"still struggline with the boxes people try to put me in"... resisting the labels

The second section of this bridge we call home edited by Gloria E. Anzaldua and Analouise Keating discuss themes such as race identity and sexual identity. The section is broken in to thirteen parts. The parts consist of short stories, poems, and art created by women and men of color. The underlying connection between all works is a desire to find a place in the world where you are not questioned for what you look like and others do not assume anything of you due to your outward appearance. This section questions the function of race and indicates that accuracy was never its intended purpose. Many of the authors found that they felt the need to move through public space as if they were putting on a public performance, masking their true identity to live within a developed standard of how to act. These people feel as if their face is marked with instructions of how to be. All the while these individuals often receive contradictory messages from family and culture. In the thirteenth work a woman describes her struggle with continually being asked, “Where do you come from” due to her dark skin. She is of Arab and Cuban decent and finds answering questions tricky because she is never able to satisfy the listener to “what” she is. The fourteenth work again discusses the frustration of being racially labeled. The author finds that labeling “invites assumptions and conclusions” and feels self doubt due to her constant stress of how her race fits. The author becomes ill, unable to escape her feelings of powerlessness. The sixteenth work is written by a woman who wishes to be authentic. She is from German and Indian decent and wants to fit in and to be accepted where she was born, Germany. The nineteenth work deals with sexual identity and discusses the trauma that “queer” individuals face leading to high rates of suicide in queer teens. The author suggests we build a community and not to place people in categories of boy, girl, or other. The twentieth work also deals with sexuality but is from the perspective of a transgender individual. The author comments on how while gay is now more represented in the media, transgender does not exist in mass media. We are challenged to seek activism and social justice. The twenty-first work is a poem written by a woman who is telling you she will do whatever she needs to survive and will not feel guilty for it. The author has a take no prisoner attitude which is very empowering but throughout the piece she is defining herself with many different labels. The twenty-fourth work is a letter written by a daughter to her mother whom abandoned her. The daughter is Vietnamese and grew up in America. She is searching for answers, clinging to her Vietnamese history and her American identity hoping for her mother’s approval. This section of the book is written by individuals seeking change and equality for all. Third world feminism is brought up in this section and is defined as self-reliance while upholding traditional values of family, community, and marriage. Many of the authors struggle with this when trying to incorporate western feminism with their culture. Third world feminism allows these women to make their situations work for them. Through this section the authors had the same underlying theme that one can not leave an identity behind but one must investigate and embrace them all and the public must be willing to embrace that individual for their decisions.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1.DESCRIBE PEOPLE’S FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF YOU?

2.HOW IMPORTANT IS POLITICAL CORRECTNESS?

3.WHY DO WE FEEL THE NEED TO LABEL OURSELVES AND OTHERS?

4.IF YOU CHECKED OTHER HOW DID THAT MAKE YOU FEEL?

5.DO YOU FEEL THAT YOU BRIDGE ANY TWO CULTURES?

6.DO YOU FEEL INDIVIDUALLY REPONSIBLE TO REPESENT YOUR
CULTURE?

7. WHAT DO YOU THINK THIS PICTURE IS TRYING TO SAY ABOUT
IDENTITY?

http://www.reflectorart.com/jane/new_work/self_revealed.html