In this video by Hunger Games actress, Amandla Stenberg, she and her classmates break down the concept of cultural appropriation and black culture for a school project. Stenberg begins by explaining the functionality of cornrows for black men and women and the usage of them in popular, rap culture. Stenberg also points out that over time black culture and hip hop became pop culture. This lead to feuding among artists like Azealia Banks and Iggy Azalea, with Banks accusing Iggy of taking on Black culture, and yet not being there when it actually mattered, like in times of police brutality. Towards the end of her video, Stenberg poses the question, “What would America be like if we loved black people as much as we love black culture?”
intersectionality
Odd Couples
Human beings strive for relationship and companionship. It is in our nature. Most people tend to bond with others based on the premise of similarity. This is not always the case however. In her work Odd Couples: Friendships at the Intersection of Gender and Sexual Orientation Anna Muraco takes a look at specific types of relationships: those crossing gender and sexual orientation boundaries. “Odd Couples examines intersectional friendships between gay men and straight women and between lesbian men and straight men to show how these friendships serves as a barometer for shifting social norms, particularly with respect to gender and sexual orientation”.[1]
Muraco examines the relationships between opposite-sex, opposite-orientation adults through various interviews with 26 friendships dyads and triads in the San Francisco Bay Area.[2] More specifically, she, “relied on the participants’ self-identification of being in a close intersectional friendship as sufficient to include them during the study.”[3] From there, she asked participants to explain what they believe it means to be a close friend. Muraco has a multitude of reasons for desiring to study the friendships between opposite-sex, opposite-orientation individuals. For one, she believes that previous studies about the same topic do not examine these relationships thoroughly or not in the same way that she desires to; that “A gap exists in social science research […]”.[4] This gap is due to the fact that friendships are more often studied in youth and young adults rather than adults. Another reason for Muraco’s desire to examine friendship groups was the desire to understand whether or not sexual orientation mitigated inequality between men and women.[5] There has been prior research on this question, however, as Muraco points out, the prior research has not answered the question as to whether or not the absence of sexual tension and romance allows for more egalitarian relationships. Neither has it answered whether or not gender norms will still apply in these relationships.[6] Not only does this research by Muraco answer these questions, but it also challenges the concept of compulsory heterosexuality introduced by Adrienne Rich.[7]
Although lack of previous research motivated Muraco to write Odd Couples, she began to examine intersectional relationships by looking at her own relationship and the relationships of those around her. Her best friend of over twenty years identifies as gay, while Muraco herself is straight. As time went on and pop culture changed, Muraco began to notice the similarities between her own relationship with Mike and other relationships that they were exposed to. One example of a pop culture item to which Muraco and Mike related was the 90s sitcom Will and Grace, which detailed the lives of a gay man and a straight woman who were best friends. After noting the similarities between herself and “Grace” and Mike and “Will”, Muraco began to find other friendships similar to her own in films like My Best Friend’s Wedding, The Next Best Thing, and The Object of My Desire.[8] However, while Muraco knew of relationships between lesbian women and straight men, their portrayal was lacking in comparison to that of gay men and straight women.[9] Muraco’s curiosity about why there was less of a portrayal of friendships between lesbian women and straight men spawned her examination of intersectional friendships and eventually led to Odd Couples.
