WGSS 1105 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Ling Woo, Asian Americans, Libido
Document Summary
Harvard c. r. - c. l. l: in the slavery era, status depended on whether the mother was a slave (child would be slave) or a free woman (child would be free) I argue that race must be understood as a social phenomenon in which contested systems of meaning serve as the connections between physical features, races, and personal characteristics. Societal placement of races; hierarchy of races: black = inferior; white = superior. Assumed understanding of something categorized in a race and using it to advantage. Hispanic = speak spanish because territory was colonized by spain. Stereotypes constructed out of historical circumstances: asian males were socially and culturally oppressed. Either were desexualized or viewed as rape threats due to their high libido. Either a feminine laborer or a yellow person trying to destroy western civilization: now viewed as young nerdy math geniuses or brainy scientist who speaks little.