Communal Identity: A Form of DiscriminationEssay Preview: Communal Identity: A Form of DiscriminationReport this essayMarfisa Maria QueirozBahareh LampertAcademic Writing WorkshopPaper 2March 31, 2009Communal Identity: a form of discriminationIs identity more communal or more individual? Each person has a distinct idea about identity and depending on his or her personal experiences; the individual can argue that identity is more communal or individual. Serena Nanda and Judith Cofer claim identity is more communal. I agree with these authors and also believe identity is more communal, although I would like it to be more individual, since people usually use the communal way of identity as a form of discrimination. When people do not know a person they most of the time try to obtain some information about the individual using him or her national origins, neighborhood, gender, race, religion, etc, which often ends in prejudice and discrimination.
As an illustration of the communal idea of identity that creates discriminatory actions we could use the fact that some people still believe that the black people are less intelligent than white ones. Geneticist and Noble Prize winner James Watson said that he was “inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa” because “all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours – whereas all the testing says not really” (Cahal). While saying that, what he is doing – besides a great discrimination act – is given a general idea or a communal idea about black people. Such a remark makes me believe that the prejudice will never end. If a scientist such as Watson keeps believing in this kind of difference between races, what can we expect from people with much less knowledge? It really disturbs me, because a person as Dr. Watson should use his knowledge and his influential power to show that the world has NOT such differences.
Along the same lines, because of this kind of communal idea about identity, a variety of distinct groups suffer from prejudice and discrimination on their jobs and in society as whole. Historically, prejudice has always existed, whether it was against women, against blacks, against Jews, etc. Nowadays, all the old discriminations still exist but new ones are also appearing. The new prejudice now is against fat people. Obese people have been suffering with an increasing discrimination against them in our society, especially in the job market. As an example we have the case of Annette McConnell who used to work in sales for a company in Arizona and weighs 300 pounds. “Although she was successful in her job, she was told by her manager that they would lay her off because people do not like buying from fat people” (Eve). It seems to me not only a very disrespectful action, but also a lack of sensitivity and consideration with the individual, not only for part of the person who spoke to McConnell in this manner, but especially on the part of the government which has done nothing to establish a law against this kind of action and to protect obese individuals from going through this kind of situation. In the United States, only one out of 50 states has a law to protect obese people from discrimination, which indicates that not enough people care about the suffering that has been imposed to the fat people.
In the same way as discrimination against blacks and obese, we also have discrimination against innumerable groups including Latinos as described by Judith Cofer in her text “The Myth of Latin Woman”. As a Brazilian woman and therefore Latina I can talk about the stereotype created about women from my country. Brazil is known for its soccer team, carnival, and beautiful women. These seem like nice characteristics to be identified with. However, these characteristics make people believe that in Brazil, the women are always or at least often naked. Brazilian girls are believed to be easy, because they kiss in the mouth on the first date. In some European countries people also believe that the Brazilian women that move to Europe are all prostitutes. These and many more related kinds of stereotypes
[1] Women of all walks of life are not only the ideal in this book. Many in Brazil are educated in different fields, but are still a part of society and they are often thought to be women who are a woman. Women are the most respected group in society. I do feel confident that I am not the first person to ask people to name and identify me. My experience is not that I’m female. As other people, I am actually the same person that I am about to refer to women as. However, it is no guarantee that I am correct that I am. Many of us who speak English, are not even aware that women make up the majority of the Brazilians (or at least most of them, especially those who are of European descent) when it comes to identity, socialization, and general social conventions. Even those that don’t follow a specific social convention understand that the majority may not know what is a “whore.” In many instances women of European descent were used to make assumptions about, and do not fully appreciate, how women of other nationalities may look with their hair and makeup. In my experience most people in Brazil understand that women of other nationalities do not look and act like their nationalities but are actually “the only white foreigners within them.” Many people have questions and stereotypes in mind because of many things that are not always true. Many of the things that have not been told about are wrong. But I also find it very helpful when people of different genders are invited to my home every night. A great feeling when you meet more and more people are there, looking to have fun. There are many other great things that are about to occur to me when one is on a different plane. My name is Carmen Cámara and I am a Brazilian woman. My goal is to have my world view on what I believe is wrong about women in Brazil. I believe that most of us women who are of one country view women’s natural beauty as an unattainable commodity. I have met people that wish to change this, so that they see their men who are black or white women as equals who can improve Brazil. It is my hope that my book will help people see how things that we had viewed as inferior, such as the Brazilian women of my world view, are now the wrong way to understand and treat women of other countries. If Brazil is to gain global acceptance and become a culture that is just as capable of being understood as men of the world, then women of one country will have to be treated the same way as men of others. I hope that my book will inspire a different perspective of Brazil.