Othering is the process of an individual portraying or perceiving something or someone as different or alien. That happens if people have different social identities. In most cases, the majority is likely to practice othering. Some social identities include gender identities, ethnic identities, and class identities. A good example of othering is people who closely identify with their religious or cultural beliefs, and form a mental picture that other people with different beliefs are the ones on the contrary or the problematic ones.
Othering has been well depicted by the Chinese in various circumstances. The establishment of plantations in Hawaii contributed to the existence of the Chinese in Hawaii as laborers (Glick, 735). They worked under politically prominent planters hence they had a small opportunity to establish contacts. As planters, they formed an isolated group. Though they were segregated, they came to embrace the culture in the Hawaiian Islands. Though they did not abandon their culture, they were assimilated into the community through forming nationalistic societies (Glick, 737-739). In other words, their loyalties shifted from familism to nationalism through assimilation.
In North America, the Chinese faced a lot of victimization because of their distinctiveness. They were depicted as people who showed no love for the laws and political bodies of the new lands; they were also seen as people who disregarded sanitary laws (Kay, 580-582). They were discriminated because of how they lived in crowds. Chinatowns were known to be crowded places and were considered public nuisance in areas like Vancouver. They were named ‘Little corner in the far east.’ Also, the use of the term ‘Chineseness’ came about at the same time (Kay, 581).All these contributed to creating a racial category, which is a form of othering.
On the issue of medical geography - of the Chinese in San Francisco - both cultural and social theories can be used in the analysis of their health problems. In the year 1876, 1876, 1881 and 1881, San Francisco was strongly hit by smallpox epidemics (Craddock, 957). Health researchers associated the disease to the Chinese community living among them. The Chinese lived in the most defective parts of San Francisco, and because they were different and did not have the same identities as those of the people in San Francisco, they suffered the ignominy of societies. Despite the fact that San Francisco chronically had inadequate sewers, and its streets were filthy, the Chinese still had to take the blame (Craddock, 957). It was sad that their sanitary conditions were poor, which was the truth, but it was also the same for the rest of San Francisco. The fact that their living areas were termed as the Headquarters for smallpox is a form of othering.
Regarding economic geography, the Chinese in Boston settled as coolies for manual labor (Murphy, 250). It is evident that they lived in crowds, something that the local inhabitants found very peculiar and bizarre. In some cases, the Chinese lived together by choice, but in most cases, they lived together due to their specific national skills or the trades, which were usually carried on in the same area hence the factor of economic geography. The Chinese have lived exclusively for close to 60 years, and they did not embrace Americanization. The second generation has adopted it due to education and learning the American ways (Murphy, 251). The sad fact is that these people lead a secluded lifestyle and practice economic geography in Chinatown, which is a form of othering because they are secluded in the society.
In conclusion, othering should be a factor that is discouraged in the society. People with different identities should learn to embrace their differences and come together as one. This would help in promoting social, cultural, and economic ideologies. There is nothing as amazing as diversity because it is in diversity that people appreciate one another and their ways.
Works Cited
Craddock, Susan. Sewers and Scapegoats. Spatial Metaphors of Smallpox in Nineteenth Century, San Francisco. Social Science and Medicine 41.7 (1995) 957-968. Print.
Glick, Clarence. “Transition from Familism to Nationalism among Chinese in Hawaii.” American Journal of Sociology 43.5 (1938): 734–743. Print.
Kay. J Anderson. “The Idea of Chinatown: The Power of Place and Institutional Practice in the Making of a Racial Category,” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 77:4 (1987) 580-598. Print.
Murphey, Rhoads. “Boston's Chinatown.” Economic Geography 28.3 (1952): 244–255. Print.