In the area of organization of her argument, Muraco uses each of her chapters to examine a different aspect of intersectional friendships. In her introduction, Muraco provides background into her study; how she came upon the topic and how it was conducted. From there Muraco sets up further background of her own study by examining friendships as a whole and friendships that cross differences. In the second chapter of Odd Couples Muraco introduces the reader to three of the friendship dyads she encountered, Vanessa and Bruce, Emily and Patrick, and Scott and Ruth. These relationships are focused on because they highlight some of the common themes featured in the other dyads and triads presented as the book progresses.[10] One of the benefits of an intersectional friendship is featured in the relationship between Emily (a lesbian woman) and Patrick (a straight man); Patrick reveals that the fact that Emily is a woman allows him to be vulnerable with her than he would with other males, defying gender norms.[11] Ruth and Scott’s relationship shows the common themes that while intersectional friends may care deeply for one another, they do have their struggles.[12] The relationship between Bruce and Vanessa shows another theme common in the other intersectional friendships; the fact that they often form out of common interests and bonds.[13] Muraco challenges the notion that blood is thicker than water in the third chapter, which focuses on how friendships can serve as a secondary family. For example, one of the friendships Muraco looks at is between Brenda and Dan, who met while they were in college. Brenda, a butch lesbian, lives with Dan and his wife Rosie and their children. They all pitched in to buy a home together.[14] This strengthens the notion that “intersectional friends were better or truer forms of family than their families of origin […]”[15]. As the chapter continues, Muraco also discusses child rearing in intersectional friendships and marriage. Gender norms and identities are discussed in the fourth chapter of the book. In the relationship between Mark and Christina, it is clear that Mark, a gay male, lives vicariously through Christina, by commenting on her appearance and with the advice that he gives her. In this way, Muraco believes that gay men have a tendency to reinforce the beauty norms that straight women face. Christina suggests that perhaps gay men have the desire to be women. [16] Other women in this chapter refers to themselves as gay men living in the bodies of straight women, this is to say that they identify with the culture their friends are involved in, recognize similarities in marginalized positions, or they feel more masculine than their female counterparts. The lack of sexual tension between intersectional dyads also allows for more openness between the friends.[17] In the fifth chapeter, Muraco talks about how sexuality and sexual orientation factor into intersectional friendships. One example of this is how intersectional friendships can tend to begin to resemble heterosexual, romantic partnerships. This was the case between two friends, Jill and Paul.[18] Also to be noted in this chapter was that in relationships across sexuality and gender were said to have less sexual tension than, say a friendship between two gay males.[19] Muraco examines the politics of intersectional friendships in the sixth chapter. She looks at the way these relations tackle compulsory heterosexuality, and how gay men and lesbians expand their horizons by interacting with straight men and women and how the opposite is true. It also leads to more comfort in general when it comes to being with those of a differing sexual orientation.[20] In her conclusion relates her study to what is next for intersectional friendships as the climate towards gay and lesbian individuals changes. Muraco specifically states, “In this final section, I address how we can look to intersectional friendships as a model for postmodern relationships and political alliance and discuss the shifting social contexts to influence the future of intersectional friendships”.[21]
One area of strength in this work is that Anna Muraco well situates herself well within the other research completed on similar topics. She thoroughly explains where other studies are lacking, and where her study fills the gaps. However, one weakness in her argument and the way that her study is formatted is that she seems to try to overuse some studies; they crowd the point that she is trying to make.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading Anna Muraco’s Odd Couples: Friendships at the Intersection of Gender and Sexual Orientation. I thought that her observation about the lack of representation of lesbian/straight male relationships was astute as well. I would recommend this book to those who are in an intersectional relationship like some of the ones described or to people who are not and desire to learn more about intersectional relationships.
Bibliography
Muraco, Anna. Odd Couples: Friendships at the Intersection of Gender and Sexual Orientation. Durham: Duke University Press, 2012.
[1]Anna Muraco, Odd Couples: Friendships at the Intersection of Gender and Sexual Orientation (Durham: Duke University Press, 2012), LOC 94
[2]Murano, Odd Couples, LOC 243
[3]Murano, Odd Couples, LOC 221
[4]Murano, Odd Couples, LOC 157
[5]Murano, Odd Couples, LOC 178
[6]Murano, Odd Couples, LOC 178-188
[7]Murano, Odd Couples, LOC 146
[8]Murano, Odd Couples, LOC 83
[9]Murano, Odd Couples, LOC 94
[10]Murano, Odd Couples, LOC 766
[11]Murano, Odd Couples, LOC 862
[12]Murano, Odd Couples, LOC 960
[13] Murano, Odd Couples, LOC 1066
[14] Murano, Odd Couples, LOC 1189
[15] Murano, Odd Couples, LOC 1269
[16]Murano, Odd Couples, LOC 1672-1683
[17]Murano, Odd Couples, LOC 1846
[18]Murano, Odd Couples, LOC 2186
[19]Murano, Odd Couples, LOC 2209
[20]Murano, Odd Couples, LOC 2502
[21]Murano, Odd Couples, LOC 3002
*The reasoning behind the use of location number rather than page number is due to the fact that this work was viewed on a Kindle.
A Review of Racial Castration: Managing Masculinity in Asian America
During my Davidson career, I have become increasingly interested in Asian American Studies. For my book review, I decided to take advantage of the flexibility of the topic and expand on my knowledge in the subject. In Racial Castration: Managing Masculinity in Asian America, David L. Eng creates the argument that race and sexuality are connected. Eng supports his argument by analyzing the subject of Asian American masculinity. By applying psychoanalytic theory to literary works, Eng shows that race and sexuality cannot be separated from each other. Overall, his argument brings new insight to the subject of Asian American masculinity and also Queer studies, but a couple writing decisions that Eng makes prevent full comprehension of the topic.
