“Normal” is defined as “constituting or conforming to a type or standard; regular, usual, typical...” (“Normal, adj. and n,”OED Online). In other words, normal refers to the default or most common category or characteristic. In America, the “normal” or default person is thought of as a white, heterosexual Christian male. Being a white male is probably considered the default because America was colonized and taken over by white Europeans (US history.org). By taking the land from the Native Americans, the white Europeans gained power and control of America. I suggest that because they gained control of the land first, white Europeans continued to possess the greatest amount of power and therefore, the highest status in society even after people
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For example, white people are considered unmarked compared to people of color because whiteness is “...not anything really, not an identity, not a particularising quality...” whereas blackness is “...always marked...and is always particularising” (Dyer 45). Whiteness “refers to the privileges of being a member of a socially unmarked category (Carter 1997;Fine 2004, 2009)... Members of minority or immigrant populations within the USA, are racially and ethnically identified by socially constructed notions of phenotypic traits; these “traits” are used to mark groups as different from being White. Whiteness, on the other hand, is the assumed norm - socially, physically, and even politically...” (Low 81). The idea of markedness applies not only to the color of one’s skin, but to any form of identification that has a norm in society. People who are marked are often discriminated against because people who are part of the default group that is placed “...in the superior position tend to receive greater economic remuneration and access to better occupations and/or prospects in the labor market, occupy a primary position in the political system, [and] is granted higher social estimation (e.g., is viewed as “smarter” or “better looking”)...” (Bonilla -Silva 469). Because of the unfairness of how marked versus unmarked people are treated in society, it is fair to say that America is not the perfect “American Dream” we idealize it as because every citizen of the United States does not “... have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative” (“American, n. and adj,” OED Online) America is not an level playing field, but rather a pyramid. I would like to further analyze this concept through the analysis of Tony
For example, white people are considered unmarked compared to people of color because whiteness is “...not anything really, not an identity, not a particularising quality...” whereas blackness is “...always marked...and is always particularising” (Dyer 45). Whiteness “refers to the privileges of being a member of a socially unmarked category (Carter 1997;Fine 2004, 2009)... Members of minority or immigrant populations within the USA, are racially and ethnically identified by socially constructed notions of phenotypic traits; these “traits” are used to mark groups as different from being White. Whiteness, on the other hand, is the assumed norm - socially, physically, and even politically...” (Low 81). The idea of markedness applies not only to the color of one’s skin, but to any form of identification that has a norm in society. People who are marked are often discriminated against because people who are part of the default group that is placed “...in the superior position tend to receive greater economic remuneration and access to better occupations and/or prospects in the labor market, occupy a primary position in the political system, [and] is granted higher social estimation (e.g., is viewed as “smarter” or “better looking”)...” (Bonilla -Silva 469). Because of the unfairness of how marked versus unmarked people are treated in society, it is fair to say that America is not the perfect “American Dream” we idealize it as because every citizen of the United States does not “... have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative” (“American, n. and adj,” OED Online) America is not an level playing field, but rather a pyramid. I would like to further analyze this concept through the analysis of Tony