who am I?
who am I?
Who am I?
Although this question plays into my social identity which are “individual and collective narratives that answer the question “who am/are I/we?,” when thinking about intersectionality this is applicable to my experience of being a second generation born Canadian (Yuval-Davis, 197). Throughout my life I’ve been called many things: “woman of colour” “Indo-Canadian” “immigrant” “visible minority” “Canadian born” “Canadian”. Despite the fact that I was born and raised in Canada (on the unceded traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations), there have been many attempts to box me into one or two of these categories.
With the popularity of the term Identity Politics as of late, I challenge you to embrace the notion that we have multiple identities and that our experiences and identities can not be answered with one word or a hyphenated word. When seen through an Intersectionality lens, one realizes that placing any of the aforementioned labels on an individual often reflect hegemonic discourses of identity politics that render invisible experiences of the more marginal members of that specific social category and construct an homogenized ‘right way’ to be its member” (Yuval-Davis, 195). For example, being labelled “ a woman of colour” throws me into a big box with other “women of colour” from all over the world, different classes, different ethnicities, and assumes once again a common shared experience and concerns. Therefore, grouping all “women of colour” together under this label trivializes the experience of the ones that are oppressed or face a disadvantage of those that are part of these categories.
My parents being immigrants once, share a different experience than me, being born in Canada, and even then “one type” of shared isn’t experienced by all immigrants in Canada. “neither are all "visible minorities" foreign - born, often both categories are perceived as almost interchangeable. Frequently, as Roxana Ng points out, the situation of Canadian - born "visible minorities" and that of "immigrants" are similar in many respects because of the race and class biases inherent in the social structure (29). Rigid definitions of race and ethnicity which do not account for the fluidity of the categories are not useful in that they mask the differences of class and location.” (didi)
I’ve always struggled with the term “Indo-Canadian.” I see myself first and foremost a Canadian, for what makes me different than a second generation born “Scottish- Canadian?” Why are they able to call themselves Canadian and I must be labelled an “Indo-Canadian.” Being labelled as such makes a large group of people’s experiences homogeneous. This label ignores that there are various different cultures within India that have immigrated to Canada, or even that South Asia compromises of various countries and languages. This is problematic, as such labels essentialize Indo Canadians. This is not to say that I deny my South Asian background, it’s just to say that I am as much of a Canadian as the second generation born Europeans.
Where are you really from?
I have had instances where I have been asked: “where are you from?” My answer has always been: “I’m from Canada,” which seemed to usually get the response of: “no! Where are you really from?” This is what we call a micro-aggression* (an act or a remark that discriminates against one or more members of a minority group, either deliberately or by mistake; from Oxford Learners Dictionary). Though I am born and raised in Canada, I am subjected to to this kind of scrutiny and doubt quite a lot. In a way, by putting me in this category of “visible minorities”, “ethnics,” immigrants and foreigners, which are “incommensurable with being “real Canadian,” I am considered an “other” in my own country (Aujla, 41). The media and other dominant representations of culture also impose stereotypical notions of culture and identity, ignoring any differences among being a second generation born South Asian or an immigrant South Asian; we are lumped together. Having said all this I do not deny that being a South Asian is part of me. Thus, I have had to deal with certain Western feminist ideas that I didn’t find applicable to my family or my mother, or even me at times. Mohanty refers to this when she says “by women as a category of analysis, I am referring to the crucial assumption that all of us of the same gender, across classes and cultures, are somehow socially constituted as a homogeneous group identified prior to the process of analysis” (Mohanty, 56).
are you going to have an arranged marriage?
Many times I have been asked: “are you going to have an arranged marriage? Are your parents going to force you to marry someone?” This in part has to do with the portrayal of South Asian women as “meek and pitiful victims of arranged marriages and abusive husbands” and it also doesn’t take into consideration the different intersectionalities of being a South Asian women (Aujla, 42).
It ignores personal experiences, thus, as a Canadian born I can only speak for myself and what my experience and history allows me to answer, which is: no I will not have an arranged marriage, while keeping in mind this is not the case for other women. In fact, even within India the question of arranged marriage often times has to do with many things including class, caste, education and not just that you are a woman from South Asia. This is in line with how sometimes western feminist view such customs like arranged marriage and as Mohanty states this is problematic because it views “that third world women are a coherent group ignoring the social factors” and often having negative connotations of being powerless and victims, as opposed to the western educated and free woman (Mohanty, 56-57). This Western feminist view on third world women still applies to me even though I’m born in Canada because often times even in Canada, the labels such as “visible minority” “immigrant” and “third world women” are used interchangeably even on me thus making the answer to who I am even more complicated and problematic.
here is a video that illustrates this all too well: CLICK HERE
*microaggression:
Research has shown that microaggressions and unconscious bias have a negative impact on mental health.
Examples of microaggression include making assumptions about people's abilities and preferences based on their race or gender.
References:
Aujla, Angela. 2000. “Others in Their Own Land, Second Generation South Asian Canadian Women, Racism and Persistance of Colonial Discourse”. Canadian Women Studies. 20.2, 41-47.
Mohanty, Chandra. 1991. ‘Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourse’ in CT. Mohanty, A. Russo, A and L. Torres, (eds), Third World Women and the Politics of Feminism, Bloomington: Indiana Press pp. 51-80.
Yuval-Davis, Nira. 2006. “Intersectionality and Feminist Politics”.European Journal of Women’s Studies. London: Sage Publications.