Ana Ontaneda
ANT 1001/ TV24A Gaunt
April 30, 2009
ANT 1001/ TV24A Gaunt
April 30, 2009
Mixed Blood
After reading the first few pages of "Mixed Blood" by Jeffrey M. Fish, I was definitely hooked. It's somewhat amazing at how humans think. Fish mentioned in the book that"race is a social rather than a physical classification (Fish, 89)." I know of people that are mixed races although they were born in America. For example, I have one friend who has a Chinese-Brazilian mother and an Italian father. When people ask him where he's from he insists he's Brazilian, even though his mother is not exactly Brazilian (she was born and raised in Brazil from 100% Chinese parents). This agrees with what Jeffrey Fish said about hypo-descent. The Brazilians have various tipos that serve as a description of a person according to their physical features. Likewise and according to my experiences and knowledge, Spanish people also classify people according to their physical features. I myself, would consider myself a morena although I am somewhat pale. In spanish, if someone were to say "morena," one would immediately think ok the black girl. All this race talk and classification makes me somewhat frustrated. No one's perfect. We don't all look alike. Latinos come in many different shapes, sizes and colors with a huge array of features. I don't know what to consider myself. Why can't I just simply be hispanic?
In conclusion, all these stereotypes are just a huge pet peeve for me. What's even more funny is that when people have to guess what "race" I am, they say everything but Hispanic. This chapter was very interesting overall and I really admire Prof Gaunt for her work with race and mostly for emphasizing on these social constructs of race throughout the semester.
In conclusion, all these stereotypes are just a huge pet peeve for me. What's even more funny is that when people have to guess what "race" I am, they say everything but Hispanic. This chapter was very interesting overall and I really admire Prof Gaunt for her work with race and mostly for emphasizing on these social constructs of race throughout the semester.
1 comments:
Thanks Ana. Your voice is so strong and clear in this essay. Like not only do you have something to say, but you are empowered to say it. Great job in this essay.
Aside: If you can bring a little distance, like not being attached to what it all means, just knowing humans do this kind of stratification, helps you understand what's important to them even if it's made up. So nationality is important to Brazilians social structure and physical tipos help them play with identity in a more fluid way than here.
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