Assignment #3b

Ronak Patel

Akash Garg

WMST250: Section 0107

Ana Perez

April 22, 2008

 

The Two Sided Stories of Society

            According to the Merriam-Webster World Dictionary, the word power is defined as “possession of control, authority, or influence over others” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary).  Power is illustrated in various forms throughout our everyday lives, involving race, religion, gender, age, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, language, geographical location, etc.  When talking about power nowadays, one must also introduce the terms “marked” and “unmarked” categories, which depict the invisible and unspoken hierarchy of power within our society.  A person who belongs in the marked category is perceived as being somewhat powerless and secondary to those who belong in the unmarked category, who are seen to be the norm or generic.  Although it may seem a bit confusing, these fundamental concepts are illustrated in our lives numerous times everyday.

            Personally, marked categories are easily observed in my life, being of Indian descent.  Although it is believed that the society we live in today has overcome the issue of race and skin color, there a plenty of obstacles I face everyday because I am brown.  One very controversial obstacle is job and internship selections.  Over this past summer, I heavily pursued an internship opportunity in my area, the New York-New Jersey area.  I was very well qualified for many of the opportunities, graduating from high school with an outstanding GPA, having over 300 hours of community service, having many extra-curriculur activities, and also having past job experience.  One company, which I will keep anonymous, expressed much interest in me and called me for an interview, which I did very well in.  In addition, it turned out that my white friend from high school, Mike, who had an average GPA, a few hours of community service, no extra-curriculurs, and no prior work experience, also applied for the spot in the company.  I remember talking to him after his interview and he specifically told me that he was very nervous and did not do very well.  However, a few days later, the company called him and offered him the job, and on the other hand, they didn’t even call me to tell me that the position was offered to someone else.  I waited and waited and finally called them about a week and a half later.  All they could say was “there must have been a misunderstanding, we are truly sorry”.  I felt like I was being oppressed, because of the fact that I am of Indian descent and my friend Mike, who is part of the unmarked category in this case, is a white male.  After talking about it, even Mike couldn’t understand it; he wondered how he got the job over me even though he was extremely under qualified compared to me, and his interview did not go well either.  Not only does race play an issue in this experience, but so does geographic location.  I would be willing to bet that if we were in India applying for the same job, perhaps I’d have a slight edge over Mike, solely based on race, for the job opportunity.  In this scenario, I, being Indian, would be part of the unmarked category, and my buddy Mike would be part of the marked category, giving me an advantage in this case.  Therefore, the two underlying categories range from race as well as geographic location.

            Another personal experience, which dubs me into a marked category, is the places I lived and where I grew up.  Although I have been living in the state of New Jersey my whole life, I have lived in two very different parts of New Jersey.  For people who do not know much about the state, the state is very divided; North Jersey tends to be very urban, city-like and busy, while South Jersey tends to be a quieter, suburban, shallower place.  For the first fourteen years of my life, I lived in the city of Newark, in North Jersey, in a predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhood.  Once again, I was marked, being of Indian descent, and the unmarked category consisted of the Blacks and Hispanics.  In addition, by living in a low socioeconomic neighborhood, it was difficult to do many things and once again, people made assumptions about my family, such as low income, illegal immigrants, bad people,  etc.  Clearly, according ot the matrix of dominance, we were oppressed and part of the marked category.  In addition, later, when I moved to the rich suburbs of Princeton, New Jersey, in the southern part of the state, we faced a new dilemma.  Once again, I was a part of the marked category, being of Indian descent, surrounded by predominantly White folks, who obviously belonged to the unmarked category.  Many times, I felt I was being judged or people did not want to converse with me because I was not the “white, rich jock kid of the neighborhood”.  Of course, it leveled out later and I soon became part of the norm, unmarked category, but for the first few years, it was especially difficult adjusting to a new place and being part of yet another marked category.

