I have an issue with minority.
I have an issue with token of appreciation.
I am sure that I am appreciated sometimes – if only because I am a token.
In a man’s world, I am the token woman.
In a straight woman’s space, I am the token lesbian.
Now, I am sure all of the above are not unfamiliar to most of you, but wait – there is more.
In a room of lesbians, I am the token leather dyke.
Politically, more often than not, I am the token Indian lesbian carrying the minority of minority placard – alone.
Signs that you are a token:
1. When you are in the group yet not connecting with anyone, made worse by intentional alienation. Imagine everyone else speaking in a different language, one I do not understand even though all of us are fluent in English.
2. When the same people you fight alongside with decide to turn their backs on your issues. Case in point: Lesbian feminists pressed for the right to birth control and abortions in the 60s and 70s, yet received no support for gay and lesbian rights in return.
3. When you are primarily perceived by the characteristics of your race. Because I am Indian, people assume that I must be submissive, meek, sexy, cook well and so on. Other aspects of my personality are either ignored or seen as an anomaly.
What is worse is when some of your own kind choose to assimilate into the majority and live in a fantasy world blind to the struggles you have had to go through.
In a recent forum, the issue of diversity surfaced in a forum when people wondered why no women of colour are being represented. When I asked the other minority women in the room to ask the question, they actually told me that “Oh, but I’d get slapped for it.” and that “I’d be isolated.”, as if expecting some kind of punishment for speaking out of a minority space, even when the majority women claim that we all live in a diverse community and that every woman has a voice. I find this statement problematic because the majority women speak with power of giving the space instead of everyone sharing an equal space.
Does this article make you feel uncomfortable? It should.
It pokes in the minds of minority women, who have chosen to make themselves invisible in order to fit in because it speaks of the silent, gnawing isolation they go through.
It also forces the majority women to reflect upon how they might have been isolating when they speak of diversity, even though they might have an understanding of isolation in other forms eg. homophobia.
One reaction I expect from publishing this is an outcry and a request to educate. I think education is not as important as awareness. It takes the awareness of each other’s minority to bring a greater unity to an already fragmented community.
Comments
Mier said,
August 23, 2006 at 9:28 am
It would be wonderful to have minority women in forums. It is right to say that majority-women (women of the majority race in this instance) “claim” that every woman has a voice if, and only if, no such invitation was extended to minority women to participate on the forum.
I am not sure about other groups. But I think in online forums like Sayoni, you will find that noone is discriminated based on their race. (I might have been blind. And if i have been, please do enlighten me!) For the recent live forum, attempts were also made, although it was tough getting participants to begin with.
Perhaps it would help by sharing your experiences on how lesbians of other races have been isolated, as you stated above. =) We can all learn and grow together, benefiting from your life-stories. Thank you.
lublub said,
August 23, 2006 at 11:01 am
Hmm I don’t know how things might be for other people. But I can say for sure that the most racially diverse group of friends I have is in the GLBT community. And to me, they aren’t ‘tokens’. They are people just like anyone else and I don’t expect them to act a certain manner just because of their different skin colour. In fact, any differences between us seem to enrich our relationship cos I get to learn about other people. Rather than in a sea of chinese majority, you don’t learn very much more!
Then again, I think it’s all up to the individual person and if anything else, everyone has been a token in some part of their lives before. In the past, I was the ‘token’ youngster in a room full of older women who talk about work and colleagues and such ‘adult’ issues which I can’t relate to. But even though I AM the token in that instance, I get to learn alot about other people. I think there are pros and cons for having ‘tokens’, can u imagine how boring it is if everyone is assimilated and homogenous? If one desires diversity, one can expect to see tokens cos not everyone is the same.
I am a token too you know =) Everyone is. Somehow.
liz said,
August 24, 2006 at 3:00 am
Quote : ‘One reaction I expect from publishing this is an outcry and a request to educate. I think education is not as important as awareness. It takes the awareness of each other�s minority to bring a greater unity to an already fragmented community.’
