Passing, a novella written by Nella Larson, centers three African American women whom are all passing as white women in order to possess the opportunities black women lacked during the 1920’s. Throughout this novella, identity has played an important role in the society they lived in. Identity, the condition of being oneself, has set an impact on the characters psychologically and physically. These women all live radically different lives yet were all very wealthy and switched racial identities when necessary. But, with these inwards and outwards between their white and black identities, they suffer from embracing their true identities. In the 1920’s, white skin or lighter complexions were more favorable and seen to be more superior than the …show more content…
Many transgenders can pass as a male or female without people noticing and others can pass as straight while remaining in the closet- fearing hate from those who are homophobic. These individuals fear hate crimes and have to be wary of their every move in case someone conservative wants to cause trouble. But, more and more people are embracing their true identities even with the reprocussions. Society has become widely accepting and open-minded to certain situations. Though, when it comes to race, society always turn heads and it becomes a problem. For instance, in a unique circumstance, a woman named Rachel Dolezal describes herself as “transracial.” Rachel Dolezal was born white but raised with black children and felt connected to the black race and culture. She began to change her physical features that fit ‘black’ identity and people began to misinterpret her racial identity, similar to Clare and Irene. In a way, she was reverse passing. She fooled a lot of people, gaining a chair in the NAACP, but she will never be black. She will never understand what African Americans went through in the past, she will never have that history to follow her. During this “post-racial era”, law enforcement and private security often target people of color based on individual suspicion. Instances such as shooting unarmed African Americans or in recent news, Starbucks employees insiting that innocent African American men were “trespassing” and causing trouble. Racial profiling has been a huge problem in our society today and more needs to be done. It is ashame that to this day, race plays an important factor in our own identities and
In certain countries such as the U.S, people discriminate against others to a certain extent based off their gender, race, and sexuality. Butler states that “to be a body is to be given over to others even as a body is “one own,” which we must claim right of autonomy” (242). Gays and Lesbians have to be exposed to the world because some of them try to hide their identity of who they truly are because they are afraid of how others are going to look at them. There are some who just let their sexuality out in the open because they feel comfortable with whom they are as human beings and they don’t feel any different than the next person. The gender or sexuality of a human being doesn’t matter because our bodies’ will never be autonomous because it is affected by others around us. This is where humans are vulnerability to violence and aggression. In countries across the globe, violence and attack are drawn towards tran...
They are in their own little world. It is not until the very end of the tale, when John Bellew finds out about his wife on his own, that race becomes the focus of the story. As Tate points out, Larsen’s novel is overlooked often by critics and the entire story is taken at face value. They want to believe it’s merely a soap opera about black women who go about disguising themselves as white, but Larsen’s foreshadowing and the way she approaches the subjects of obsession and character dynamics makes the novel so much more than that. It seems like the novel Passing embodies the 1920s more than people
Historically, people were granted certain rights and privileges based merely on their skin color. Persons of darker skin are often less opportune; persons of lighter skin are almost automatically glorified. However, with the mass interracial breeding, many African American descendants started to look “white” even though they were of “black” descent. Many “mulattos” used this to their advantage to acquire higher social status and respect. The act of identifying as a different race and hiding one’s true race is known as “passing.” In the short novel, “Passing” by Nella Larsen, it follows two childhood friends of mixed-race, Irene Westover/Redfield and Clare Kendry, who later reconnected later in their different adult lives; both appear to have light complexion but one embraces her ancestry while the other tries to “pass” as something else. The latter’s decision usually ends unpleasantly. So while it may seem beneficial to “pass,” the end result is that the truth will come out. Literary articles which critique “Passing” such as “Sororophobia” by Helena Michie and “Black Female Sexuality in Passing” by Deborah E. McDowell discusses the issues of passing. Juanita Ellsworth’s “White Negros” provide scenarios where skin color played a factor in education and professional experiences. Louis Fremont Baldwin’s “Negro to Caucasion, Or How the Ethiopian Is Changing His Skin” explains the different ways people pass and how it can be undetected. Blatantly “passing” as a different race can lead to catastrophe and should be avoided.
Hate violence is a predominant issue against transgender women who wish for acceptance from society. Individuals believe they have the right to perform violence against these transgender women because of who they are. For example, in the novel Stone Butch Blues, Jess Goldberg is physically a women but prefers to live life as a male. Since Jess chooses to live life as a male, or butch, she is frequently a target of policeman and other individuals because of her identity. The society views Jess as a criminal because during the 1960’s homosexuality was illegal and it was considered a mental disorder. Apparently, our society has made much more progress today against transgender women, but they still face a multitude of hate violence. A major example
In 1912, The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man was anonymously published by James Weldon Johnson. It is the narrative of a light-skinned man wedged between two racial categories; the offspring of a white father and a black mother, The Ex-Colored man is visibly white but legally classified as black. Wedged between these two racial categories, the man chooses to “pass” to the white society. In Passing: When People Can’t Be Who They Are, Brooke Kroeger describes “passing” as an act when “people effectively present themselves as other than who they understand themselves to be” (Kroeger 7). The Ex-Colored Man’s choice to ultimately “pass” at the end of the novel has been the cause of controversy amongst readers. Many claim his choice to “pass” results from racial self-hatred or rejecting his race. Although this may be true, the main reason for his choice to “pass” is more intense. The narrator’s “passing” is an effort to place himself in a safe living environment, open himself up to greater opportunities and be adventurous and cynical in his success to fool the nation. It is because of his light skin that The Ex-Colored Man confidently knows the world will categorize him as white; thus cowardly disclaiming his black race without actually disclosing his decision.
