely aware of what they are lacking. All of these seeks to control the narrative, your body, and your life (yet another way of maintaining pre-existing hierarchies). If you conform to stereotypes and assumptions, you are allowing the mainstream directly control your life and personal narrative. However if you don’t conform to the stereotype you have to a.) deal with societal ramifications such as judgement and b.) consider why you’re not conforming. If not conforming is simply a reaction to being told to conform in the first place, then isn’t that still letting the opinions of the mainstream control you? This goes back to the reality of living in a world where dominant cultures exist and everything in society is catered to the comfort of said dominant culture. It is this awareness that forms the “double-consciousness” that DuBois talks about. DuBois’ concept of “double consciousness” is useful as a way to identify these accompanying feelings and get everyone on the same page so that they can have productive dialogue about the issues and then hopefully develop ways to solve them. |
KateHi, I'm Kate! I'm from Madison, WI and am planning on majoring in SIS focusing on East-Asia China. I like practicing kung fu, listening to music, and drinking bubble tea. Archives
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