What Is Gender Performativity free essay sample

All of us have been assigned a â€Å"sex† when we are born, and we are bound to be men or women. Many of us believe that we belong to a particular sex whilst sex is natural, gender is social and culture constructed. Sex refers to the biological and physiological characteristics that define men and women such as reproductive organs; gender refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviors, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women. [i] To put it another way, male and female are sex categories, while masculine and feminine are gender categories. In this contemporary society, for males, behavioral traits generally considered masculine include independent, non-emotional, aggressive, tough-skinned, competitive, strong, active, self-confident. In contrast, for females, behavioral traits generally considered feminine include dependent, emotional, passive, sensitive, weak, accepting. Have you ever think that, why a male must act like a man, a female must act like a woman? It is all because of gender socialization. We will write a custom essay sample on What Is Gender Performativity? or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page During this process, we learned how to behave in the society, to act the expected role of men or women. In other words, that is all of us are taught to perform scripts of the belonged sex. Judith Butler argues that gender is â€Å"performative† and is constructed through â€Å"repeated acts of gender practice. In the following I will give explanation on Judith Butler’s arguments, and based on Bulter’s view, critical analyze the contemporary ideas of masculinity and femininity by discussing people’s clothing, see how are they being gendered. In Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity, Judith Butler mentioned gender is an act. The action of gender requires a performance that is repeated. This repetition is at once a reenactment and reexperiencing of a set of meanings already socially established and it is the mundane and ritualized form of their legitimation. Although there are individual bodies that enact these significations by becoming stylized into gendered modes, this â€Å"action† is a public action. These actions are formed by the temporal and collective dimensions, gender is an identity tenuously constituted in time, constituted in an exterior space through a stylized repetition of cts. Gender is instituted through the stylization of the body and, hence, must be understood as the mundane way in which bodily gestures, movements, and enactments of various kinds constitute the illusion of an abiding gendered self. This formulation moves the conception of gender off the ground of a substantial model of identity to one that requires a conception of a constituted social temporality. The act that o ne does, the act that one performs, is, in a sense, an act that has been going on before one arrived on the scene. ii] Hence, gender is an act which has been rehearsed, much as a script survives the particular actors who make use of it, but which requires individual actors in order to be actualized and reproduced as reality once again. [iii] Butler thinks that gender is performative which sees gender is the effect of a series of acts, how we act and walk and speak and talk in ways that consolidate an impression of being a man or being a woman, we have to nominate ourselves as either male or female, which means, it is constructed through multiple acts of gender practice. In Adorned in Dreams: Fashion and Modernity, Elizabeth Wilson stated that â€Å"fashion is obsessed with gender, defines and redefines the gender boundary. †[iv] In this contemporary society, fashion is androgynous, however, we use fashion as a tool to help us to perform the script, and let others to have a clearer identification of our gender. Therefore, fa is one of the most effective examples to demonstrate how masculinity and femininity are gendered. Clothing clarifies cultural ideas about gender; it helps in constructing self-controlling, self-regulating subjects with their â€Å"proper looks†; it adds layers of cultural meanings onto the body. Vision is the first thing to attract peoples attention, clothing is an indicator which help us to determine the sex of a person, for example, there are only little appearance differences between infant boys and infant girls, parents most often use clothing to avoid confusion. Boys are typically dressed in blue color, and often decorated with sporting, cars or superheros prints; girls are dressed in pink and decorated with flowers or hearts. [v] In 2010, there was a news â€Å"Rooms with a hue: The all-pink and all-blue photographs that prove girls and boys develop gender specific preferences to colour† by Daily Mail Reporter, it shows that girls usually like pink and boys usually like blue. [vi] However, before World War II, girl would be thought as butch if she wearing pink. At that time, pink was the boys colour (because its an offshoot of angry red) and blue was the girls colour (because it was thought to be calming and serene). [vii] This can indicate that colour performance is gendered, people set a value on one colour, and use that colour to help them perform their scripts better. Nowadays, blue provides a energetic feeling while pink is a girlish and gentle. Not only the use of colour, but also the types and the cuttings of clothing can illustrate that appearance is gendered. In order to emphasise male and female bodily features, the shoulders part of suit of men are stiffened, and the womens clothing is usually skinny which these can add â€Å"masculinity† and â€Å"femininity† to the body. [viii] The suit especially the stiffened shoulders, can help broadening the shoulders and chest, shows that men are strong. Also, men’s bodies are rendered invisible, which ignored their erotic display and men’s suits are usually promoting â€Å"professional† images of male, show that they are independent and competitive.

