Gender and Class - A Story of How Immigration Changed Me - Term Paper Example

 When thinking about who I am now, all that I have become and everything that I still wish I could be, I cannot help but think about my roots and how gender and class have affected them; and thus, have taken on important roles in shaping my identity. Being a Jewish immigrant from Russia is something that makes for a complicated identity; because I am also a woman from a middle class family adds to the complex flavor of who I really am. Having incorporated the American culture, I also consider myself as an American woman—empowered to realize my dreams and live my life to the fullest. However, without my Jewish and Russian background, I know that I will not be who I am today as they still compose a big part of my identity. This shows how one’s social environment is integral to the formation of one’s identity, which includes one’s attitudes, beliefs and aspirations, as well as the motivation and means in achieving these aspirations. Now, one’s social environment is affected by such limiting concepts as gender and class. I say limiting because I believe that gender and class only serve to restrict one’s right to be all that they want to be and all that they can be. These two concepts present stereotypical attitudes and beliefs. They box people into categories and present limitations to people’s actions and the realization of their ambitions and aspirations. In order to better understand what I am talking about here, it is best to first define what gender and class are. Gender, according to Jennifer Grove and Stuart Watt (2004, p. 44), can be differentiated from sex, which is simply a biological classification, by the fact that it “includes the social attributes associated with being a woman or a man in a particular society.” In this sense, when talking about gender, one talks about femininity and masculinity as opposed to just being male or female. Note that gender is contextualized in every society in that one society may view and treat femininity and masculinity in different ways. “Behind the apparent simplicity of two genders, there is a diversity of gender characteristics, and many different influences are at work” (Grove and Watt, 2004, p. 44). This means that each social environment is different and has certain effects on how gender is perceived. How gender is perceived in a particular society then contributes greatly to how people act within that social environment due to the constraints gender has placed on them. To be more specific, it is almost always the woman who gets the shorter end of the stick. In fact, in many societies, women were considered to be second class citizens. It is sad that despite women’s liberation and the acceptance of the image of the modern woman, there are still societies that place the woman in the home, taking care of the husband and children—limiting their advance into the professional world. In my case, I grew up as a Jewish girl in Russia, a country who still harbors some anti-Semitic feelings as evidenced by some of the hate crimes that I remember ending up in the news when I was still living there. And although women can have careers, the responsibility of taking care of the household is still on their shoulders. This is why the responsibility of women—earning a living and being a housewife—has doubled. Furthermore, there is still a “glass ceiling” in that it was acceptable for women to work in the professional world, but they still do not get high positions, even if they are more than qualified. I saw this happening to my Mom. She was working in order to help with the bills, with us being a part of the middle class. Although my Dad supported her in her career decisions, he also expects for her to always have food on the table ready during mealtimes and to take care of us. And although my Dad comforts her when she grumbles about the fact that she has been passed over for promotion in favor of men who she thinks do not deserve it, I think he secretly did not really want her to have that promotion because it would mean less time would be spent at home. Because of this, I have learned that being a woman entails a lot of responsibilities and that sometimes, no matter how hard we work, there are always external factors like gender and class that prevent us from accomplishing our dreams. When I was 20, my family immigrated to the United States. It was really hard for me because I did not speak English much. The Russian alphabet is different from the English one and so I had to learn the language and learn how to read and write English at the same time. I felt like I was back in middle school. I also had to adapt to the culture. While other people of the same age are going to college and creating a solid base for themselves, it seemed like I was still stuck in middle school due to my lack of language and social skills. I was not American and I did not fit in. I could not fit in because I could not even talk to them properly and make new friends. Most of the friends I had made were all Russian immigrants, within the Russian community. I realized that here in the U.S., social classes were vague in that poor people have rich friends and this is not frowned upon. It seems that there is a blurring of groups because one can be a member of many groups at the same time. But what I noticed is that immigrant communities seem to be one of the types of social class. This makes it very hard to adapt to the American way of life because we are still very rooted to the Russian culture and the language because our friends and family are all Russian. Although once one has successfully assimilated, he or she can join other groups that are decidedly very American, one still maintains the status of an immigrant. This is shown in cliques as Latinos go with other Latinos, Asians with other Asians, and the like. A social class is defined by its hierarchical structure based on status, wealth and power, and although it is apparent that this is also present in American society, jumping from one class to another and classes mixing together are quite common and are not frowned upon (Mackintosh and Mooney, 2004, p. 93). Furthermore, although gender equality has not yet been fully established, it is the home of women’s liberation and thus, women are far more respected here. Hence, there is a sort of freedom that comes with being an American woman. This is what I have observed in my first years here and this is also what has empowered me to achieve my dream of becoming a nurse. As a Jewish girl from Russia, I have become someone who has suppressed her dreams because from what I have seen in my mother’s case, I can work hard but never achieve them simply because I was a woman. Having immigrated to the U.S. realizing my dream became hampered by language impediment and cultural adaptation. But because I was able to successfully assimilate the American culture without losing my own and because I was able to see what women can do in America—regardless of their economic and social status and gender—I was able to find the confidence to work hard to achieve my dream. I worked hard at learning the English language and I started to believe in myself. I gained the self-confidence to make new friends and develop a more open and unbiased perspective in life. Even though I still remain true to my roots, I know now what I need to retain and what I need to do away with. The fact that I am a woman will never change; and this is not bad. I can follow my dreams and achieve them by working hard. Ultimately, gender and class do not matter. What matters most is what I aim to do with my life and working hard in order to live a successful and happy life. References Grove, J. and Watt, J. (2004). Identity and gender. In K. Woodward (Ed.), Questioning Identity: Gender, Class, Ethnicity (pp. 43-78). London: Routledge. Mackintosh, M. and Mooney, G. (2004). Identity, inequality and social class. In K. Woodward (Ed.), Questioning Identity: Gender, Class, Ethnicity (pp. 80-115). London: Routledge. Read More