Introduction
Essentialism is commonly felt to be a negative thing, and yet, as I shall discuss, continues to dominate common opinions and perceptions of culture, both in everyday life and academia. Essentialism grants peoples individual character as entirely constrained and defined by the cultures in which they live, this way the stereotype becomes the foundation and the very essence of their identity.
This paper will look at the articles “Intercultural Communication and Ideology” and “Immigration and Gender”. The paper will seek to establish the key concepts within the articles and whether the argument gender and immigration perceptions in the workplace are subject to stereotype and whether it is in line with the fact that essentialism shapes the perceptions of culture.
The media has longed depicted women from Asian origin as Asian women as computer ‘geeks’ and the Latina women as the casual laborers and mail-order brides. This is evident in many advertisements where the cleaning lady is of Filipina origin while the computer whiz at the IT department is the geeky Asian lady wearing the huge glasses. This is considered an essentialist representation of inter-cultural gender. This perception of female Asian and Latina women proves the essentialist nature of the media that shapes opinions in society.
Psychology and Essentialism
Feminist psychology and theory have molded psychological study on gender at numerous productive moments Essentialist representation of gender has been criticized to women’s bodies and sexuality This kind of essentialist approach to feminism can be seen as an ideological device that validates power relations, social essentialism In this argument, women that fit the given racial profile tend to be subject to ridicule and even social segregation, or they are naturally assumed to be perfect for a given kind of job, limiting their opportunities to a progressive career path. The manner in which psychological studies are conducted, prove the essentialist perception is entrenched in society, even in academia.
Immigration and Gender
The article “immigration and Gender” reports of a general satisfaction in the workplace among the respondents who were interviewed. The Asian female programmers admit to the fact that general motivation and satisfaction comes from the assured steady income and despite the fact that they do belong to a lower social class and are mostly overlooked on promotions, they are satisfied with the steady income. The article clearly states the difficulty to get an interview with a Filipina mail-order brides due to the stigma that is associated with being identified as a Mail-order bride (MOB). An MOB is considered of a much lower social class. Though the ethics of the MOB industry is put to question, the facet of principle and relativism are what determines an individual’s perception towards the MOB industry. Essentialist perceptions about gender and immigration are far more accepted by the “victims” of these essentialist perception than most believe, making theses perceptions acceptable in the society
Even though most of the individuals surveyed to comment on the given study stated that the perceptions of the society might seem a bit unfair, even racist to some extent, the fact remains that that is exactly how the society chooses to perceive the females from these two communities. This is the implicit way in which people assume the structure of the world to be and how it is represented in social class in the workplace.
Conclusion
Essentialism shapes the perceptions of culture. Not only is the MOB industry considered immoral by some, still the industry is legal in the United States and its beneficiaries are numerous. The female Asian programmers are overlooked for promotion, yet they are still satisfied at the workplace. The interesting thing is that even though to the common man, these two scenarios might seem a bit unfair, yet that is how the society perceives females from these two communities. Essentialism shapes the perceptions of culture.
Works Cited
Anon., n.d. Latin American Stereotypes in the Media. [Online] Available at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ca-S1ZxVrk[Accessed 21 March 2013].
Anon., n.d. Women, math, and stereotype threat - YouTube. [Online] Available at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjn6ZSU_zS0[Accessed 21 March 2013].
Eide, E., 2010. Strategic Essentialism and Etnification. Nordicom Review, 31(2), pp. 63-78.
Holiday, A. R., Hyde, M. & Kullman, J., 2006. Intercultural Communication: An Advanced Resource Book. London: Routledge.
Mahalingam, R., 2003. Essentialism,Culture, and Power: Representations of Social Class. Journal of Social Issues, 59(4), pp. 733-749.
Mahalingam, R. & Leu, J., 2005. Culture, Essentialism, Immigration and Representations of Gender. theory & Psychology, 15(6), pp. 839-860.