Europe between Wars essays

Europe between Wars essays In this compelling account of Europe between the wars, Martin Kitchen outlines the intensifying crisis by looking at the peace settlement, followed by the economic and social troubles of the interwar period. Many of Martins books relate to the wars fought in the twentieth century, from World War I to the origins of the cold war. Europe between the wars starts off with a solid background of how the peace movements took place in the early 1900s followed by Martins profound discussions of the economic repercussions. Later in the book, he discusses the situation in France and Eastern Europe and concludes his book with a chapter on the origins of the Second World War. President Woodrow Wilsons peace movements were seen as sparkling to some while others, including Martin, referred to his fourteen points as vague, impractical and largely unacceptable to his allies. But later in the book he suggests that Wilsons fourteen points were not properly studied and his views and speeches were ignored by the majority. The author then points out the Sykes-Picot Agreement, in which Syria was to go to France and Palestine to Britain. The situation was further complicated by the Balfour Declaration of 1917, which accepted the Zionist demand for a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Even though the book was written in 1988, there was much tension going on in the Israeli occupied areas at that time. Martin does not discuss the background and the eventuality of the treaties in full as these conflicts in the West Bank are key concerns in todays politics. The most absorbing and enthralling chapter of the book is the one that discusses the post war economic situation in Europe. Martin has elaborated the situation by giving facts and statistical figures that include almost every economic aspect and terms used in the modern world. From unemployment to inflation, exchange ...

Job as a professional DJ Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Job as a professional DJ - Essay Example Since this job is somewhat seasonal, I also need to be able to manage the business side of things so that I do not end up in financial distress between jobs. The reason I got started in this business is because I had a vast knowledge of music selections from all eras. Since I have always been an outgoing and easy to work with person, I put my networking and promotional skills to work for me. I basically learned how to deejay on the job. That meant that I needed to learn how to read the crowd and give them what they want to hear. I also needed to carry a wide array of music and music mash ups with me in order to keep my repertoire fresh. I need to further hone my skills as a master showman in order to make my scratching, flipping, and other entertainment stage skills more interesting and enticing for the audience to watch. Although I carry a vast array of music with me to my gigs, there are still times when I do not have the kind of music that the audience wants to hear. I solved that by bringing the right tools with me so that I can easily access music online in order to accommodate my audience desires. I also found myself faced with a crashed disc drive at one gig. That taught me to always bring an external hard drive as back up every time I have an engagement. Since learning to overcome those problems, I have been able to keep my audience happy but I still need to work on my marketing skills. In order to do that I need to work on my communication skills so that I can better sell myself to club owners. As a new DJ, I feel that I was able to easily and speedily adapt to the lifestyle. There are not that many jobs in the market that allow you to get paid to listen to music and party. That is an uncommon perk of a job that makes me the envy of my friends. It is almost like I get paid to party every night rather than work. The only drawback is having to sometimes deal with drunk and rude people during my shows.

