Orientalism and Gender
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Said argues that the construction of the “orient” in opposition to the “occident” served as a way for Western colonial powers to justify their political and economic interference in “oriental” nations. The "orient" is constructed as the backwards and unreasonable opposite to the west. This differentiation established widely accepted differences between people who inhabited the "orient" and westerners, and created intentional stereotypes about "oriental" people.
I find Bald’s piece to be an illustrative example of brown folks using Orientalism to their advantage, he discusses the ability of brown men to transcend some of the limitations of their skin tone. Despite being darker skinned, by playing into their orientalist stereotype, Indian men managed to make space for themselves where they may not have otherwise been welcome.
I couldn’t help but notice the focus on brown men, and I wonder if there is a difference at the level of gender that allows men to take advantage of their orientalist stereotypes and not women. "Oriental" women tend to be either the object of fear or desire in a fetishistic way. In the time of Bald's piece, brown women were likely seen as both an object of desire and an abject object. Examples of this representation could be the sexualized figure of Princess Jasmine in Aladdin, as well as 19th century European fantasies of the haram. "Oriental" women at this time invoked both desire and revulsion.
I think these exoticized characters of orientalism are of their time. In more recent years and today, I do not think that brown people could still use orientalism to their advantage in this way as they are usually the object of white fear.
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Yes, the lack of women in Bald's chapter is noteworthy; the thing is that, as far as we know, there were very few South Asian women on Turtle Island during the 19th and early 20th century—as opposed to the UK, where there were quite a few, as we'll see. It's very interesting to think about how these Bengali peddlars' gender played into their success at "playing" Orientalism.
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@safianna_omalley You make great points! It's interesting to think about how this plays out today. While men in the past used these stereotypes to their advantage, women often had to deal with being seen as objects of desire or fear. This imbalance makes me wonder how have things shifted? Today, we still see the sexualization of women from these cultures in media, but for both men and women, "exotic" as you mentioned, doesn't come with the same advantages anymore. Instead, it often leads to negative perceptions or mistrust, especially with how "otherness" is viewed now. It's important that we keep looking at how these stereotypes affect people and how we can break free from them without falling into the same old harmful patterns.
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I also noticed the overlooking of South Asian women/women in general in Bald's discussions so far. A particular passage from the introduction of Bengali Harlem that I found noteworthy: "The most important neighborhood to their operation was New Orleans’ Tremé. Here, some of the Bengalis married and started families with African American women, who were part of recent black migrations into the city, or with Creole of Color women who had deep generational roots in Tremé. These local women of color became as important to the operations of the network as the women who remained in West Bengal villages; while Bengali women produced the embroidered goods that would be sold in the United States and tended to the homes, land, and families that the peddlers left behind for months or years at a time, women in New Orleans helped Indian men settle and establish themselves locally; they gave the peddler network stability and longevity" (Bald 8).
Maybe I am interpreting this incorrectly, but I read the passage as implying the Bengali businessmen had wives and families both at home in West Bengal and in the US. Though it positions the women/wives from both continents as crucial to the success of the business networks that were established, the mention of their contributed labor and experience is so brief and cursory. Were these wives and families aware of each other's existence? What were the social and economic dynamics of that sort of polygamous arrangement? Hopefully, I am misunderstood and the Bengali women left behind were more like mothers and sisters but even then... Like you say, under the orientalist gaze, brown women are reduced to servile "abject objects" without much voice.
And then of the South Asian women that did make it to America: "Fantastical images of “the Orient” saturated the Mardi Gras parades of this period, while “Eastern” fantasies thrived within the walls of the city’s brothels" (Bald 51). Say more!!!!
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This is a really interesting question, and in general the post shows critical thinking at its best in not simply celebrating the presence of these men. Indeed, Bald is vague. In most cases he does mean non-marital families, but non-consensual polygamy happened, and caused trouble, as we’ll see in our class on the West Coast Punjabis.