Personally speaking, I could easily answer this question in one sentence. By which I would onwards to state that color is the distinction that we make as individuals in order to develop an understanding between someone’s race. However, after watching the interviews and reading the articles about Rachel Dolezal, I can make it safe to say that there is more where this answer is derived from. The idea or concept of race or gender anthropologically, has been predetermined for centuries on end. However, with progression in time and societies we as individuals are embarking upon newer eras where we are able to be more fluid and understanding as we attempt to develop a deeper understanding of characteristics such as race and gender. For example, we all are humans however during the civil rights movement here in the United States of America, it can be safe to say that race was a discriminating factor that segregated what would end up being two separate parties divided by race. Similarly enough, the idea such as gender is also something that historically evolved slowly yet surely. Most people can be quick to recall the “we can do it too” propaganda that was used during the women’s rights movement here in the United States as well. Today we have evolved yet, remained the same as a society. In terms of visual cues many can be quick to jump to the historic stereotypes of men being burly and strong while females are more – so housewives and frail individuals that need to be taken care of at all times. Well, if we look at today’s society it can be safe to say that the criteria behind racial and gender identities have been more fluid than they ever have been before. The ideas or concepts behind the aspects and characteristics of an individual have been continually evolving over the course of time. Therefore, when it comes time to discuss how we as individuals use visual cues to determine one’s race and or gender, an answer that has been consolidating upon itself appears.
To answer the first immediate question regarding the visual cues one can use to determine an individual’s race or gender, an old saying must be devised: one can never judge a book by its cover. Today, this slogan holds true perhaps now more than ever before. The ideals in place and with the varieties of way by which we as individuals are able to identify ourselves whether it be by gender, race, age, sexuality etc. allow for a newer and broader minded society. As a result of this, I personally do not think there are any general cues we can use at this state of society. With this being said however, there are some principles that can still be held in play such as brown skinned individuals being referred as black people while fairer skinned individuals are referred to as white people. However, after watching the interview of Rachel Dolezal, it can be safe to say that even these “cues” are slowly diminishing from society as well. The interviewer brought up an interesting point in my opinion, through which she was able to mention, “Do you realize that your statements may enrage other people…… specifically black women?”. This was a question posed to Rachel, through which I personally did not find her response adequately addressing the question as a whole. However, nonetheless we are working towards developing a bigger piece of the puzzle as she explained how her lifestyle and parts of her childhood shaped the way she moved on in her life to consider herself as a black person. After seeing her interview and reading the articles surrounding it, I had come to realize my answer for the second question.
To generalize the second question, it more or less questions how I perceive individuals around me (in regards to race and gender). To this I can also say upbringing, however I can also demonstrate that a lot has changed within my opinions over the course of understanding these concepts of identifying individuals. For starters, there will always be standard ideas such as blue for boy and pink for girls, or girls with longer hair and shorter at times than guys. Similarly enough, on the racial aspect, brown skinned people are black, fair skinned people are white. This is a sense of recognition that has developed over the several years of my existence as I continue to adapt to the environment and societies that surround me. However, this also works to shape how I perceive people today on the whole. Through which, I ultimately believe that we should perceive an individual the way they want to be perceived. We might have interesting thoughts, questioning their opinion on their appearance or who they are in general. However as liberal thinkers of an ever – growing society it is slowly becoming more and more imperative that we think and view individuals with an open mind and a big heart. I personally did not agree with Rachel’s answers in her interview, however if she chooses to represent herself in such a fashion, the best I can do is to smile an respect where we are coming from as this is the only way we can continue to grow and evolve as a society. Ultimately, evolution continues to bring change for better or worse.
Interestingly enough the concept of gender as we know it and understand it, is actually rather new. Gendered lines and divisions of labor were a lot more skewed a few hundred years ago, and it wasn’t until the Victorian era that gender lines became so distinct, at least in the US and Europe. Likewise, the roles and jobs that men and women were supposed to occupy changed a lot over time as well. Originally factory work was considered women’s work, since working on the line was considered emasculating.
The same with race, the concept of race has only been around for maybe 250 maybe 300 years at most in the US. Prior to slavery in the United States there was not a distinction made between people based on skin color, but instead it was on cultural belonging. Even now when we do identify people based on race it isn’t so cut and dry. In the early eighteen hundreds we used to classify race based on the one drop rule and an individual who was 1/32th black was still black even if they looked white, and I know some mixed race individuals who have white written on their birth certificate even though they look like they’re black.
Over time these two concepts have been in a constant state of flux and evolution, and remain considerably different in different cultural contexts. Brazil has over sixty different racial classifications, some Native Americans recognize up to five different genders, and there are some tribes in New Guinea where men aren’t allowed to make political decisions because they are too emotional.
Thank you for sharing your opinion on Rachel Dozeal’s interview and this week’s material. I decided to comment on your blog post because I chose to write about Caitlyn Jenner this week so your post was very different from mine, and I was also really intrigued by what you wrote. I agree with what you said about the fact that we should perceive an individual the way they want to be perceived. Our world is growing more complex in terms of how people identify themselves as each year goes on; it is not as simple as looking at someone and defining who they are anymore. Do you think that our society is starting to come to terms with this idea as time goes on or do you think social media sort of amplifies identifying each other with visual cues rather than for the person that they feel that they are inside?