Angela Aujla Others In Their Own Land Analysis

While reading the article written by Angela Aujla, “Others in Their Own Land”, it quickly became clear that her argument was that South Asians have been facing being “others” in Canada even if this was their home country. She shows this “other-ing” all through history up until today. Through looking at comments made by white, Anglo-Canadians, to the stereotypes South Asians have, and the questions asked, such as “where are you really from?” it is clear that South Asians have indeed been others in their own land. I was able to relate to many of the issues mentioned in this article because I am an Indian women currently living in Canada. While I thought some of her arguments felt valid and strong, there were others that felt weak and lacked …show more content…
Aujla mentions that she encountered a stranger who asked her where she was originally from. She goes on to say that his question served as a reminder of her “visible minority” through her skin colour. As I read this, I thought back to all of the times that I have been asked where I was from. I also had trouble answering this question because I am Indian, however was born in England and have never been to India. Sometimes I have been asked where my parents are from if I tell them where I was born. My parents were both born in Kenya which also doesn’t give people the answer they were looking for. I agree that this is a reminder that you are not seen as being from Canada. There have been many times in my life that I have been mistaken for a different ethnicity. I am guilty of being glad that I looked ambiguous enough for them not to know for sure. In a class discussion we had talked about people who were not of South Asian decent being asked where they were from. I wonder however if these people look to be white, is there a different intent to the question? I think that the point she was trying to make is that anyone with skin other than white will be seen as “other” in Canada. I think Aujla’s argument could have been stronger if she was able to provide some more context since this question could be asked to …show more content…
I think that she is right to a degree, however I disagree that this is the majority of the coverage done by the media on South Asian women. Having grown up watching the news I can say that the portrayal of anyone with brown skin changed dramatically after 9/11. I think that this change is still different to the coverage that she is talking about. I still hear news about arranged marriages gone wrong, but in comparison to other media coverage of South Asian women it is quite small. Aujla is lacking proof of her claims that the media represents South Asians in this way. She says that “these portrayals imply that South Asians do not “fit in” here”, I don’t agree with this claim based on what she is arguing about the media. There could have been many other ways of showing us why South Asians do not “fit in” in