The Social Construct Brothers of Mayhem

Social constructionism is “that reality is socially constructed and that the sociology of knowledge must analyze the processes in which this occurs. The key terms in these contentions are “reality” and “knowledge,” terms that are not only current in everyday speech, but that have behind them a long history of philosophical inquiry.” (Berger &; Luckmann, The social construction of reality a treatise in the sociology of knowledge 2011) It is the internalized mental battle of what is perceived as facts as a shared thinking about the environment and groups of people.

Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann breakdown social construct into three stages of externalization, objectification and internalization. These concepts people construct in their minds shape their realities and interactions with others, in order to fathom and make sense of the world and personal experiences. The theory is that the interpretations are hand guided by “common knowledge”, community, practices and even socio-historical concepts; but rarely done in isolation. Once the majority accepts these interpretations then it becomes a reality regardless of anything else, and it is how they make sense of the world around them. It is a hyped up mental concept that is not naturally an evolutionary progression but rather accepted by the agreeing participants to its concept.

Externalization social construct will perceive another by their exterior like a person feeling superior to another based on skin color or hair texture. It is probably the easiest explanation to how racism is a social construct. It is based on the externa. Objectification is the treating of nonobjective “things” as objects; like when women or children are seen as objects. A false sense of superiority is established which only validates their behavior of mistreatment because underneath it all; the other is an object. Externalization and objectification are close knit siblings that frequently influence each other. Internalization is the objectified social reality is deeply internalized into the consciousness that it becomes unrequited truth; in short the person is stuck in their allegory cave almost by choice. It is the Matrix.

The social constructs are often what I vent about to those who would hear and more to those who understand my experiences. For example, I was purchasing a few items from the supermarket and there were two women brined with ignorance; I had no judgment against them. I was heavily interested in my conversation on the phone. Woman A was waiting on Woman B to bring one more item so they could finish their transaction. Woman A see’s me standing behind her in no particular rush and gets angry at Woman B for taking too long. Woman B arrives and glares at me and makes sense of her her friend rushing her, was due to the “Latin woman” behind her obviously rushing. They proceed to agree in unison in front of me calling me Hispanic, Latin and Spanish racial slurs. I chose to ignore them and focus on my conversation with my friend but I was so irritated; because when I leave my house in the morning I see the color of my skin that I love. These women were supposed to be “my people”, but their social constructs decided on how I looked to them; meant I was not descended of the same but rather something else that was below them. Me ignoring them was irritating them.

I had a friend ask me “Did you correct them?”, which I did not, the conversation with them deemed useless. From my perspective, if I was Spanish, Hispanic or Latin; I was offended on behalf of them. I have had these meaningless conversations before, and “correcting them” only invalidates their internalized social constructed cheap concepts. It does not teach them. It does not change them. Epiphanies are not a dime a dozen unless one is accustomed to critical thinking; something that with age I realize is not as common as it should be. It is also hard to correct someone of that statue of ignorance without sounding like “OH MY GOD I AM NOT SUCH and SUCH!”, and coming across low key ashamed to be associated as another culture. However, the experiences make me feel closer to the community, but not enough to ever claim it fully.

There was a time where I felt safe only in the Muslim community during the winter months because of how I dressed my head to stay warm. Ignorant individuals blatantly wearing their horse blinders proudly would assume my regular scarf was a hijab without actually knowing what one truly is or what it is for. Wearing a hijab is an Islamic concept of modesty and privacy and generally expressed with women’s attire; they are usually made of Chiffon, Cotton or Silk. The scarf I wrapped around my head was more of an unintentional Eastern European headscarf wrap the way my mother or grandmother had worn it. My complexion and the scarf made some people scared of me where I would hear comments about “bombs”, “those people”.

I always worried about the people who would get angry at me and if I walked into a store to sit down to eat and remove my scarf, the rhetoric of “oh she’s not Muslim never mind” and a friend would ask for confirmation of “are you sure?”, followed by “Yeah they can’t take their scarves off”; only for me to realize I was in some kind of danger because of they assumed by my appearance. Again the externalization of the social construct they are above me because “I am Muslim” combined with objectification and internalization, siblings closer than blood. However, the experiences make me feel closer to the community, but not enough to ever claim it fully.

I dated an older White guy who perceived me as Native American; yes the mixture is there but I do not walk around speaking of Native American experiences. I leave those stories to those only relished in it. However, I did not know he perceived me as Native American until Thanksgiving. He was introducing me to his family, primarily his daughter after am extremely short time of dating. As I walked towards the dinner table of all White people he entertains himself to the idea of “Hey guys! Happy Thanksgiving! And I brought a real Indian to our Thanksgiving!” The Native blood that stemmed from me spiked up in fear of “Oh my God, are they going to scalp me? Is he going to hurt me?” His family realized his “joke” was tasteless and made me nervous and they tried to make me feel more welcomed, but I felt so uncomfortable. He wanted to call me his “Pocahontas”, which is really a nickname but not the real name of Amonute Matoaka. I referred to him as John Smith but I do not think he quite caught my reference; everyone else did.