Firstly, Eng analyzes two works, China Men and Donald Duk, that question the historical photo of the “Golden Spike” ceremony, the event where the east and west sides of the transcontinental railroad were connected. In the photo, the Asian American workforce was not represented, rendering their work and the lives lost invisible. Eng begins his analysis with a deconstruction of photographs as a medium of information and connects them to gaze, look, and screen from the Four Fundamental Concepts of Psycho-Analysis. I believe, however, that this connection required too much explanation. While the information is applicable to China Men and Donald Duk, it isn’t necessary to be able to understand the analysis and arguments made in the rest of the book.
In Donald Duk, Frank Chin tells the story of a boy, Donald Duk, who at first rejects his Chinese American culture, but eventually grows to embrace it. Eng uses psychoanalysis to come to the conclusion that Donald Duk’s dreams provide him an outlet to escape societal structure. Through his unconsciousness, Donald Duk is able to connect with his Chinese culture and is eventually able to bring this connection to his conscious state. Eng, however, criticizes Chin’s vision for the Asian American identity for excluding Asian American women and gay men.
Next, Eng analyzes the primal scene in “The Shoyu Kid” by Lonny Kaneko. The story takes place in a Japanese concentration camp during World War II. Itchy, looking for the Shoyu Kid, finds him being sodomized by a white, male camp guard. This causes Itchy and his friends to lash out and denounce Japanese culture and homosexuality. Eng relates this scene to how people react to Asian American sterotypes of homosexuality and femininity. He criticizes this reaction, saying that, “Psychic Salvation for the Asian American male cannot be the monopoly of a masculinist compulsory heterosexuality” (Eng 136). Eng again challenges society’s view on race through the lense of sexuality.
Eng narrows her scope in her analysis of M. Butterfly by David Henry Hwang, looking at Gallimard’s racialized homosexuality. In this play, Gallimard has an affair with Song Liling. Even though Song is male, his Oriental identity prevents Gallimard from seeing Song’s penis. Eng explains this phenomenon of misgendering Song through Freud’s theory of the divided ego. Freud’s psychoanalytic theory is usually used to describe female castration, in which men will fetishize a part of a woman, such as her hair, in order to project a substitute of a penis onto her. Gallimard’s situation however, is an occurrence of racial castration. Gallimard’s reverse fetishism of Song’s asian identity projects Song as a female, even though his penis is clearly visible. Eng believes that this is possible due to the situation’s commonality with traditional power relations. In Gallimard’s relationship with Song, the white male is in the same dominant position as a traditional relationship between a white male and female. Eng argues that M. Butterfly portrays the silent oppression of compulsory heterosexuality and whiteness and that the key to eliminating their power is to make them visible.
In Racial Castration, Eng also addresses the Asian American phenomenon of male hysteria. Hysteria, understood to predominantly be experienced by women, occurs when the emotions that come from the refusal to accept a societal position cannot be explained through language and are thus expressed through the body. Freud attempts to explain the possibilities of male hysteria, but is unable to due to his positionality. Eng clams that, “in a patriarchal world, the presence of the male hysteric would paradoxically imply the refusal of that male subject to occupy a symbolic position that prizes his social role above those of all others” (177). Male hysteric, however can be theorized in the case of Asian American men due to systemic oppression. Hysteria occurs in Asian American men when they refuse to play the role of the emasculated man. Eng gives an example of such hysteria in Eat a Bowl of Tea by David Wong Louie. When Ben Loy is finally able to bring his wife from China to the U.S., he is unable to consummate their reunion due to his impotence, revealing his lack of power and masculinity.
While Asian American male hysteria was caused by Yellow Peril and its exclusion acts, Eng claims that the Model Minority myth also causes the same issue of hysteria. He labels the psychological burden of the myth, “internal exile”(199). By attempting gain acceptance and achieve assimilation by living out the Model Minority myth, Asian Americans are making personal sacrifices toward a lost cause. Eng refers to “Birthday” by Louie for his analysis of the model minority myth, which feels out of place in his argument due to the lack of psychoanalysis. This ultimately makes his connection between Yellow Peril in the Myth more of a mention than a strong argument.
