Chapter 5 Identity Race Ethnicity and Gender I

Chapter 5 Identity: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender

I. What is Identity, and How are Identities Constructed? • Identity- how we make sense of ourselves – Experiences, emotions, connections, & rejections • Identifying Against- define others to see “what we are not”

Race • Constructed Identity, false assumption – All “races” are biologically the same in the way that humans refer to it • Ideas of race grew out of European Colonialism – Benedict Anderson says socioeconomic classes (wealth) fueled the idea of racial superiority – Europeans used terms such as “savages, mystical, and others” leading to idea of superiority

Gender • Gender – “a culture’s assumptions about the differences between men and women: their ‘characters, ’ the roles they play in society, what they represent. ” - Domosh and Seager

What defines a Race? • Skin color, eye color, hair color? – Each of these are differences WITHIN races, not BETWEEN them • Skin color- Unreliable method of determining race – Sunlight stimulates production of melanin which darkens the skin to protect from UV rays – Dark skin means more melanin – Probably comes from generations of exposure to sun in tropical areas, nothing more

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Racism in the US • Categories of “Race” practiced through: – Residential segregation – Racialized divisions of labor – Categories of “race” recorded by the census bureau • Hispanic is now defined as an ethnicity • White/Hispanic white/non-Hispanic or black/Hispanic black/non-Hispanic

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Residential Segregation • “degree to which 2 ore more groups live separately from one another, in different parts of urban environment” • On the decline in the US everywhere & between all groups – Most segregated for African Americans: Milwaukee, Wis. – least segregated is Orange County, Cal. – Most segregated for Asians: San Francisco - least is Sulffolk (NY) & Baltimore MD – Most for Hispanics: New York City - Least is Baltimore, MD • Oklahoma is the least segregated state overall

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II. How Do Places Affect Identity, and How Can We See Identities in Places? • Sense of Place- giving meaning to a place by attaching experiences and memories

Ethnic Patterns and Process • Ethnicity is in many senses as important a category as race • Term ethnic comes from the Greek word ethnos, meaning “people” or “nation” • Racial identity is largely a matter of self-perception • Defining characteristics differ from place to place – – Shared cultural traits Common history Treasured cultural landscape Real or potential threats to language or faith • The Hutu and Tutsi are African peoples who define themselves in terms of cultural history and lifestyle, not race – so this is and ethnic conflict- not a racial one

Ethnic Spaces and Places • In America, ethnic enclaves are common – Have names such as “Chinatown, ” “Little Italy, ” or “Little Havana” etc. – Place names can record the aspirations of some of America’s immigrants – use of the word “new” • Chinatown in Mexicali- map on page 137 shows how Chinese have made huge impact in this town which was primarily Hispanic – Now cultural landscape is primarily Chinese due to businesses • Some immigrants hoped to find comparable or familiar natural environments • Ethnic Islands- certain rural ethnic groups are concentrated in environments similar to their source area • Example- Scandinavians live in Minnesota

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Advantages of ethnic community – Group identity and cohesiveness – Makes a social network – For the new arrival to the area it eases transition – A familiar language and common church – Preserves and protects customs and traditions to mutual advantage

Ethnic Conflict • Conflict is called “Ethnic” when “Racial” distinction can’t easily be made between conflicting groups • Causes and deterrents – Deterring factors • Achieving independence • Prosperity • Achieving power in government – Causes • Discrimination and lack of political power • Lack of territory • When governments seek to suppress or deny the existence of ethnic minorities

III. How do Power Relationships Subjugate Certain Groups of People? • Inequality of Gender • Economy and productivity – Women’s productivity • Their work is not included in the world’s GNP –It is unpaid –If it was counted, GNP would increase about 30%

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A woman’s unpaid labor in the periphery (less developed countries) –Produce more than ½ of all the food –Build homes, dig wells, and make clothes –Plant and harvest crops

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Sub-Saharan Africa Women probably have the hardest life Produce an estimated 70% of the food by hand labor Gather firewood from ever-increasing distances Left many times without a husband who has moved to the city § Cannot get bank loans or title to the land she works § A young girl will start working 12 hours a day as soon as she is able § Cash crops such as tea are called “men’s crops” because the men trade what the women produce § §

Women in the labor force • In the core realms from 35 -39 percent of the labor force – In Sub-Saharan Africa, nearly 80% work in agriculture – In Asia more than 50% work in agriculture • The small number working in manufacturing is rising • Many women engage in home-based economic activities – Tailoring, beer brewing, food preparation, and soap making, etc. – These Informal Activities are often the mainstay of the community • All over the world, women still face job discrimination

Politics and public life • The dominance of males – In the United States, approximately half the voters are women – In the US and Canada, women did not receive full enfranchisement- the right to vote- until 1920 – Male domination of political institutions was well established by 1920 – Not all countries have given women the right to vote – Many countries gave the right for women to vote only recently – The right to vote does not give women political power – In recent years there has been an increase of women in politics • In 2001, 14% of Congress were women – A few national leaders have been women – When women have been in power, their policies tend to emphasize equality, development, and peace

Women in India • Lisa Ling was on OPRAH! in 2004 to discuss India’s gender differences (issues at India’s local scale), taking them to the global scale – Girls are still forced into arranged marriages – Dowry deaths are on the rise • When a bride is killed because the father failed to pay the full dowry • 1985: 999 deaths, 1986: 1786 dead, 1989: 2436 dead, 2001: 7000+ dead

Cont. • Ling interviewed woman- Husband demanded $25, 000, flat screen TV, washing machine, air conditioners, refrigerators, & car • Father didn’t pay b/c husband demanded even more after they were married, husband came to hurt her & she had cell phone to call police & stop this (p. 143 picture) • Federal and state governments created legal aid offices to help women • Family courts to hear domestic cases have been created • Tend to be run by older male judges • Try to force the battered or threatened women back into the family fold • Hindu culture attaches great importance to the family structured

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Female infanticide in India • Revealed 300, 000 more girls than boys die each year- many are aborted after gender-detection tests • Many thousands of female infants are killed each year • Modern techniques of prenatal gender detection contribute far more to the imbalance between male and female • Laws prohibiting prenatal tests solely to determine sex of a fetus are being violated • Fathers want male children to see the lineage preserved – Oldest son lights funeral pyre – Tradition of dowry makes males valuable even if it is now illegal

Power Relations in Los Angeles • LA- jumped from 4% Hispanic in 1960 to 90+ percent Hispanic in 1990 in some neighborhoods • Barrioization- ethnic succession of a neighborhood from one group to another • Asians seen as “model minority” b/c they are stereotyped as prospering through peaceful means despite harassment, exclusion, and discrimination

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April 29 -30 th 1992 - LA Riots Occur • 43 dead, 2383 injured, 16, 291 arrested • Property damage over $1 billion dollars! • Media said cause was “not guilty” verdict for white officers beating Rodney King

Geographic Explanation show riots as local reactions to: • Influx of new immigrants – Replacement of ethnic neighborhoods by new ethnic groups • Changing cultural landscape – Housing conditions declining – Scarce public resources

Cont. • Myths such as “model minorities” – Many Koreans targeted during riots • Economic Downturn- loss of many jobs – Manufacturing plants closed in S. Central LA, moving out of city & country – Over 70, 000 jobs lost there in early 1980’s alone! • Police brutality simply topped off these problems to lead to violently vented frustrations