Chapter 13 & 14 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Chapter 13 & 14 - Assignment Example The company has been developing new product according to taste and preference and food habits of different geographic segment. But the main aim is to standardize its products globally. This is why the company successfully adopted the concept of think global, act local. Quality of the product ensures its shorter supply chain to get fresh raw food and vegetable products. The company currently has more than 24,500 outlets across the globe and high availability of its product through its worldwide presence enforces the demand and also brand recognition (MacDonald, 2009, p.15). Though the company faces completion from regional players in different regional market but it has segmented brand as premium food and service brand. McDonalds adapts ‘glocal’ i.e. an integrated mix of global and local for its global workforce. All restaurants of this brand consist of local workforce who better understand the demand of the local customers. Physical evidence of this brand is represented by its single message in all the restaurants in the world. Structure and environment of the restaurants, processing of foods and the way of service of the employees in the restores are similar in all McDonald restaurants. High focus on customer service along with the product quality has made it a leading food service brand in the world. The Ritz-Carlton is one of the leading hotel brands in the world. It is recognized for its premium quality of service especially the employees try their best to help in anticipated needs or desire. Service quality is the only area where the leading brands compete with each other. Ritz Carlton provides high quality of training program to its employees to provide best quality service to the customers. This brand always tries to provide unique service quality so that it can drive for future retention of the customers. Key differences are employees training programs, importance on customer satisfaction and service values. Mayo Clinic

Safeguarding the Welfare or Children and Young People Essay Example for Free

Safeguarding the Welfare or Children and Young People Essay Understanding current legislation, policies and procedures is essential to ensure that safe guarding is carried out effectively. Knowing the risks ad possible consequences that children and young people can be affected by is important within a supporting role. It is also important to fully understand the responsibilities and when to take action. Legislations, guidelines and policies are put into place to help protect the welfare and safeguarding of children and young people. Usually parents and carers have the primary responsibility for safeguarding their children but in certain circumstances agencies, families or friends have the responsibility to safeguard their protection. The following is an outline of current legislations, guidelines, policies and procedures within the UK. The United Nations convention on the rights of a child 1989 was approved by the United Kingdom in 1991. â€Å"Article 19 states children’s rights to be protected from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation including sexual abuse† (Burnham L 2008 P16) Children Act 2004 This act includes two important sections which focus specifically on children protection. Burnham (2008) says that section 47 states that the local authority has a duty to investigate when ‘they have reasonable cause to suspect that a child who lives, or is found, in their area is suffering, or likely to suffer significant harm. Section 17 states that services must be put into place by local authority to ‘safeguard and promote the welfare of children within their area who are in need’. The Children Act 2004 provides legal framework for ‘every child matters’. Burnham states the act includes the requirements for: Services to work more closely to form a integrated service A common assessment framework to help early identification of need Shared database of information which is relevant to the safety and welfare of children Earlier support for parents who are experiencing problems. Another legislation that is in place is the Education Act 2002. This legislation  sets the responsibility of all people that work in schools to ensure that children are safe and free from harm. These include governing bodies, head teachers, teachers and supporting staff. These legislations are in place to help ensure all children’s safety and wellbeing is monitored. Schools develop policies to ensure the safety, security and wellbeing of their pupils. All staff are given different responsibilities that they must follow. Procedures are also put into place so staff no the correct way to report or support pupils that are in need or in significant harm. â€Å"Policies may be separate or incorporated into one health and safety policy but all must include sections which cover issues of; Safeguarding and protecting, and procedures for reporting E- Safety Bullying, including cyber bullying†. (Burnham L 2008 P17) â€Å"The department for education provides guidance for local authorities including schools. Schools use these guidelines to develop their own policies and procedures† (Burnham L 2008 P17). The department for education guidance are as follows; * Working together to safeguard children (2010) * What to do if you’re worried a child is being abused (2006) This guidance is given to help