Marked and unmarked categories

Rhea Torreon

WMST 250

Ana Perez

Spring 2008



Marked and Unmarked Categories

Growing up as a minority causes one to develop a distinctive awareness and mentality. Being considered a minority automatically carries with it certain stigmas of being oppressed and viewed as inferior along with many other social aspects. This assertion and submission of power can be a conscious or an unconscious decision. The matrix of domination illustrates several factors involved in this process through marked (powerless) and unmarked (powerful) categories including: race, gender, class, sexuality, able-bodiedness, language, religion, nationality, and age. The presence of these dynamics are in every relationship and can be illustrated through an infinite number of examples. I have had numerous personal experiences affected by my female gender, middle-class social status, able-bodiedness, English language, Asian ethnicity, and age of 21 years. These specific examples demonstrate the marked and unmarked role I play in society as a young, Asian American adult.
I will present two smaller incidents as succinct examples of my role in a marked category. While eating at a local restaurant in Annapolis I got up to throw away some trash. A woman happened to be walking towards my direction at the same time. When she noticed me she held up her paper cup and asked if I could refill her coffee. I was taken aback and replied, “Excuse me?” Fortunately, an employee was walking by at that point and took care of her request. I could not believe that someone had mistaken me as “the help” for several reasons: I am an English citizen, I have a good education, I was well dressed, and despite all this the only determining factor was my Asian ethnicity. A similar example of this particular assertion of power took place at a nail salon where my Filipino friend was also mistaken as an employee. My friend was getting her nails done when a white woman walked in, greeted the employees, and then turned to her and asked, “You work here too, don’t you?”
The simple error committed by the woman in the restaurant has a myriad of complex implications. This woman appeared to be upper middle-class to upper class indicated by her designer apparel, manicured nails, and styled hair; this translates into the assertion of power as a person of wealth. On the other hand, my appearance was no less indicative of a comfortable lifestyle. I was dressed in brand name clothing, I appeared healthy or more specifically well-fed, my teeth were straight due to braces during childhood (a subtle indication of past financial background), and I wore expensive jewelry. Overall, my appearance was that of any young adult from a supportive, well-off family not uncommon in Annapolis. I tend to dress on the preppy side resulting from the influences of growing up in Annapolis- an area associated with a substantial amount of wealth. It was astounding that these obvious signals and connections held no weight with someone whose financial comfort was just as evident as my own.
This woman was around 40 years old, married, and most likely had children translating into the assertion of power as an adult. In contrast, I was 20 years old, single, and had no children. There was no obvious indication of my relationship status other than the absence of any jewelry signifying marriage or commitment. The fact that I was not married at such a young age speaks of a type of affluence. In conjunction with this—whether she thought I was single or not—there was no evidence that I had children. The supreme amount of care and attention required to raise a child tends to take a toll on the parent emotionally, spiritually, and physically- all of which was not indicated by my appearance or manner. It is probably safe to assume she did not think I had children. This is significant because just as my absence of a marriage ring indicated a type of affluence, my avoidance of an early pregnancy is a determinant of social status as well.
This woman was at least 20 years older than me. Her age contributed to her misperception. Had she been my age, the chances of the same mistake occurring would be considerably less. Someone my age would not have the same ability to leverage age and would have viewed me more as a peer. As an adult mother she is accustomed to being in a position of power over her children. As an adult she is accustomed to being in a position of power over young people in general. The stereotypes that led her to misperceive me as an employee may have been more heavily ingrained with time as well. Despite all the indications that I was of a certain social class and that I was old enough to be lawfully independent, I felt belittled to the state of a child that does not know better than to do what is instructed. I was clearly a young adult, but the fact that I was so much younger than her in conjunction with my Asian ethnicity dually allowed her to assert power in these ways. The details of my appearance earlier illustrates that I clearly had an affluent background while the details of my appearance just mentioned illustrates that I was clearly not of lower-class standing. The overwhelming evidence of the influence of money in my life reflects this woman’s ignorance which was facilitated by how much older she was.