I will have to disagree. Years of public education on ‘racial harmony’ in Singapore has not been able to bridge any racial divide but instead highlights the differences as a part of how we cannot come together as a family.
In your opinion, you’re a token in your own world but I wonder how many of us are tokens in our own way? Perhaps the question is not a matter of being the token but rather letting yourself be one. And a matter of highlighting similarities instead of differences.
My outcry to your article is; aren’t you playing the victim role a little too hard? I’m a racial minority and i find your article extremely disempowering.
Sheila said,
August 24, 2006 at 10:51 am
This article was not written to create a poor thing mindset. If I merely wallow in self-pity and have yet to come to terms with all these issues, I would not have been so out. It was to highlighting that there are underlying uncomfortable issues that are we deny in ourselves.
In talking about the forum,I was aware that efforts were made to reach out but was sad at the responses that other minority women gave to the chance to be more open as mentioned above.
Having said that ,although even people I know are not oppressive,there is systemic oppression.
The purpose of this article is not to criticise any particular group or individual for being racist, but to let minority women know that yes, it is still happening even if it is not immediately obvious and yes, you can and should do something about it.
It must be uncomfortable if we are all justifying how we are all tokens in some aspect or another. This is not about competing for the title of Most Oppressed Person but acknowledging that it is there before we can slowly work through it inside ourselves and support others along the way.
lublub said,
August 24, 2006 at 11:41 am
“The purpose of this article is not to criticise any particular group or individual for being racist, but to let minority women know that yes, it is still happening even if it is not immediately obvious and yes, you can and should do something about it. ”
So… do what exactly?
You mentioned awareness, I am only aware of minorities if they mention about it themselves, and hence educate others. But isn’t that what we do already?
“It must be uncomfortable if we are all justifying how we are all tokens in some aspect or another. This is not about competing for the title of Most Oppressed Person but acknowledging that it is there before we can slowly work through it inside ourselves and support others along the way. ”
But for me I don’t see how my ‘token-ism’ is a bad thing per se that needs or requires support specifically. Plus the justification of my tokenism is so as to show that yes, i have already acknowledged it and instead of ‘assimilating’ myself to look invisible, I REVEL in it to the point that I sometimes go overboard cos i rub it in people’s faces. So if this article makes me feel uncomfortable, it’s becos it doesn’t reflect how I see myself as a minority.
But that’s just me =)
I also feel that we can ALL AGREE that people have isolated and been isolated by others in some points of their lives, regardless of whether they are the minority or majority. And ALL of us need support, not just for the issue of tokenism with regards to race/religion or whatever.
Your article is the first step in higlighting the issue already. So that brings me back to my main question, what can we do constructively then? What is the next step?
immoralfear said,
August 24, 2006 at 12:12 pm
What some of you do not seem to comprehend is that being a token is one thing, feeling like the odd one out (eg. the three points Sheila brought up) is another altogether. I am perfectly comfortable and accustomed to being the only dyke in a gaggle of gay boys because I am accepted, not isolated. However, I cannot say the same for being in a group of people who might have more in common with me but unfortunately lack understanding.
Liz, your comment perturbs me a little. Should you not be heartened that someone is speaking up? Yes, we are all alike yet different and should ideally live harmoniously but this is obviously not always the case. While we should focus on similarities, it is unwise to do it at the expense of what makes us different and unique.
Knowledge of oppression (for feminists, homophobia and then, tokenism) is always the first step to empowerment.
Ng Yi-Sheng said,
August 24, 2006 at 3:48 pm
Hey guys,
I think a lot of people here are misunderstanding the meaning of the word “token”. Yes, lublub, when you’re the only young girl in a group of more adult gay women, you’re the minority, and you may feel left out – but that doesn’t mean you’re a token.