            Another place where I feel race is an obstacle is at our nation’s airports.  Believe it or not, my family and I have been through numerous “random” security checks, while we literally see white passengers walk by.  Again, we are part of the marked category, being people of color, while the non-colored people are part of the unmarked category.  In addition, sex plays a key role.  Statistically, colored men are often stopped and screened more often than colored women, which puts me in the marked category of sex.  The officers conducting the “random” searches are obviously in a position of power, which we, citizens of the country, must abide by.  This is a perfect example of our society’s power and how it is influenced.  For example, one can say that because the 9/11 attackers were brown (Middle Eastern), all brown people are terrorists and therefore must be searched extensively.  According to the matrix, it is sadly true that the officers do have the power do to this.  This is a clear example of how our privileges are the effects of systematic structures in which others, people of South Asian descent, are oppressed.  Clearly, millions of colored folks around the country are sadly oppressed by this stereotype.  I believe that this is a major set back to society.

            Another aspect of my life where I am part of the marked category according to the matrix of dominance is being a member of Sigma Beta Rho, a national multicultural fraternity that is located on numerous campuses, including the University of Maryland, College Park.  Let’s face it; everyone has their perceptions and stereotypes of a frat brother, probably among the lines of a guy who gets drunk all the time, rapes drunk girls, parties way too much, doesn’t care about schoolwork, and is rich and living a good life.  These are widely believed by many, and because the majority of people are not in Greek life, this puts me into the marked category yet again.  Those who belong to the unmarked category in this case are those who are not involved in Greek life.  The fact of the matter is although many fraternities and sororities may display this image, numerous Greek lettered organizations are not like the perceived stereotype.  The fraternity has changed my life; I have numerous hours of community service because of it, it is helping me find an internship, and in addition, I am conducting fundraisers on two campuses because of the fraternity.  It has really put me into a position of power and has helped me to better myself overall, contrary to popular belief.  Still, no mater what I say, the majority of people will think I am a low, bad person because I am a frat brother.  However, the matrix of dominance can shift and I could possibly be part of the majority.  For example, there are a number of schools in the United States where Greek life is so big that over 50% of the student body participates in Greek life, as opposed to the University of Maryland’s roughly 12-15% participation.  There, I would actually be part of the unmarked category, being a part of Greek life, and the folks not involved would be part of the marked category.  Again, geographic location plays a large role in determining the categories and where one falls according to the matrix of dominance.

            Although there are many ways of how I am oppressed due to others’ privileges, I am also privileged and part of the unmarked categories in numerous ways.  The most obvious and perhaps important one that most people will address first is the fact that I am an American citizen.  There is a reknown belief that the good old United States is the best country in the world, their people are the richest people in the world, and we are all model citizens.  I have observed this many times.  This past summer, when my family went to Mexico on a vacation, this was seen almost every minute of our trip.  Middle-class Mexican workers flocked to us trying to sell goods, asking usif we needed rides, spare change, drinks, etc.  We were basically treated like royalty, even at the hotel.  After looking back at this with the matrix of dominance in mind, I realize that those poor Mexican workers are really being oppressed because of our (our meaning Americans) privileges.  The matrix of dominance explains that there are two sides to every story.  For example, if we are the wealthiest country and have the most money, another country, such as Mexico, will be a lot less better off and be poorer and perhaps suffer because of our privilege of being rich.  It is difficult to observe situations in this manner, but the fact is that this is the way it should be viewed.  This is the way Bell Hooks exclaims it as well.  Although we are extremely privileged to be Americans and are very powerful, sadly, people are oppressed because of the benefits we reap.

            Another privilege I reap at the expense of others is being a college student.  Obviously, with a college degree, I will have an enhanced opportunity to find a better job and thus be better off in life.  But once again, with respect to the matrix of dominance, not everyone can afford or go to college.  These people have a huge disadvantage compared to us.  Later, we will take all the good jobs and they will be left with mediocre ones, thus being oppressed at the expense of our privileges.  Sadly, not everyone can go to college, which gives light to marked and unmarked categories.  Us college students fall in the unmarked, while the people who cannot go to college fall in the marked categories.  It seems prevalent that the college students possess power in this scenario, while the people who do not go to college seem subordinate and powerless.