This woman spoke English, which translates into the assertion of power as a U.S. citizen. I spoke clear, fluent English without a trace of an accent. There was no indication that I was anything other than a U.S. citizen. My skin was not even particularly dark at that time (I get much paler in the winter). Her misperception was not only insulting on the surface level, but it was degrading in its implicative questioning of my citizenship. It is a misperception influenced by the large population of immigrants and illegal aliens that comprise a large part of the working class. Consequently, the generalization that all minorities have lower level jobs is common. She may not have specifically thought I was an illegal-alien, but the stereotypes attributed to lower level jobs was implied in the quick assumption that I was the help rather than the customer. Even though I spoke the same language as this woman she was able to assert her power as a natural born citizen by implying that I may not have been.
Most importantly, this woman was Caucasian, which translates into the assertion of power as a white person. Having grown up as an Asian I am not unused to this behavior inherent in today’s society. All the above examples were ultimately dependent on the judgment of my ethnicity. It did not matter that I was not working class or even that I was of middle class, it did not matter that I was a young adult or that I was actually independent at that point, and it did not matter that I spoke plain English and was born in this country. The overarching assumption that superseded everything else only held race in account. Seemingly small actions such as this one have deep, long-lasting impacts that people (in my experience generally white) do not consider and are not aware of in their ignorance. One of the only advantages I can attribute to this ignorance is when using a fake identification to get into bars. I had a real Maryland identification, but it was of my Filipino friend. She was Asian, but did not particularly look all that similar to me. It is a testament to the fact that white people can not tell the different between Asians. It worked so well that I never had to use my backups (inactivated credit cards with my friends name on them). Even this may have negative consequences- I may very well have to hold white people responsible for my alcoholism.
The experiences of minorities being mistaken as a second class citizens are not uncommon in today’s society. It is interesting that in this instance power was being asserted by a woman. That in itself might be considered a characteristic of the dominance of males inherent in today’s society. Nonetheless, I found it interesting that even though women are suppose to be more in touch with sympathetic or compassionate feelings anyone is capable of asserting power over others in many different ways.
A second example of my role in an unmarked category involved me getting robbed. On a Thursday night I went out to the bars in College Park with two of my girlfriends. After last call the two had to stay behind for reasons not pertinent to my story. I walked back to my building with a pizza that we were to eat when everyone returned. My building is only five minutes from the bar and there were plenty of other people out so it wasn’t a particularly dangerous situation. As I was nearing my building, an African American male snatched my pizza from me and ran away. I was so shocked I stood there agape fully expecting him to turn around and explain the joke was over. As the distance between us continued to increase I realized it was not a joke. I proceeded to take of my heels and run after him. He was not expecting a chase so he panicked and ran into an enclosed parking lot. I threw my shoe at him when he was somewhat cornered, but at this point I was heavily winded and unable to continue the pursuit. He got away with my pizza that night.
When I explain this story to my friends it is of course humorous and highly entertaining, but on another level it is somewhat frightening. It has caused me to be much more cautious with my possessions when I walk alone around College Park areas. I repeatedly got the same reaction from my friends to the effect that I should not have run after him. This is an interesting aspect of the aftermath of the situation. This man did not appear particularly strong; in fact he looked pretty goofy. He was tall, on the skinny side, and dressed in a t-shirt and pants. I would not call him intimidating by any means. I did and still do not believe I was in any danger in chasing him. However, many of my girlfriends reacted similarly and the same questions ensued: What if he had a gun? What if he tried to fight you? What if he was really dangerous? What if you had gotten hurt?
This caused me to think about the implications of these questions and assumptions. It is pretty well-established that the predominant generalizing view of African Americans include that they are dangerous, vandalizing, ghetto, and violent. My friends assumed that he most likely had a gun. They assumed that he would try to inflict harm on me; that he would choose to over power me by force. In this way, my friends have asserted their white-minded mentality over this black man. The only thing they can attribute the level of danger is the fact that he was black. I acknowledge the validity of their concerns, but they did not see this man. They solely base their judgments on the generalizations associated with African Americans.