This is also the same guy who did not think racism still existed when I would catch the much older generations of Whites or Blacks give me nasty looks for being around his arm (not all, but enough to notice to watch our backs cause he wasn’t). I had asked him what made him say the “Pocahontas, ‘Native’ thing during Thanksgiving”. He explained he knew I was Native when he saw me by my nose and cheekbones; it was an awkward conversation. Again, by the externalization social construct of his community of Middle American perspective, he spotted my “Indian”, and felt comfortable enough to point it out. In fact, he was very proud that he could “ethnically” identify people by truly looking at their features because most people don’t know what “Native’s look like”. I have had Native’s from different times of my life stop me and refer to me as sister welcoming, but it’s not an everyday occurrence. I have also had people tell me “Impossible! Natives are all light skinned”, then I remember the day a Black man approached me in the elevator and called me “Red Skin” and accused me of being a “fake black”. The three violent brothers of social construct strikes again for my red skin. However, the experiences make me feel closer to the community, but not enough to ever claim it fully.

Children in my class growing up would pull back their eyes and make up the Chinese language to talk to me. I did not understand it; these kids were around the same color as I. I never woke up and defined myself as “Asian” or felt that I was, I wake up feeling like me; just an American. Kids asking me if I knew kungfu, which in hindsight, doesn’t help that my father studied martial arts though he did not want to teach me. I would get nicknames of “Black China Doll” which sometimes was a term of endearment and other times it was meant as an insult. Those who threw Asian racial slurs at me pretended as if my color did not exist.

The three brothers of social construct are at again. I found it hard to make friends at playground because I did not fit the external community acceptance of what Black Americans look like; to my own community. I stared hard in the mirror often and did not see the difference. Sure, my eyes are small and I struggle with eyeshadow; but my color only changes between seasons not for anything else. I was the “Asian” kid and it placed me in a strange pocket of life because I did not wake up and feel Asian. I do not talk about Asian Concepts or culture. Sure, watching the Chinese operas and television calmed me since I was 2 (well that and Alf); but I do not announce “I AM ASIAN HEAR ME ROAR!”. I leave those stories for the Asian community whether of Chinese descent, Korean, Malaysian, Singapore, Vietnamese, Indian, Japanese and more.

It was unnerving to walk around and be targeted for being “Asian” when I was not “pure”. I felt awkward trying to correct these people because to them I was not theirs and left to the Asians but I did not feel like I could go to the Asian community and say “Brother, Sister”. The closest I felt would be randomly when someone of an Asian background looks at me in my face and say “You’e Asian”; my usual response is shock and a feeling of displacement; and then usually they pat the seat next to them for me to sit with them. While some others deemed I was being “too Asian” for them to be Black; so I was disqualified and should sit else where. However, the experiences make me feel closer to the community, but not enough to ever claim it fully.

Social construct is a delusional concept that wraps society in ways most care to admit. Externalization, Objectification and Internalization, the brothers of chaotic social construct seek to rue the days of those minding their own business. I have had conversations with those who felt women were people, but not black women; and I became an object or a fetish. My mixed experiences sometimes anger people who feel the need to remind me “I see you as Black!” “You’re Black!”, as if I woke up thinking my skin color was different than when I went to sleep; without any cognitive comprehension or listening to me when I say “I like my skin color from the reds like strawberries in the summer to the yellow golds of the winter.

The social construct mayhem brothers decide I am supposed to speak a certain way due to the color of my skin by others, including the community with internalized social construct of their own. I am not a fan of rap music except for a few handful of songs and to some my very choice of music is against the social construct of where I belong; or the television shows I like or foods I prefer to eat.

The S.C. Brothers often rear their faces for women with males who genuinely see women as objects to own, disown, use and discard. It is the concept that women are not person’s of their own; lawmakers make an excellent example of this by even attempting to ban even ecotopic pregnancy abortions as if the woman’s life is not threatened by an unviable fetus causing her internal bleeding. It is the concept that women are meant for breeding purposes. It is the concept that made my ex-boyfriends think they were meant to tell me how to dress or compel them to tell me I am difficult to control, because externally I am below them and only meant to be objectified by their internalized misogynistic social construct.

The restrictions of the social constructs held by others have provided me an eclectic perspective that allows me to genuinely relate to others of other backgrounds, but not everyone can share that experience with me; the experiences may reinstall the software the S.C. Brothers often play. It does beg the question of what would put the S.C. Brothers to rest, and the only persisting resolution to be found seems to stem from conversation and comprehension; sprinkled with open mindedness to other people’s experiences. Enlightenment to oneself and others. Someday. I hope humankind can achieve it; or perhaps I am being too optimistic to a bleak future.

References

Berger, P. L., &; Luckmann, T. (2011). The social construction of reality a treatise in the sociology of knowledge. Open Road Media.