            Perhaps the most defining and obvious aspect of power is gender.  Being male, I am part of the unmarked category, while being female (wo-man) places ne in the marked category.  As much as today’s society denies it, there is a clear difference in privileges between men and women.  It seems as if being a woman puts you at a disadvantage in many areas.  Unfortunately, It is harder to get higher level jobs as women, it is more difficult for women to be respected, and it is more difficult for women to be appreciated.  We can see this everyday.  One can just look at the coming election; millions of Americans feel that they are not ready for Hillary Clinton to become the nation’s next president based on the sole fact that she is a woman.  Personally, I have asked many people who are male why they dislike Hillary as president, and right away, their response is “because she is a woman”.  These ignorant people do not take into account any of her beliefs, principles, or policies, which puts her at a huge disadvantage because she is a woman.  If everything was the same about her except if she was a male, I’d be willing to bet that she would get many more votes for the Presidency.  The people of America have the power to vote, and because Hillary is a female, they oppress her and do not even listen to what she has to say.  In addition, women ae put at a disadvantage at the workplace.  As much as companies like to deny it, it will be difficult for one to find a women in the construction industry, a woman as a CEO of a huge company, etc.  Unfortunately, they are oppressed because all the males are reaping the benefits.  Again, according to the matrix of dominance, there is two sides to every story.  This power struggle does not seem to come to an end anytime soon and can unfortunately last for a very long itme, which can be seen as good for men, but bad for women.

            Another huge and very important illustration of power through the matrix of dominance is socioeconomic class.  This determines where you live, how much money you make and spend, your lifestyle, what you eat, who you talk with, what cars you drive, etc.  It is a huge pillar of one’s life.  I have been very fortunate to live in a wealthy community in Princeton for the better part of my life.  This makes me part of the unmarked category, having money and living a good lifestyle.  However, millions of people are part of the marked category, people of the lower class who do not have much money.  In this case, money is the sole decider of what category one belongs to.  For example, right off the bat, it is quite evident that one needs to be part of the unmarked category to live in my neighborhood in Princeton.  There, everyone drives a beautiful car, has a large home, lots of land, green grass, and a perfect lifestyle.  However, a 30 minute drive to downtown Trenton depicts the people who have been oppressed because of us.  These people live in tiny one-bedroom apartment complexes, barely have any money, look gaunt, and are socially and economically depressed.  Unfortunately, we are living a lavish and rich lifestyle and therefore possess much power at the expense of these peoples’ lives.

            Throughout my lifetime thus far, I have had many personal experiences, which illustrate power, and they depict how society views its people.  Aside from the matrix of dominance and the concepts of marked and unmarked categories, the fact of the matter is that everyone is somehow different in their own unique way and unfortunately, today’s society uses these unique differences among us as ways to either hold us back in the social ladder or bring us up in the social ladder.  Many of the experiences I talked about explain how I am either looked down upon and oppressed (ie being an Indian), or how I am privileged and looked up upon (ie being an American).  It seems demeaning and inhumane to look down upon someone and consider them powerless because they are the opposite of you.  This brings up a controversial issue of how some people, especially in society today, are convinced that they are the best and others are inferior.  This view of narrow-mindedness needs to be terminated to better not only our society we live in, but also our world.  In all honesty, we should respect our differences, it makes each f us unique.  There should be no awkward reactions to things that are out of the ordinary.  Marked and unmarked categories should not be taken into account today.  Everyone is different, and we as a modern world should respect that.

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This is a series of explained experiences from one person, Ronak Patel, a young  man of Indian descent.  However, because people have different experiences, it is good to look at various people’s experiences and perceptions.  Keeping this in mind, we will now move on and look at Akash Garg’s experiences, a teenager of Indian descent.