those working with children. It looks at the actions they should take if they are concerned for a child. This will include who to inform. Agencies such as the children’s social care will be contacted to help with support and caring for the child. The children’s social care, have the key role to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in need. Working together to safeguard children (2010) sets out duties of organisations and how they must work together. LSCB has particular roles and responsibilities to oversee the work of other agencies. If agencies work in partnership, more support and care can be given to children in need. The more professional help the children or young people receive, the less chance of them being affected later on in childhood or adulthood. UCCIS launched in 2008 after being concerned about the safety of the children and young people using the i nternet. There are now codes of practice in schools which will prevent pupils from entering unsafe sites. However their protection at home is their parent’s responsibility. Schools  will try their hardest to support parents by promoting awareness to pupils about normal and not normal activities on the internet. All schools must have a E-safety code of practice and have software in place to prevent pupils from seeing unreasonable software. Schools have a key role in protecting and recognising children that are in need because they spend more time with the pupils than any other agencies or authorities. However it is only their role to protect and support the pupils and inform agencies. The agencies, normally children’s social care are the first contacted after a concern has been raised about a child or young person. Schools will help to show awareness to their pupils to show what is acceptable and not acceptable behaviour, this including awareness of e-safety. When children are using the internet schools have the responsibility to monitor what the pupils are looking at and making sure software is in place to safeguard the children. Schools will have the responsibility to provide additional support to protect pupils on the at risk register. They will have to give the opportunity to all members of staff about additional training in safeguarding pupils. All adults that work with children will have to observe for signs of abuse, monitor and record any concern. All concerns must be referred to, each school having different procedures in place on how to deal with a concern over a pupil. Another agency that works in partnership are the police. They have the responsibility to gather evidence on whether a crime has been committed and produce evidence to agencies or the court if necessary. They have the responsibility to take immediate action if they feel a child is in immediate danger. Health professionals have a major responsibility in the welfare of safeguarding children. They have direct contact within their establishments. Many doctors and emergency services tend to injuries in children and their role is to examine the child or young person and identify if there is a cause of concern that the injury was not sustained accidentally. They have the duty to report to child services if they feel a child has been harmed or may be in need of help and support. The NSPCC is a charitable organisation that works to protect children from harm. They have the power to take immediate action of they feel a child is at risk or being abused or being abused. The police and children’s social care have these powers alongside the NSPCC. NSPCC also support families and children. They promote awareness about abuse through  advertising and training programmes. They offer an emergency helpline for children in distress or harm and provides a helpline to the public. They share their expertise with other professionals, For example they may go into schools to help promote awareness of abuse and show support. Finally children’s social care have the responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of children who are in need. They work in partnership with other agencies and parents, giving support when needed. If the children’s social care feel a child is at risk they will follow procedures that are in place. These are as follows as Burnham (2008) states. * Carry out an initial assessment, to find out about the child’s needs, the ability of the parents to meet the child’s needs, family and environment factors. * Meet and conduct interviews with the child or family members * Gather information from other agencies about the child’s circumstances. * Take the lead during a child’s protection conference. * Take action when a child is in immediate danger. In conclusion all agencies work in partnership to safeguard the welfare of children and young people. Guidelines, procedures, policies and legislations are put in place to help people that work with children. They are put in place to prevent a wrong decision being made and to make sure the child’s safety is their priority. All adults that work with children must know all the current procedures so the child can receive the best support that is needed.

Cosmic Life and Death of a Star Essay examples -- physics science spac