In April of 2015, Diane Sawyer premiered an interview on 20/20 that stirred up a heated debate within several, special interest groups in the US. Bruce Jenner decided to tell Sawyer that he was a trans woman, officially “coming out”. After a name and identity change in the public eye months later, Caitlyn Jenner became the media face of the transgendered community. However, as many quickly realized, Jenner’s point of view and experiences differed from other trans individuals in the US, and it drove an already hot topic into a fiery argument in multiple areas of social debate. While there are numerous supporters of Jenner, there are equally just as many that do not see her as a trans woman but a man dressing like a woman. These arguments are
Today, especially with the Supreme Court ruling on marriage equality, it is easy to believe that the fight for queer rights is something of the past, something that America as a whole moved beyond because we have achieved these rights. For example, the conclusion to Stonewall Uprising creates a sort of historical separation that allows anyone and everyone to believe that the United States and all the people within it have moved past homophobia, transphobia, and queerphobia. However, this is absolutely not a reality for many queer and trans people today, especially poor and/or incarcerated queer and trans people of color. The conclusion to Sarah Lamble’s “Retelling Racialized Violence, Remaking White Innocence” brings to light the issues affecting
In her book Passing by Nella Larsen, it talks about the passing women that are afraid of exposing their real racial identity in the white
The early 1900s was a very challenging time for Negroes especially young women who developed issues in regards to their identities. Their concerns stemmed from their skin colors. Either they were fair skinned due mixed heritage or just dark skinned. Young African American women experienced issues with racial identity which caused them to be in a constant struggle that prohibits them from loving themselves and the skin they are in. The purpose of this paper is to examine those issues in the context of selected creative literature. I will be discussing the various aspects of them and to aid in my analysis, I will be utilizing the works of Nella Larsen from The Norton Anthology of African American Literature, Jessie Bennett Redmond Fauset, and Wallace Brown.
Racial profiling in America, as evidenced by recent events, has reached a critical breaking point. No longer can an African American, male or female, walk into a store, school, or any public place without fear of being stereotyped as a person of suspicion. Society constantly portrays the African American
Racial performativity is a theme that is visually perceived in various interracial films and gives the audience a sense of how characters in the film, despite their race perform in a different matter. The films Jungle Fever and West Side Story clearly depict this notion. Racial passing is also seen in novels, a great example is the novel Passing by Nella Larsen. This novel explores the lives of two African American women, Irene and Clare who have a confusing, yet intriguing relationship. Clare acts white and passes into this dominant race, while Irene lives in confusion on how Clare can easily pass as a white female. Clare’s actions clearly depict racial performativity. In Jungle Fever, the main character Flipper who is an African American
The eye opening article utilized for this analysis is titled, “Trans Women at Smith: The Complexities of Checking ‘Female’” ,written by contributing writer, Sarah Fraas on August 24, 2014 (pg 683-685). Fraas starts off by introducing the audience with a school that accepts trans women, Mills College, and talks about how glorious this decision is. The author then begins to talk about other schools not as accepting as Mills, especially Smiths College. She spews many facts and analysis on the issues trans women face today throughout the article including how transgender women are not gaining enough support to succeed, most transgendered women are neglected in school, and the fact that many have been accused of being a woman for the “wrong” reason. She also mindfully includes the image of a woman of color holding up a sign saying, “Support your sisters, not just your CIS-ters!”. The author utilizes this image to show people that we are all one whether we
Within Transgender History, written by Susan Stryker, is the context of persons that know themselves to be of a gender contradicting to their sex at birth. While transgender people have existed for most of human history, they were not recorded in legalized terms until the early 20th Century. The progressive politics of today were mostly formed in the 20th Century and still have room for improvement since they do not legally protect discrimination against gender identity. Although many oppressed groups fought for equal rights through protests and riots in the mid-1900’s, transgender people are continuously striving for civil rights despite their growing presence in politics after World War II because of prejudice from both majority and minority
Within the recent years, the transgender movement has become more apparent than ever. With television shows like “RuPaul’s Drag Race”, “Keeping It Up With Cait” and “I Am Jazz”, the voices of transgender people are more public than ever. Celebrities like Caitlyn Jenner and Laverene Cox are changing the face of the movement by showing people that it is never too late to be their true selves. American laws acknowledge the rights of transgender people, but not in a positive way. These are just people trying to be their best selves.
It is not until Celie is an adult that she finally feels content with her life and understands her capacity to be a completely autonomous woman. The concept of racial and gender equality has expanded greatly throughout the twentieth century, both in society and in literature. These changes influence Walker's writing, allowing her to create a novel that chronicles the development of a discriminated black woman. Her main character, Celie, progresses from oppression to self-sufficiency, thereby symbolizing the racial and gender advancements our country has achieved.