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            In our society today, people’s lives are determined by how much power they have. This power is influenced by a myriad of things. Additionally, there are two categories that also help determine how much power we can have. These categories are ‘marked’ and ‘unmarked’. People who fall into the marked category are considered to be weaker than those in the unmarked category. They are seen as subordinate and are usually people who are different than the majority in some way. People who fall into the unmarked category are stronger than those in the marked category. They are the people who are considered ‘normal’ because they are the majority. Things that determine whether a person falls into the ‘marked’ or ‘unmarked’ categories are a person’s race, gender, class, sexuality, language, religion, nationality, and age.

            I have grown up and come to the realization that I am a part of both categories. First and most obvious is the fact that I have brown skin because I am Indian. Being Indian puts me in the marked category in the issue of race. The unmarked race is being white because the majority of people, especially in the U.S., are white. Additionally, my religion also puts me in the marked category because I am Hindu and not Christian which is the most common religion in the U.S. Apart from these two things, I am a part of the unmarked category on every other issue. I am a male, which in our society is the unmarked category. Even looking at the words male and female or man and woman it is easy to see that being a male or a man is unmarked compared to being a female or a woman. I am also part of the middle to upper class in our society and am heterosexual. I am now 18 years old and am classified as a young adult and I also speak fluent English. All of these things are part of the unmarked category here in the U.S.

            However, saying “here in the U.S.” is an important part of the idea of marked and unmarked categories. This idea is relative to geographic location and the specific situation at hand. For example, with the issue of race, in the U.S. being white means that you are part of the unmarked category because the majority of people are white. In Africa, being white would make you part of the marked category because the majority of people there are black. The whole idea of marked and unmarked is dependent on the specific situation you are looking at and the perspective from which you are looking.

            Another important point is that yes the marked category is usually seen as subordinate to the unmarked category but this is not always so. It depends on the specific situation. For example being an Indian family and going to the airport is quite an experience after the attacks on 9/11. Since then, every time my family has gone to the airport some of us get put through extensive, extra security measures. This past summer, on our trip to India, my mom, dad, and older brother were all taken aside at the security checkpoint and were thoroughly searched and questioned. They were all hand frisked and their carry-on baggage completely emptied and my mom was even asked to remove some of her clothing. In this situation, my family was placed into the marked category because of the color of our skin. My family’s forced compliance with the extra searches and questioning is an example of how little power we had in the airport. This situation is also a perfect example of outside forces in our everyday lives that limit our power as individuals. In this case, it was airport security acting as the outside force. However, looking at the situation from a different point of view allows you to see that this situation is also an example of when the marked category has more power than the unmarked. This idea has to do with the fear that my family instilled on the airport security personnel. The fact that we were able to scare airport security so much is a kind of power in itself. We might not have had the power to resist because there was no other way to get on the plane to go to where they wanted to go, but we certainly had enough power to scare airport security.

            An example of where race puts me into the unmarked category deals with my girlfriend. My family along with most Indian immigrant families is extremely traditional. In India, a person my age would not even consider having a girlfriend or boyfriend of any kind whereas, here in the U.S. it is perfectly normal and common for people my age to have girlfriends and boyfriends. In this way, from my family’s point of view I am already part of the marked category because I have a girlfriend. However, from the American perspective, having a girlfriend puts me into the unmarked category. Race becomes a factor in this example because after being in the U.S. for over twenty five years, American traditions have become more acceptable to my family. They accept the fact that I have a girlfriend, but very much prefer that my girlfriend be Indian. To them, having an Indian girlfriend would put me into the unmarked category. If I did not have an Indian girlfriend they would not accept her as readily and they would not be as happy with her. I do have an Indian girlfriend, and am therefore in the unmarked category not only in my family’s eyes but other people’s eyes as well. An interracial relationship is always marked. It may not always be marked in a bad way, but it is still always a little surprising to see an interracial relationship. This example just proves how important it is to look at the specific situation and the perspective with which you look at the situation. For me, having a girlfriend puts me in both the marked and unmarked categories depending on how you look at the situation.