Conception Nebula as Star Nurseries Stars are born in the interstellar clouds of gas and dust called nebulae that are primarily found in the spiral arms of galaxies. These clouds are composed mainly of hydrogen gas but also contain carbon, oxygen and various other elements, but we will see that the carbon and oxygen play a crucial role in star formation so they get special mention. A nebula by itself is not enough to form a star however, and it requires the assistance of some outside force. A close passing star or a shock wave from a supernova or some other event can have just the needed effect. It is the same idea as having a number of marbles on a trampoline and then rolling a larger ball through the middle of them or around the edges. The marbles will conglomerate around the path of the ball, and as more marbles clump together, still more will be attracted. This is essentially what happens during the formation of a star (Stellar Birth, 2004). If the nebula is dense enough, certain regions of it will begin to gravitationally collapse after being disturbed. As it collapses the particles begin to move more rapidly, which on a molecular level is actually heat, and photons are emitted that drive off the remaining dust and gas. Once the cloud has collapsed enough to cause the core temperature to reach ten-million degrees Celsius, nuclear fusion starts in its core and this ball of gas and dust is now a star. It begins its life as a main sequence star and little does it know its entire life has already been predetermined. Although this may sound like a simple enough process there are actually several variables that must be just right for birth to happen. For one, the mass of the collapsing particles is crucial and ther... ...e times the mass of the sun. In this case gravity is overwhelmingly strong and is able to crush the neutron star towards zero mass. The result is a black hole with a gravitational field strong enough to not even let light escape (Brusca, 2004). Bibliography Brusca, Stone. Cosmos, Physics 304. Arcata, CA: Dr. Stone Brusca, 2004. Miller, Coleman M. Introduction to neutron stars. University of Maryland. 22 Nov. 2004 Star death: post- main sequence evolution of stars. 22 Nov. 2004 Stellar Birth. 11 Jan. 2004. 22 Nov. 2004 Tyler, Pat. Supernova. NASA’s Heasarc: Education and Public Information. 26 Jan. 2003. 22 Nov. 2004 Cosmic Life and Death of a Star Essay examples -- physics science spac Conception Nebula as Star Nurseries Stars are born in the interstellar clouds of gas and dust called nebulae that are primarily found in the spiral arms of galaxies. These clouds are composed mainly of hydrogen gas but also contain carbon, oxygen and various other elements, but we will see that the carbon and oxygen play a crucial role in star formation so they get special mention. A nebula by itself is not enough to form a star however, and it requires the assistance of some outside force. A close passing star or a shock wave from a supernova or some other event can have just the needed effect. It is the same idea as having a number of marbles on a trampoline and then rolling a larger ball through the middle of them or around the edges. The marbles will conglomerate around the path of the ball, and as more marbles clump together, still more will be attracted. This is essentially what happens during the formation of a star (Stellar Birth, 2004). If the nebula is dense enough, certain regions of it will begin to gravitationally collapse after being disturbed. As it collapses the particles begin to move more rapidly, which on a molecular level is actually heat, and photons are emitted that drive off the remaining dust and gas. Once the cloud has collapsed enough to cause the core temperature to reach ten-million degrees Celsius, nuclear fusion starts in its core and this ball of gas and dust is now a star. It begins its life as a main sequence star and little does it know its entire life has already been predetermined. Although this may sound like a simple enough process there are actually several variables that must be just right for birth to happen. For one, the mass of the collapsing particles is crucial and ther... ...e times the mass of the sun. In this case gravity is overwhelmingly strong and is able to crush the neutron star towards zero mass. The result is a black hole with a gravitational field strong enough to not even let light escape (Brusca, 2004). Bibliography Brusca, Stone. Cosmos, Physics 304. Arcata, CA: Dr. Stone Brusca, 2004. Miller, Coleman M. Introduction to neutron stars. University of Maryland. 22 Nov. 2004 Star death: post- main sequence evolution of stars. 22 Nov. 2004 Stellar Birth. 11 Jan. 2004. 22 Nov. 2004 Tyler, Pat. Supernova. NASA’s Heasarc: Education and Public Information. 26 Jan. 2003. 22 Nov. 2004

American Ethnic Literature

The word ‘ethnic’ denotes or derives from distinctive ways of living created by a group of people. Hence, American ethnic literature must be influenced by the ethnic or cultural ties of an ethnic American author, and must reveal to some extent the distinctive ways of living practiced by the ethnic group that the author represents. Biographical criticism entails a deeper comprehension of an author’s work by knowing the essential details of his or her life.Because writers are real people, the literature that they write generally contains reflections of themselves, the kinds of people they encounter in their lives, and the circumstances that they face. Not all people in the United States belong to the white European race. The Indians were settled on our land before the European whites came along to change the history of the land for ever. Africans were initially brought by the