A “token” is an object. It has no real value of its own. It just stands for something else. It’s a coin that you use in a video arcade that has no real money value; it’s a piece in a game of monopoly that stands for a player.
To be a “token” means that people look at you and only see one side of you – that you’re Indian, that you’re Muslim, that you’re lesbian, that you’re bisexual. To be a “token” doesn’t mean you’re excluded – it means you’re included superficially.
Condoleeza Rice, a black woman who is Secretary of State for the United States, is a token. People look at her and think that her inclusion means that women’s rights and African-American rights are being respected – when in fact her government has been very damaging to women’s and minority race liberties.
When we say that we love Sayoni because it includes such a diverse group of people, are we truly seeking to understand and work with this diversity, or are we being self-satisfied – proud of our multi-coloured population – being ignorant of real minority issues?
If non-Chinese women in Sayoni are more consistently afraid to speak up than Chinese women, then that is an issue. They may feel like tokens – represented on the Monopoly board, but basically powerless.
That’s why Sheila said awareness is more important than education. We might have been taught a lot about the importance of diversity and harmony. But unless we make ourselves aware of the environment we live in – and the ways in which inequality persists – then we can’t work to create an environment that’s more supportive of multiple cultures.
Do you see any person as a token? Is the most obvious thing you know about her her race/her religion/her orientation/her age/her occupation? Or do you know her for her beliefs/the way she smiles/the things she says/the things that make her individual?
Judge everyone according to her own character, not necessarily representative of any category she falls into, but part of a wider community of people, with a different but equal culture from your own.
Then you’ll be able to claim you’re not being tokenist.
lublub said,
August 24, 2006 at 5:42 pm
Hmm I see. =) thanks yi-sheng for putting this into perspective.
Now I know for sure I ain’t a tokenist =P (Not 100% sure of cos, who can arrogantly say that? But at least I’m trying =D )
As for the issue about non-chinese on sayoni being afraid to speak up, I’m not too sure about that so I guess I’ll just leave it to them to share with us cos I definitely can’t speak for them. But in the community as a whole, I don’t think racial minorities are afraid to speak up. In the L3 forum, one of the ladies who shared alot during the Q&A session is definitely not chinese. And during Women’s Nite which is organised by RedQn, racial diversity is really apparent and the ladies of minority races there are confirm, stamp +chop, not shy about speaking up. I feel it ultimately depends on the individual’s character, not the individual’s race (on whether they feel like speaking up). There are plenty of chinese who are too chicken to speak up as well. I know of them and I ain’t proud of that either.
Also, I would also like to add that human interaction is a two-way exchange. Sometimes, people are isolated because they choose to be and amplify situations of isolation. Perhaps from superficial first or second impressions, one might feel that this clique of people are so different from me that they won’t understand how I feel. Thus I shut them out from my world or I feel that engaging/educating them is a waste of time. Let us remember that it takes two hands to clap …. to create a ‘token’.
Okay all talk and no action will get us nowhere so therefore, I have a suggestion!
We can all bring up our individual ‘token’ issues on the forum, and talk about it. From such dialogue we can share and learn from each other. But one must remember to do so NOT in a victimised manner or self-pitying cry, but with the neutral objective goal of creating awareness in mind. Correct me if i’m wrong, but I think there was a forum thread last time on having an ‘alternative’ forum to discuss issues such as BDSM and leather, which is not very well-known in the community. Why not create such a forum? Then those who are aware of such issues can educate us who don’t. =)
Some may say, that the forum is not conducive for people to bring up minority issues. If that is the case, what can we do then to change the forum such that it is more inclusive to ‘tokens’?
pleinelune said,
August 24, 2006 at 5:44 pm
I agree with Yisheng. Many of the people here, including the writer, have confused the word “token” with other things.
As an Indian woman as well, I have a few bones to pick with the issues brought up here. I am a minority of a minority of a minority(of a minority), being young, bisexual, Indian and an immigrant to boot. I can think of more classifications, but I won’t bore you. All the groups I’ve been in so far, I’ve been an absolute minority in one of these respects.
