Analysis Of Constructed Stereotypes In Skin English Literature Essay

Analysis Of Constructed Stereotypes In Skin English publications EssayHaving d unitary extensive research on the biography of the author, Naomi Iizuka, one can conclude that the availableness of written scholarly documentation about her life and work is sparse. The author is a recent juncture in the world of the American drawwright she attained her MFA degree in Playwriting in 1992, at the be on of 27.1Naomi Iizukas family undercoat sheds an interesting light on the politics of a multi cultural society, which is accordingly represented in SKIN. Her mother is an American of Spanish descent and Naomis father a Japanese banker.She studied Classics and Literature at Yale University and she received her MFA degree from the University of California San Diego. Naomi Iizuka is part of the legacy of American writers of the 1990s who atomic number 18 primarily smell to write on experiences of a multi- pagan, poly-sexual, multi-class and intergenerational society (Krasner 2005, p. 549).A ccording to Berson, Naomi Iizuka is fascinated by the subterranean worlds of renegades like the roofless kids in Polaroid Stories or by outcasts like Jones in SKIN or by vagabond characters in Tattoo Girl (Berson 1998, p.1). Theatre needs to surprises her, such as stand fors that are not strictly realistic and filled with mythical elements that in allow to reappraise the relationship with reality. Naomis writing style in the Berson article is set forth as one that matches a furious emotional intense with a floating lyricism, vivid grunginess and vitriolic humor(Berson 1998, p.1).Iizuka found her inspiration for SKIN in the surrounding of San Diego at the end of the twentieth century. The environment offers a mix of a desert town, a Navy town and a border town (Chambers 2002, p. 55). The die hard focuses on cardinal protagonist characters, Jones and Mary. Jones is a young man who works in a pulverization and Mary is Joness disloyal lover and the mother of their child. They d esperately attempt to make sense of and try to make pass the suffocating environment in which they live.The constant resister between the isolation of Mary and Jones and the crowded suburban sprawl, reflect a tragic setting. Being confronted with their limited opportunities and the inhibiting effects urban life and poverty, Jones and Mary queue up refuge in drugs, alcohol, violence and sex. Through different icons the hopeless situation is vividly draw.The play is precise strong in transferring an unspoken, not explicit but overwhelming sense that the inhabitants of the town are surround and controlled. They feel oppressed, living in a totalitarian social system which exerts silencing, control and alienation. SKIN is a tragic play and ends with Jones stabbing Mary to death.SKIN focuses to a large extent on the externalise of Jones who is suffering as an individual in this totalitarian society. Since Jones is of mixed descent it is possible to analyze the play based on collec tive racial stereotypes.Borderlands and StereotypesWhen reading the play SKIN, the referee is bound by the brisk stereotypes related to race, ethnicity and gender. The aim of this paper is to analyze the stereotypes which correlate with white American authority, with bulk from Chicano ethnical background and with troublesome interracial relations.Although the play makes no clear indications of location, thither are several indications that the purview is geographically set near the U.S. Mexican border. Gloria Anzalda describes in her book Borderlands, La Frontera the notion of a marching as a vague and undetermined place where los atravesados like, among other denominations, the mongrel, the mulato or the half-breed live (Anzalda 2007, p. 25). SKIN is a contemporary play which portrays the concept of white shiningity using the stereotype, the collective image, of American policy-making and cultural domination in a crowded suburban environment. The white American principle i s presented though the presence of Police enforcers and military Navy men and they comply with the image of the oppressor, specifically oppressing Jones.Anzalda describes how the Border Patrol hide behind buildings, like a local McDonalds, and act like hunters with strong night vision devices (Anzalda 2007 p.33-34). This is reflected in the second scene of the play SKIN, where the Police are described as sly and invisible in their black and white machine (Iizuka 2000, p. 164).Jones is the main protagonist in the narrative, and he is most probably a half-breed. He does not have a Latino name, his intact name is Sean Jones and he has a Social Security number which makes him legal U.S. resident (Iizuka 2000, p. 165). Jones most belike has a white American mother he refers to her death in scene twenty octet when she died she looked like a white, plastic doll. (Iizuka 2000, p. 194)Since Jones is of mixed race he is confronted with an internal strife of multiple personalities, fash ioning him insecure an indecisive (Anzalda 2007, p.99-100). He is not part of the pre dominant white American finis and he does not fully belong to the Latino society. Jones difficult position can be turn up by different scenes. He is, in multiple scenes, harassed by the Police, treated aggressively by the Navy men and he is explicitly subdued in his relation with the Manager. Angel however, does not presume Jones as a full Latino member. In scene 28 Angel is very explicit, he shouts to Jones man, turf out up. you dont know me you dont see me every day. you dont know how I live my life so shut the fuck up. (Iizuka 2000, p. 194).SKIN introduces stereotypes that can be linked to the theory of the Mexican philosopher Jos Vasconcelos. His philosophy in opposition to the racial purity policy that white America practices, his theory is about inclusivity, a mixture of races (Anzalda 2007, p. 99). This is hinted in the person of Marys missy. Whereas in every adult scene there is a fi erce figurative use of the opposition between black and white, where black is mostly related to silence, closing of the eyes, the vastness and invisibility of the desert at night and very important the colors used to describe the Police car. It is Marys girl who is able to project a multi-color world. A good example is available in scene fourteen when Marys girl speaks when I pen up my eyes, I see red and purple an orange and yellow and blue. I see so m any colors moving and sparkly like lights at night. (Iizuka 2000, p. 183).Iizuka uses many images to highlighting that the individual is controlled, isolated and alienated from the social environment. Although Jones and Mary are legal U.S. residents, they are not envisioned as legitimate inhabitants. They are constantly being controlled by an authority