European whites to work as slaves on plantations. The Hispanics and the Asians also entered the land as immigrants.Still, the dominant community in the United States, in terms of population, is that of the European whites. Theirs is the predominant culture in America, and their literature is known as mainstream American literature. At the same time, the Native Americans maintain some of their ancient rites, in spite of America’s predominant culture of the European whites. The African Africans continue to be influenced by the music that their ancestors made on the ships that brought slaves to America (McBride, 2007). The Hispanic Americans and the Asian Americans also maintain aspects of their culture through their distinctive languages and foods.Unsurprisingly, these cultural differences must reveal themselves in American ethnic literature as compared to mainstream American literature. American Ethnic Literature 2 All of the different groups representing the Americans today are maintaining their ethnic differences, even if many of their members feel that they are o ne with the mainstream culture. As a matter of fact, it is but natural for the various ethnicities representing America in our time to be maintaining cultural differences, while trying to fit into the mainstream culture.As mentioned previously, the culture of different ethnic groups must reveal itself in the writings of ethnic American writers. When an American ethnic author does not reveal his or her distinctive culture in literature, however, it is reasonable to claim that the person’s writings represent mainstream American literature. Zane, for example, is an African American author of erotic fiction who is writing mainstream American literature. Although the author belongs to an American ethnic group, her writings do not reflect her ethnicity.She sometimes uses middle-class African American characters in her novels, but she also employs white American characters. Even so, an American writer of European descent may also be expected to do the same. Besides, Zane does not ma ke references in her books to her own race as opposed to the Americans of European descent, and neither does she complain about the problems that the Africans have gone through in America. Rather, the characters in Zane’s erotic novels could be people belonging to any number of races (Zane, 2001; Zane, 2005).One of Zane’s novels, Afterburn, is about a chiropractor in Washington D. C. who visits his local bank because he is interested in one of the employees of the bank. He believes that she is too beautiful to be a single woman, which is the reason why he has never asked her out. When American Ethnic Literature 3 he does, however, he finds out that she has a history of disastrous relationships. He, too, has a broken heart. And so, the two of them finally get together (Zane, 2005). While forming their bond, the man and the woman have to meet a variety of characters who add spice to their relationship.The woman has a fickle minded mother, the man has got playboys as budd ies, and then there are lovers from the past that keep trying to disrupt the new relationship. Nevertheless, Zane manages to turn the relationship into a tie of deep love and longing (Zane, 2005). Most importantly, she creates a story that could happen in anybody’s life. Because Zane is an American, her literature must be considered mainstream American literature. She is an African American, but her literature cannot be considered American ethnic literature seeing that it does not solely reflect the culture and values of the African Americans.Instead, Zane is one of those ethnic American writers who appear to have totally blended into the mainstream American culture. On a similar note, Jamaica Kincaid (1990) in her novel, Lucy, presents a nineteen year old young woman by the name of Lucy Josephine Potter who is trying to forget her roots in the West Indies. In the process, no doubt, the girl is trying to blend into the mainstream American culture. Kincaid is an American ethni c writer who was born in the West Indies (Benson & Hagseth, 2001). A biographical critic might assert that Lucy, the girl who came to North America as a nanny, is a reflection of the author.Regardless, Kincaid’s novel about Lucy may be considered American ethnic literature only because it contains glimpses of the author’s ethnicity. Lucy hated her old home, a British colony; and yet memories of her mother continue to haunt her, taking her back to West Indies. Her mother acts as a symbol for Lucy’s motherland. The American Ethnic Literature 4 girl feels emotionally unattached to her mother, and finds a better motherly model in the United States by the name of Mariah, who acts as a symbol for the new land the girl has come to occupy.Mariah replaces Lucy’s mother with respect to the kinds of feelings people are taught by nature or nurture to feel for their mothers. Moreover, Kincaid’s novel establishes a clear difference between Lucy’s mother a nd the character of Mariah. For example, Lucy’s mother was emotionally dependent on her daughter, to the point of becoming an emotional pain. The mother was also neglectful of the needs of her young daughter. Mariah, on the contrary, treats Lucy as a grownup. She exposes Lucy to the museums of America, and gives her presents.She also looks out for the well-being of the young Lucy during the time that she is adjusting to the new environment (Kincaid). Lucy feels far from her roots in West Indies. She would not read her mother’s letters that arrive in the mail. She wants to avoid the emotional pain that her mother brought into her life, by being oppressively reliant on her daughter. Furthermore, Lucy is trying to leave colonialism behind. She had shown rebellion in West Indies toward the oppressive invasion of the British. She had refused to sing in her school choir, â€Å"Rule, Britannia!