Introduction
According to study findings, this paper analyses second-generation Asian American women, particularly Korean and Vietnamese immigrant women, regarding gender and racial discrimination. The research aims to integrate race and gender factors from a social angle by interviewing a hundred daughters of Korean and Vietnamese immigrants. White women are the targeted point in the fight for gender equality as family roles and careers are not divided based on gender among them. The view creates the perspective of equality as hegemonic feminism that seeks to achieve equality rather than justice between males and females.
Asian women were perceived as submissive with a subordinated femininity, while white women were characterized by egalitarian femininity (Pyke and Johnson 42). White women are deemed to be independent with careers to pursue and share a lot of family obligations and roles between their men and themselves. An Asian woman is expected to take all family roles while their husbands take up careers and work life. The woman is expected to serve men and raise children. In Asia, a woman’s main role is in giving birth and raising children. The authors noted that gender context was treated as the biological frame of individuals rather than a sociocultural product. Owning the characteristics of Asian women is perceived as a negative constraint, while owning white women’s traits is considered a positive construct. Women who are liberal to the expectations are whitewashed, while submissive white women are not perceived as Asian.
Summary of Work, Family, and Black Women’s Oppression
This chapter in the book Black Feminist Thought analyzes the oppression of black women at work based on race, economic status, and gender about their role in specific eras such as slavery and domestic setups. According to Collins, black feminism is grounded on black women’s empowerment in their often-difficult labor market settings (Collins 46). The black feminist thought fails to accommodate unpaid work assigned to women relating to family labor. Black women perceive unpaid labor roles such as teaching children survival skills as a form of liberalism rather than men’s exploitation of women.
Family definitions of its aspects define roles in every family or societal setting. The ideology that women in the workspaces compete with men defiling their role in raising children makes them less feminine (Collins 47). Black women have been oppressed both at work and in their homes. During slavery, their work was unpaid, while white immigrants’ work was paid in addition to being able to maintain families, gain citizenship and accumulate wealth. Women’s reproduction was relevant in the maintenance of slavery. Pregnant women were accorded more attention and fairer treatment than others as a gift for contributing to the increasing population. Adolescent girls were required to have children, while infertile women were mistreated and passed across to unsuspecting buyers as they were considered to be of low value.
In the early 1900s, African American men found higher-paying jobs but were not selected to fill the positions. At the same time, their women had low-paying jobs in surplus that included domestic services. In the post-World War II era, legislative measures were taken to acquaint black women with rights but not solve the racial discrimination struggles (Collins 59). It was then discovered that economic status played a part in the struggle, and unfortunately, many black people lived below the poverty line.
Comparison
Similarities
Both writings perceive white women to be at a point of gender equality where family roles are fairly shared between them and their husbands. Pyke and Johnson’s study found out that Asian American women perceived their cultural traits in society as negative and were trying to adopt ways to disassociate themselves with the perceived identity and replace them with white women traits. Black people want high-paying jobs to match the economic status of the whites but are often discriminated against during selection. The culture of African-American women to take up childcare and family roles as their primary responsibility is perceived as backward, while following careers and work is perceived as modernized living.
Differences
Pyke and Johnson’s study leaves out economic class as a cause of discrimination against people of color. Collin’s study points out financial status as a significant factor that causes discrimination against black women. According to Pyke and Johnson, Asian perception of themselves leads them to act in a way that hides their identity. At the same time, Collins depicts the physical actions that portray prejudice against African-American women.
Critique
Though there’s a difference in racial groups’ gender equalities performance, white women are not at the perfect definition of equal treatment as their men. White women are also discriminated against in the work arena with lower pay and preferences for promotions (Dashper 542). They are seen to bear the greatest role in the family compared to men, and thus they will constantly need more time off work, just like African-American women.
As more women are pursuing careers, inequalities are levelling. Men are slowly embracing taking paternity leaves to commit time to take care of their newborns and family needs collectively referred to as unpaid work. Among people of color, men will opt to skip their paternal leave probably due to financial constraints and not cause of gender role division. There is increasingly a trend to fit in on roles after agreements, unlike in the past when decisions were made on societal expectations despite situations at hand.
Even though gender balance is not yet achieved, the journey toward it has been productive. There have been numerous changes since the battle began. Countries worldwide have enacted legislation to protect workers, of all genders, from unfair pay and accord women fair returns for their roles in family setups. In the current society, Individuals’ decision to consume ethically produced goods has greatly reduced explorative labor in industries. Policies to create room for women to get empowered and develop to be fit to take up top job positions have been formulated. Women have equal chances to get an education at equal levels as men, as they now can bargain for parenting methods that accommodate their development.
Conclusion
In Asian American women and racialized femininities; ‘doing’ gender across cultural worlds, the study findings on a hundred Korean and Vietnamese daughters of immigrants suggest that a colored woman is faced gender inequality treats as compared to a white woman. Culturally, an Asian woman is expected only to take up family roles, raise children, and be submissive. These traits have exposed Asian women to conflicts and violence as perpetrators from other ethnicities expect every Asian woman to carry about the trait. In chapter three of Black Feminine Thought, Collins relates work and family as an arena for the oppression of African American women. Black women are still accorded unpaid work in terms of family roles. The exploitation was rooted in the slavery era, where women were perceived as investments to increase the slave population. According to Collins, poverty is another cause of discrimination against black women. Both writings condone white women to be in a position where gender treatment is fair, but the gender struggle is prevalent across the globe.
Works Cited
Collins, Patricia H. “Work, Family, and Black Women’s Oppression.” Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment, 2nd ed., Routledge, 2002, pp. 45-67.
Dashper, K. “Challenging the gendered rhetoric of success? The limitations of women‐only mentoring for tackling gender inequality in the workplace.” Gender, Work & Organization, vol. 26, no. 4, 2018, pp. 541-557, doi:10.1111/gwao.12262.
Pyke, K. D., and D. L. Johnson. “Asian American women and racialized Femininities.” Gender & Society, vol. 17, no. 1, 2003, pp. 33-53, doi:10.1177/0891243202238977.