In his last section on male hysteria, Eng refers to Pangs of Love once again, but this time to address the hysteria that could occur in the queer community. Bagel is a gay Asian American that lives with three other gay men who are white. In their house, everything is white. The only thing that isn’t is Bagel. Not only is he Chinese American, but his muscle tone, and his colored clothes make him out of place in the environment as well. Eng states that: This is a queer affiliation, which demands the imitation of whiteness but ultimately finds this imitation intolerable” (201). While Bagel identifies as queer, his surroundings symbolize the white, silent denial of assimilation into the queer community.
Eng concludes his book with the subject of queerness and diaspora. In his epilogue, Eng increases the scope of his discussion and proposes that the intersection of queerness and diaspora with Asian American studies should be addressed in scholarly conversation. She states that the knowledge jurisdiction of Asian American studies is expanding using post- 1965 Asian immigrant communities as an example, as most of their identity was created outside of the United States. I think that Eng is arguing that as knowledge continues to extend outside of the United States, a diasporic approach needs to be taken towards analysis.
Eng also addresses the argument of whether or not to place a hyphen between, “Asian American.” Eng sees the hyphen as a symbol of repression and believes that it should be omitted: “the elimination of the hyphen from this term clams not only psychic but also spatial entitlement to Asian American membership within the larger U.S. national collective” (211). Eng appears to be referring to a previous debate about the subject, but seeing that this book was published in 2001, I am too young to remember this academic conversation and will have to do further research to understand it.
While Eng uses the epilogue to present many questions, by doing so explicitly he makes it difficult for the reader to differentiate which ones will be answered later in his discourse. This leads to paragraphs that contain nothing but questions, breaking the reader’s attention. Ultimately, Eng’s approach to raising questions takes away from the structure and message of his closing remarks.
Finally, Eng analyzes Rolling the R’s by R. Zamora Linmark to show the power of intersecting queer and Asian American perspectives: “Indeed, Linmark extends this project to its imaginable limits by bringing together the model minority myth with the image of the flaming Filipino faggot” (227). Through Linmark’s work, Eng believes that the combination of identities, “allows this explosion and reworking of stereotypical images and categories” (228). In conclusion, Eng achieves her objective in Racial Castration and starts the conversation of how race and sexuality can bring valuable insight to the subject of Asian American masculinity.
Works Cited
Eng, David L. Racial castration: managing masculinity in Asian America. Duke University Press, 2001.
Orange is the New Black: An Analysis of Female Sexuality
Orange is the New Black is a Netflix original TV show that details life in Litchfield Correctional Facility, a prison. Based off of the popular memoir by the same name, the show follows the main character Piper Chapman as she goes through the process of being sent to prison and her life before and after. While Piper is a young, educated, white woman, many of the other characters are people of color or are of various ages and backgrounds. The show has been praised for its portrayal of LGBTQ characters as well. While the show’s main purpose is to entertain, seen in the humor that is always present, it also aims to teach lessons and showcase different aspects of life that the inmates often face. This can be seen through the moral dilemmas that the inmates often face and the things that they learn about themselves and those around them.
As a whole, this show tackles many issues including race relations, power struggles, religion, love, and, as portrayed in the scenes provided, female sexuality. Often in the show, there is a division among the races; all the black inmates live near each other, the white inmates eat lunch together, and the Latina inmates work with each other. This speaks to the intersectionality of the show and how it addresses the struggles that various women go through. The variety of the characters, due to its portrayal of a racially diverse cast with various sexualities, along with the topics covered, appeal to a wide audience range. The characters all have different backgrounds and backstories that certain episodes delve into. All of the women are from varying classes and each is convicted for something specific to them. The audience members can easily find characters to relate to or at least empathize with. This increases the effectiveness of the show at causing social change or at least garnering views.