† Just as her mother keeps on being brought to mind, colonialism surfaces in young Lucy’s flashbacks of West Indies. She wants to get away from it all. In America and on her own, the young girl would like to be an individualist, able to make her own decisions, and forgetting all that was painful and negative about the past (Kincaid). Because the focus of Kincaid’s book is the girl’s desire to blend into the mainstream American culture while forgetting the past, the novel may also be termed mainstream American American Ethnic Literature 5 literature.Given that it describes the author’s ethnicity thoroughly, however, it must be considered in part American ethnic literature. Amy Tan’s (1989) The Joy Luck Club is similarly part mainstream and part ethnic American literature. Containing sixteen stories that revolve around conflicts between old-fashioned mothers who are Chinese immigrants, and modern daughters who have been raised in the United States, the novel describes the mainstream American culture in addition to the Chines e culture. Tan is an Asian American author, and therefore her writing should have been ethnic American in its entirety.However, her writing reveals that an Asian American author feels like an American before she can relate to the Asian experience. Additionally, although the writer tries to bridge the gap between the two cultures that she is supposed to represent by having her characters travel to China, it is a fact that the American experience cannot be discounted by any means. The only ethnic American authors who write American ethnic literature must be ones who reflect solely on their ethnicity in their works, showing utter disregard for the mainstream American culture.The following passage describes some of these authors: During the years preceding the Civil War, America’s ethnic and racial minorities began to publish novels, poems, histories, and autobiographies that explored what it meant to be an outsider in a predominantly white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant society. The r esult was a unique body of ethnic writing chronicling the distinctive experience and changing self-image of ethnic Americans. One of the earliest forms of African American literature was the slave narrative, graphic American Ethnic Literature 6first-person accounts of life in bondage, written by former slaves, including William Wells Brown, Frederick Douglass, and Josiah Henson†¦ These volumes not only awoke readers to the hardships and cruelties of life under slavery, they also described the ingenious strategies that fugitive slaves used to escape from bondage. William and Ellen Craft, for example, disguised themselves as master and slave; Henry â€Å"Box† Brown had himself crated in a box and shipped north. †¦Native Americans, too, produced firsthand accounts of their lives. Among the mostnotable is the Life of Ma-Ka-Tai-Me-she-kia-Kiak or Black Hawk (1833), a classic spiritual and secular biography, in which the Sauk warrior explains why he resisted white efforts to seize Indian land in northwestern Illinois during the Black Hawk War (1832). William Apes, a Pequod, published one of the earliest histories from an Indian vantage point in 1836. John Rollin Ridge, a Cherokee journalist, published the first novel by an Indian in 1850, The Life and Adventures of Joaquin Murieta, which recounts the heroic adventures of a Robin Hood–like bandit in California who protects Mexican Americans from white exploitation. Much more than a simple adventure story, this novel is also a thinly veiled protest of the treatment of Native Americans by someone who had personally experienced the removal of the Cherokees from their tribal homelands in Georgia (â€Å"American Ethnic Literature,† 2007). Such is truly American ethnic literature. It focuses solely on the ethnicity of the author, while disregarding if not rejecting the mainstream culture.On the other hand, novels by ethnic American authors that reveal the differences between mainstream Americ an culture as opposed American Ethnic Literature 7 to the authors’ respective ethnicities are not true American ethnic literature. This is due to the fact that the authors as well as their characters have attempted to blend into the mainstream culture by getting rid of their ethnic identities to a large extent. American Ethnic Literature 8 References American Ethnic Literature. (2007). Digital History. Retrieved September 24, 2007, fromhttp://www. digitalhistory. uh. edu/database/article_display. cfm? HHID=646. Benson, K. M. , & Hagseth, C. (2001). Jamaica Kincaid. Voices from the Gaps. Retrieved September 24, 2007, from http://voices. cla. umn. edu/vg/Bios/entries/kincaid_jamaica. html. Kincaid, J. (1990). Lucy. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. McBride, J. (2007, April). Hip Hop Planet. National Geographic. Tan, A. (1989). The Joy Luck Club. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons. Zane. (2001). Addicted. New York: Atria Books. ——. (2005). Afterburn. New York: Atria Books.