IDENTITY: RACE, ETHNICITY, GENDER, AND SEXUALITY Chapter 5

What Is Identity, and How Are Identities Constructed? Identity : “How we make sense of ourselves” – Rose How identities are established –Through experiences, emotions, connections, and rejections –A snapshot of who we are at a point in time –Fluid, constantly changing, shifting, becoming –Identifying against (defining the other and then defining ourselves as “not that”)

Gender “A culture’s assumptions about the differences between men and women: their ‘characters,’ the roles they play in society, what they represent.” – Domosh and Seager

A categorization of humans based on skin color and other physical characteristics Social and political constructions Based on ideas that some biological differences are more important than others Major element in colonialism and imperialism Typically imposed on people through –Residential segregation –Racialized divisions of labor –Racial categories defined by governments Race

U.S. Population by Race Census option of one or more than one race White alone, non-Hispanic population no longer over 50%

Residential Segregation The “degree to which two or more groups live separately from one another, in different parts of the urban environment.” – Massey and Denton Highest rate of residential segregation for African Americans: Milwaukee, WI

Residential Segregation Lowest rate of residential segregation · For Hispanics/Latinos: Baltimore · For Asians/Pacific Islanders: Baltimore Five measures of segregation: Evenness Exposure Concentrated Centralized Clustered

Identities Across Scales Different identities at different scales: – Individual: brother, sister, student – Local: residents of a neighborhood – Regional: Southerners – National: American – Global: Western, free Appropriate identity is revealed at the appropriate scale.

The Scale of New York NYC has more immigrants from more diverse backgrounds than other U.S. cities. Succession : New immigrants to a city often move to low-income areas being slowly abandoned by older immigrant groups. Many new immigrants focus on the streetscapes, creating businesses to serve their community and reflect their culture.

How Do Places Affect Identity, and How Can We See Identities in Places? Sense of place: Infusion of places with meaning and feeling, with memories and emotions Becomes part of our identity –Creates a sense of belonging Our identity affects the ways we define and experience place

Ethnicity A constructed identity that is tied to a place Comes from idea that people are closely bounded, even related, in a place over time Often result of migration –Swiss Americans May change in meaning with migration

Few Chinese residents in Mexicali’s Chinatown Continued important place for the region’s Chinese population Changes in Ethnic Space

Identity and Space Space : “Social relations stretched out” Place : “Particular articulations of those social relations as they have come together, over time, in that particular location” –Massey and Jess Place making in the context of surrounding social relationships

Sexuality and Space Heteronormative : Viewpoint that white, heterosexual, male is “normal” Identity cluster –How spaces are created –What problems they have Queer theory :Focuses on political engagement of “queers” with the “heteronormative”

Sexuality and Space In the 2010 census, the government tallied the number of households where a same-sex couple (with or without children) lived. Study the map of same-sex households in New York by census tract in Figure How would the map change if sexuality were one of the “boxes” every person filled out on the census?

How does Geography Reflect and Shape Power Relationships The U.S. Census undercounts – Minority populations – The homeless Gross National Income (GNI) does not count – Unpaid work of women in the household – Work done by rural women in poorer countries – The informal economy : Private, often home- based activities such as tailoring, beer brewing, food preparation

Gender Empowerment Measure

Women in Subsaharan Africa Women numerically dominate rural Subsaharan Africa Populate much of the rural areas, as men migrate to cities for work Produce 70% of the region’s food Small percentage of women have legal title to their land In East Africa, cash crops such as tea are sometimes called “men’s crops” because the men trade in what the women produce.

In an arranged marriage, the dowry is the price to be paid by the bride’s family to the groom’s father. Murders of brides (often by burning) when a dispute arises over a dowry Power relationships place women below men in India. Difficult to “legislate away” the power relationships that lead to dowry deaths Family Courts Act passed in 1984 to provide support for women who feared dowry death. Female infanticide also tied to the disempowerment of women Dowry Deaths in India

Ethnic Groups in Los Angeles

Barrioization : When the population of a neighborhood changes over largely to Hispanics. –describes a change that saw the Hispanic population of a neighborhood jump from 4 percent in 1960 to over 90 percent in Changes in cultural landscapes to reflect changing populations. Strife usually tied to economic change April 29–30, 1992: Riots in Los Angeles after the verdict in the Rodney King case led to deaths, injuries, and about $1 billion in property loss.