            Apart from race, social class is another big factor that determines whether you are in the marked or unmarked category. I have grown up in the middle to upper class all my life. The neighborhood I now live in contains other families like mine who are a little bit better off than others. Being in the middle to upper social class, I have been placed in both the marked and unmarked categories. In the neighborhood I live in and the school I went to, the other people were like me. Before college, I went to the same school for thirteen years and grew up around the same people all my life. They were all part of the middle to upper social class like I am so being a little bit better off than others was normal for me as I grew up. In this sense, I was a part of the unmarked category. I never felt any power from being in this unmarked category. It was all I really knew, and I did not really feel better than anyone else because of it. However, over the years I have made friends with other people, people not in the same social class as me, and when they come to visit me in my neighborhood or my school, everything is so different to them. They are shocked to see big houses, long driveways, and gated communities. When this happens, I feel marked because of how different I am from them. I also feel marked because I feel a little guilty. I do not want to make a friend of mine feel like he or she is beneath me just because of the place I live in is different than the place he or she lives in. I definitely felt like I had less power than my friend because I was in the marked category. Everyone is marked or unmarked in some way or from some point of view.

            Age is another factor that determines whether someone is in the marked or unmarked category. In general the unmarked category for age is being an adult and the marked category is being a child or an old person. As a young child I always felt marked and detached from my parents and other older people. There was a time when every time I would walk into this one store that my mom always went to I would be followed by one of the workers. I never knew at the time why she always followed me around but I later realized that it was because I was young and she thought I would end up breaking something in the store. Every time it happened I felt powerless because there was nothing I could do. Being so young, there was nothing I could say or do to an adult to make her stop doing what she was doing. In this case being in the marked category did mean that I had very limited power over a person in the unmarked category. Age is a factor that clearly shows how the unmarked category can dominate the marked category. The same is true for older people. A friend of mine’s grandmother who went to an amusement park and got a senior citizen discount explained how it hurt her that just because of her age she got a discount. She felt clearly marked and powerless because of her age. Powerless because she felt that the people younger than her, the people in the unmarked category, forced their help onto her regardless of whether she wanted it or not. In these two examples, the unmarked category blatantly had more power than the marked category and abused it.

            Another thing that ‘marks’ people is the language they speak. This can be a good thing or a bad thing. For example, my parents are Indian immigrants and they have a bit of an accent. They also frequently speak in their native language, Hindi. When we go to the airport, they sometimes talk to each other or to my brothers and I in Hindi and it is another thing that ‘marks’ us in the eyes of airport staff. It is another reason why they are picked for additional searches and questioning when going through a security checkpoint. On the flip side, one time when we walked into a Dunkin Donuts, the workers heard my parents talking in Hindi and when they took our order spoke Hindi to my parents. We ended up getting a 25% discount because my parents spoke the same language as the workers. In this way, my family was marked compared to the other unmarked customers. Both scenarios are wrong, people should not be ‘marked’ or singled out because of the language they speak whether it be in a good way or a bad way. Showing favoritism to a group of people because they speak the same language of you is just another way of separating people and pushing them farther apart from others.

             In the end, I feel that the idea of marked and unmarked categories is wrong. Everyone is supposed to be treated equally regardless of race, gender, class, sexuality, language, religion, nationality, or age. Having these marked and unmarked categories is just another way to separate people. All it does is give one group more power in the world than the other. Unfortunately, it is inevitable. There will always be a majority and a minority on every issue because people simply aren’t all the same. However, I still feel that something can be done. In each of my personal examples, the marked category was always treated differently because they were marked. This is exactly what we should not do. We should not treat people differently because they are different regardless of whether it helps them or hurts them. It is not right because as the American Constitution says, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.