In the scenes presented, the main issue that is dealt with is female sexuality. Orange is the New Black deals with this issue is by addressing the lack of education and knowledge about female sexuality. Two scenes from the second season show some of the inmates discussing female anatomy. While the conversation starts out playfully, it soon turns into a discussion about clarifying a confusion about their own genitalia and how everything works below the belt. Eager to discover the true location of the urethra, the women head to the restroom and begin their search. Noticing their confusion, another inmate, Sophia offers her advice. The perspective that Sophia offers is interesting because she is a transwoman. Sophia basically had the opportunity to design her anatomy the way she wanted. These women all have vaginas. To the viewer, especially male viewers, not knowing one’s own anatomy may seem a foreign concept. The fact that these women are so openly talking about their genitalia on a television show is something that would be considered to be out of the ordinary, meanwhile jokes about male genitalia are made fairly often. Perhaps the lack of knowledge about female sexuality stems from the fears towards women as sexual beings. These fears have existed for quite some time. For example, in his 1880 novel Nana, Émile Zola essentially blamed a female prostitute for the downfall of France. Even in today’s society, we still have these fears towards female sexuality and the female body. This can be seen in the backlash that young girls face for their clothing choices at school. Female bodies are constantly being policed by society, similar to the way that Anne Balay writes on how LGBT steelworkers had to be careful of the way that they presented themselves in order to remain in the closet and therefore, safe from harm. This policing of female bodies is detrimental to their education, and this is mirrored in the scene provided; these women essentially do not know themselves, or at least do not know a huge aspect of who they identify to be. However, as the women in the scene are further educated about their bodies, they become happily surprised with what they learn. In the second clip provided, Sophia goes even further in depth with explaining female anatomy. Then Sophia brings up something basically unheard of, female pleasure when it comes to sexuality. As one Huffington Post writer said, “No one taught me about masturbation. Sure my mom gave me the rundown on where babies come from, but she certainly didn’t mention anything about orgasms” (Lumpkin). Sex education often discusses reproduction, but glosses over pleasure and rarely discusses the concepts of various sexualities and gender identities.
Furthermore, Orange is the New Black tackles the concepts of gender identity and sexual orientation. For these scenes in particular, it is important to note that these aspects of identity are highlighted. One of the women in the scene, Poussey, explicitly confirms her lesbian identity in her comment about familiarity with female anatomy, but also Sophia, a transwomen, is the one who takes on the task of explaining female anatomy to the other inmates. This decision to use Sophia as the character to enlighten the other inmates about female genitalia brings attention to the fact that she is Trans. Although she is not in the scenes provided, the main character of the show, Piper Chapman, also falls somewhere along the lesbian continuum mentioned by Adrienne Rich; Piper identifies as a bisexual woman and is in prison due to a complications with her drug-dealing ex-girlfriend. The fact that some of the characters shown in the scene along with many of the other characters fall somewhere along the lesbian continuum shows how this program interrupts the norm of compulsory heterosexuality, another term presented by Adrienne Rich. It is notable that the women in the prison are all complex characters. More often than not, women in movies are written to be bland and one-sided. These three-dimensional women have backstories, wants, and desires. The characters are realistic. Their presentation breaks the norm in movies that women are mainly used as a prop or crutch for the scene. These women carry the scene on their backs and propel the show forward with strong acting.
Overall, Orange is the New Black mainly focuses on the different points of intersectionality and female sexuality. The portrayal of racially diverse characters shows the experiences that women of different races and backgrounds go through. Differences in gender identity, and sexual orientation help to break down the concept of compulsory heterosexuality and expose viewers to the lesbian continuum. Rich’s use of these terms Lesbian Continuum and Compulsory Heterosexuality give the show something to not only showcase, but also something to change. In the aspect of female sexuality, the fact that the women on the show are able to talk about sex so openly and their anatomy proves yet again how the show can appeal to many, while also breaking norms; the idea that it is fine for males to talk about and make jokes about sex.
While Orange is the New Black may have amassed a strong fan base over its past three seasons, there are aspects of the show that could have rubbed some the wrong way. For example, the fact that many of the women in the show identify along the LGBTQ spectrum may have alienated some viewers who buy into the notion of compulsory heterosexuality. The fact that there are very few male characters may have received cries of “sexism” as well. No matter how strong the backlash is towards the show, it is still going strong, having recently been renewed for an additional three seasons (Cooper).
Citations
Cooper, Mariah. “‘Orange Is the New Black’ Renewed for Three More Seasons.” Washington Blade Gay News Politics LGBT Rights ICal. Washington Blade, 2016. Web. 08 Feb. 2016.
Lumpkin, Jincey. “Masturbation Is Not a Dirty Word.” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 11 Feb. 13. Web. 08 Feb. 2016.
“Orange Is the New Black – Laverne Cox Gives a Lesson in Female Anatomy – S2 Ep4.” YouTube. YouTube, 21 June 2014. Web. 08 Feb. 2016.
“Orange Is the New Black S02E04 Poussey and Taystee Pee Hole.” YouTube. YouTube, 11 July 2014. Web. 08 Feb. 2016.