like the Police or the Navy. Whenever the Police are introduced into the scenes they are represented as if they were constantly nearby and waiting. Scene nineteen provides a good i llustration and then the Police slide out of the dark like they have been always there, invisible, waiting for a sign. (Iizuka 2000, p.187).Skin Color and the Construction of StereotypesThe play contains several stereotypes related to racial divergence and white supremacy. Jones is being racially fixated by the white authority. It is already in the second scene that, without any obvious reason, the police is requesting to see some form of identification from Jones. The police is very provocative towards Jones. The comparable go on and the more elaborated construction of the negative characteristics related to Mexican stereotyping can be undergo in scene ten. In this scene, the manager has a general image of Jones and his people which comes down to this thats the thing with you people, you think you can screw around, make babies , you seem to think taxpayers like myself are going to security you out and support you and yours forever. (Iizuka 2000, p.179).Referring to Bhabhas concept of ambivalence of the stereotype of the other, otherness is at once an object of raillery and at once an object of desire (Bhabha 1994, p. 67). There is only one instance in the play where this important aspect of ambivalence in stereotypical identity can be found. In scene eleven the cholo, which is a denomination for a Mexican person from mixed descent, is crystallizing the element of desire. and the grate on his back is brown he is a handsome young god, and the crowd moves up close to him hungry for something they do not know (Iizuka 2000, p. 181) this elaboration portrays the beauty of the dark pare and it emphasizes Bhabhas notion of ambivalence. more than specifically, it is the dark color of the skin that at once activates fixedness and fantasy, mastery and pleasure, and thus plays a foreign role in the ideological construction of otherness (Bhabha 1994, p. 66-78).The essay written by Bhabha, The Other Question, highlights both other important aspects of racial differentiation by skin color. The first one is related to the stinting supremacy of white people and the visibility of skin as reinforcing the crucial recognition of difference (Bhabha 1994, p.79). horn of plenty and whiteness are inversely described by the poverty of Jones. In scene nine Jones describes his softness to make lots of money its hard, mary. I dont know how people make it. I dont know the secret. here its not much of anything. (Iizuka 2000, p. 179). The image of Joness low hierarchical position is strengthened by the subsequent scene ten where he performs a basic job feeding a machine and the Manager is administrate him.It is salient in this play that the dominant, white American, group is nameless. Iizuka decided not to give names to the people in a hierarchical superior position. They are called Police Man, Navy Man, Manager, Man or Employee. The reader gets the impression that these unnamed people can all be categorized in one dominant group with the equi valent oppressive acts towards Jones. This singularity allows to bridge the racial discussion to the definition of ethnicity minus one as proposed in the essay who is Ethnic? by Werner Sollors. Meaning that ethnicity is universal and ethnicity minus one excludes the dominant group. In the play SKIN, the dominant group is obviously white and wealthy America. Throughout the play all the white actors behave similarly, they are oppressive and aggressive towards Jones and hence affirm their white dominant identity (Sollors 1995, p. 22).Scene thirty two I wanted to peel off my skin, and fold it up, and put it in a box. I wanted to disappear (Iizuka 2000, p.198). The way Jones narrates about skin, he confirms the importance of whiteness of skin in the American society. This emphasizes that the visibility of skin reinforces the recognition of difference and hence acts as a grade of discrimination (Bhabha 1994, p.79). Furthermore Bhabhas essay explains that the stereotypes attributed with s kin color remain a sign of cultural and political inferiority (Bhabha 1994, p.80). This reasoning is omnipresent in the play.In SKIN, Naomi Iizuka is able to reflect the longevity or fixity aspect of stereotypes. Since government has institutionalized its Civilizing Mission during the colonial period, the racial stereotypical discourse has become damaging and discriminatory (Bhabha 1994, p. 83). By implementing strategies of hierarchization and marginalization, colonial societies could be managed. What Bhabha is putting forward in the essay, is that knowledge on the ethnic group and the stereotypical generalization make the consideration of discriminatory and authoritarian forms of political control appropriate. The same concept can be found in SKIN. It are the Police and the Navy Men that are always present to provide surveillance and discipline through violent and oppressive harassment, and thus contend political control over the non-white and marginal community. Additional imag ery to emphasize American, and white, superiority is portrayed in scene twenty six when Jones is looking to buy a weapon in the Gun market store. The Employee describes the gun as follow u.s. made. superior craftsmanship. feel. see. or the description of the knife made in germany. superior craftsmanship. cuts through anything. (Iizuka 2000, p.192).ConclusionSKIN, proves to be a complex and layered play in terms of preponderant stereotypes. A superficial reading at first would make the reader conclude that Jones is a Latino living in a bordertown. However, when analyzing the different hints in the play, the reader comes to the notion that Jones is a mulato. Based on Gloria Anzaldas analysis and representation of the mulato living near the U.S. Mexican international border, Joness is isolated between two colliding cultures which confuse his identity. SKIN emphasizes the harsh and hopeless life in the borderland.Naomi Iizuka exposes the reader to the oppressive and dominant appr oach of white America towards Jones. Through a polarized version of racial stereotyping, the play allows to apply the analytical concepts of ambivalence and fixity from Bhabhas essay The Other Question.Naomi Iizuka confirms through the character of Jones, who is isolated and living in a controlled environment, that racial prejudices and determination by the end of the nineties remained unchangeable. Nevertheless by introducing Marys daughter, who is able to see a dyed world instead of a purely black and white one, Naomi projects her hope that future generations can draw back from the dominant, white and racial pure American culture and create an inclusive multi-cultural society.