South Asians and Gender in North America

[pierre-augustin_habrih]

In the beginning of the twentieth century, some South Asians in America claimed to have Caucasian Aryan ancestry that was similar to the ancestry of white Americans. Thus, they believed that they should be American citizens (Puar, 176). However, a common ancestor in ancient times wasn’t enough, as white Americans and South Asians did not resemble each other, and were represented in different ways (Puar, 177). This reminds me of when we discussed Syrians who migrated to America at the end of the nineteenth century. Both Muslim and Christian Syrians considered themselves as white, although they were perceived as foreigners by white Americans. It is only after participating in the Great War that they were able to achieve some form of white status. This also reminds me of Iranians, who were sometimes perceived as white in America, and who have been transformed into ‘‘forever foreigners’’ due to the ways in which they are portrayed by Westerners. Coming back to South Asians, their cultural roles and the racism that they are subjected to disturbs theories about women being the bearers of culture. In fact, Sikh men have the role of safeguarding and transmitting their culture. Moreover, they symbolize the purity of nation which is typically ascribed to women (Puar, 195).
Upon arriving in America, South Asians were sexualized, gendered, and racialized in negative terms (Thangaraj, 374). Furthermore, they were perceived as having an asexual masculinity (Thangaraj, 375). Thus, they sought to adopt a stereotypical Black hyper-masculinity, which often expresses itself through sports (Thangaraj, 377). South Asians would adopt certain African American aesthetics, such as slang and clothing, in order to seem more urban and masculine (Thangaraj, 378). However, doing this caused Blackness to be presented as a monolith, as these representations did not account for the heterogeneity of Blackness (Thangaraj, 383). When we talked about Bengali peddlers at the beginning of the year, we mentioned that Black people would sometimes pretend to be South Asian in order to seem more mystical and exotic in the eyes of white Americans. They did this to be able to sell certain goods, that white people sought to buy from South Asians. I find it interesting that now we are talking about South Asians trying to adopt African American aesthetics in order to seem more masculine and ‘‘cool’’ in the eyes of white people (Thangaraj, 378).