On the other hand, they have also spoken for the power he asserted over me. Albeit, I was slightly intoxicated and even though I ran all year-round for fours years in high school and continue to run recreationally today, I was extremely out of shape. He was able to outrun me because he had better endurance and stamina than I did. The fact that he felt he could steal my pizza without fear of consequence illustrates the power of the perception, and often reality, that males possess superior abilities over females. The assumption is two-fold: he knew he could outrun me and if that failed he knew he could overpower me. Physically I was much shorter and I weighed a lot less. However, I feel that I could hold my own in many situations and that my weight and size causes people to underestimated me. At the time, I did not really believe this man was a threat. I felt that if I was able to confront him one-on-one he would do the right thing and give back the pizza.
While I may have recklessly placed myself in danger, the pursuit of this man became more about the principle of the matter than the actual action. It was important enough to me that I not go down without a fight; that I make it clear petty theft was not acceptable. Most importantly, I wanted to make it clear that just because I am a female does not result in absolute submission to male authority; that females should not necessarily be viewed as a weaker subject. This man did not even expect a chase. With this in mind, I tried to use the element of surprise to my advantage. I did manage to catch him off guard which caused him to panic and run into a dead end parking lot. At least I was able to achieve a small triumph with hitting him with my shoe. The expectation that I would just give up right away demonstrates his assumption of my submission to his superior abilities.
Just as it was important to demonstrate that being a female should not be underestimated, the ease of stealing from a child was important to prevent as well. I am old enough to be independent and take care of myself. I would be disappointed if I were to act helpless in any circumstance. I was able to put up somewhat of a fight so that at least it was not just like stealing candy from a child. In stealing my pizza this man asserted his age over me- he was at least two years older than me. Had he been my age or younger, the chances of succeeding in the retrieval of my pizza would be significantly greater. In this situation, the pizza stealer asserted his gender and age. The ramifications of such an action perpetuate the stereotypes that African-Americans are held in regard to. It will cause me (and my friends) to act with more caution around African males even if it is unwarranted and even if there is a conscious effort to put aside such sentiments. It is a sad reality that there is a small population out of the whole that demonstrate validity in the negative cultural perceptions in today’s society.
A broader example and one that demonstrates my role in an unmarked category is my experience waiting tables at Outback. Almost all the serving and managerial staff are white while almost all of the kitchen and lower level positions are comprised of Hispanics. Only a few of them are able to speak fluent English and it is this language barrier that allows the native speakers to assert power over the non-native speakers. By contrast, I recently had dinner in Georgetown in a seafood restaurant where the entire staff was Hispanic. My waiter had a heavy accent and did not have complete fluency in English. However, his ability to speak the language proficiently enough allowed him to have a better job. I have seen numerous exchanges between servers and bussers, dishwashers, etc. To belittle or treat the Hispanics rudely was not uncommon. It is easy for the English speakers to assert their education, citizenship, and thus their higher station in life over the employees who could not better themselves due to this lack of knowledge.
Even the management staff displayed instances of indifference towards the Hispanics. When they had questions or an issue about scheduling the manager would sometimes direct them to someone else in order to get them away temporarily. I catch myself thinking in accordance with the group mentality at times. I always try to keep in mind that these are extremely hard-working, intelligent people. I usually always immediately make friends with the kitchen staff and I like to practice speaking Spanish with them. I find that it is a good connection into their perspective and culture. Language is the major contributor to the assertion of power in this situation and can work positively and negatively.
My three specific examples illustrate the influences of marked and unmarked categories in our everyday lives. All the characteristics of the matrix of domination—particularly race, gender, class, and language—contributed in the assertion or submission of power. I have a unique experience of this in light of being a young, female, Asian-American adult from a middle-class family. Being such has caused me to be mistaken as a menial worker, as a weaker, inferior being and as an oppressor. All the intricacies of the matrix of domination helped explain the complex dynamics in relationships. I got a feel for how and why people behave certain ways and am now aware of the impacts of these actions.