I’ve been a minority, I’ve been discriminated against, but I was never the “token” of anything. You’re a token when you are taken in for the sake of having diversity, when you are given a place in the community/group, and told to represent whatever group you are supposed to be part of.
Personally, I am not very much into playing the race card – I find it disempowers me, and it changes nothing about the situation.
pleinelune said,
August 24, 2006 at 5:46 pm
lublub, I would like to point out that Sheila was talking about minorities speaking up about their own issues of discrimination… not other issues.
immoralfear said,
August 24, 2006 at 6:06 pm
Personally, I am not very much into playing the race card – I find it disempowers me, and it changes nothing about the situation.
Not asking you to put your orientation/race/immigrant status above everything else, but if you are unwilling to address these issues, how could you expect the majority to understand?
May I also ask: Why is it disempowering?
pleinelune said,
August 24, 2006 at 6:20 pm
Because, if I keep blaming my failures on my race/sexuality/nationality, then I am not going to go anywhere. Or if I say, I can’t do this or that because I am being “oppressed” or discriminated against. That’ll just create a defeatist mentality in me, and I won’t be motivated to achieve anything.
sheilarajamanikam said,
August 24, 2006 at 6:26 pm
In a recent forum, the issue of diversity surfaced in a forum when people wondered why no women of colour are being represented. When I asked the other minority women in the room to ask the question, they actually told me that �Oh, but I�d get slapped for it.� and that �I�d be isolated.�, as if expecting some kind of punishment for speaking out
If non-Chinese women in Sayoni are more consistently afraid to speak up than Chinese women, then that is an issue. They may feel like tokens – represented on the Monopoly board, but basically powerless.
Personally, I am not very much into playing the race card – I find it disempowers me, and it changes nothing about the situation.
Do you not realize that all of these three quotes are saying the same things?
Minority is not synonymous with token. I have been both, and am sure that I know the difference. If you refer to Yisheng’s definition (thanks dear), I don’t see how I got it wrong.
If you folks notice,I haven’t said that any efforts have not been made but only that the fear is systemic.As in already in the psyche.
Why don’t you want to play the “race” card.Why does it disempower?
Is it because its easier to ignore that you are minority of a minority of a minority and easier to ignore that part of you then empower yourself by speaking about it,acknowledging it and being aware of it?
Is it truly easier to pretend that the pain doesn’t exist?
I want to make my point clear.I acknowledge that sayoni is diverse space and that many voices,different voices are speaking and are heard.I just want to encourage more voices so that Sayoni can be an even greater platform for enpowerment.It has that potential.
immoralfear said,
August 24, 2006 at 6:34 pm
I think that you are missing my point, which is essentially: If you refuse to talk about it, who else will? If feminists did not take the personal is political stand and make a statement, we’d still be barefoot, pregnant and tied to the stove.
Isn’t the defeatist mentality you mentioned a self-sustaining one? Should they not make you want to succeed even more?
immoralfear said,
August 24, 2006 at 6:37 pm
By the way, I am talking about discrimination in my last comment in reply to pleinelune’s – not tokenism. Sorry Sheila for hijacking your comments board.
pleinelune said,
August 24, 2006 at 7:54 pm
Could we please carry on this discussion on the forum? Getting way too long and tangential to the original topic.
http://forum.sayoni.com/viewtopic.php?t=1001
xav said,
August 25, 2006 at 1:15 am
sheila, i know exactly what you mean, and how you feel.
does get tiring sometimes don’t it. sometimes you wonder what sort of a difference you’re actually making. and what your existence means.
Mier said,
August 25, 2006 at 6:58 pm
“Having said that ,although even people I know are not oppressive,there is systemic oppression.”
Systemic oppression… Can someone explain this? Just a good example will do.
RSS feed for comments to this post