Over time there have been several social constructions that have presided in determining who we will marry, what education we will receive, what jobs we will have, and where we will live. For example today people are more likely to marry within their race in what is none to be endogamy because of the social construct of race. Even more, if you are a woman versus a man you will earn less and receive less job opportunities promotions because today’s society is gendered which is socially constructed. Written by Christina Baker Kline, The Orphan Train follows a timeline of Vivian, an Irish immigrant who was soon orphaned after coming to the United States in 1929 and of the “present” day life of Molly who is a foster care kid who encounters Vivian
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To be Irish in the 1930s was considered a race more so than an ethnicity, and was lower than “White American” standards. Ethnicity is based on cultural aspects versus biological. The Irish where singled out, discriminated upon, and seen as less favorable because of their pale skin, red hair, freckles, catholic religion, poverty, and identifiable accent. Vivian encounters the divisions of race both as she is preparing to board the train and while she is awaiting a family who will take her in when she tries to figure why people automatically know she is Irish. Baker Kline writes, “Or perhaps it is my accent, still as thick as peat. “Humph,” she says, pursing her lips, when I stand in front of her. “Red hair.” “Unfortunate,” the plump woman beside her says, then sighs. “And those freckles. It’s hard enough to get placed out at her age.”(p. 27). Vivian looks Irish, therefore is assumed to be Irish and this stands as an extra barrier from he being picked first or by the “best” families which then determines how her life will unfold with more challenges or less challenges than those who cannot be singles out as …show more content…
Newman defines stereotypes to be overgeneralized beliefs that a certain trait, behavior, or attitude characterizes all members of some identifiable group (p. 338). The stereotype of “Indians” in the United States is that they have red or tan skin, struggle with alcoholism, are unruly and most are extinct. Molly does not fit these stereotypes in any way and happens to be Indigenous American or what some might call Indian, though her “race” is less noticeable due to her mixed parents. Molly’s mom is “white” while her dad is Indian. Baker Kline writes of Molly’s dad giving the Indian symbols to her for her eighth birthday, “I was thinking- you and me are Indian…. And I have always liked Indian symbols. Know what a symbol is?”(p. 135). Molly takes pride in her Indian heritage and remembers her deceased dad through the Indian symbols she always carries with
To be Irish in the 1930s was considered a race more so than an ethnicity, and was lower than “White American” standards. Ethnicity is based on cultural aspects versus biological. The Irish where singled out, discriminated upon, and seen as less favorable because of their pale skin, red hair, freckles, catholic religion, poverty, and identifiable accent. Vivian encounters the divisions of race both as she is preparing to board the train and while she is awaiting a family who will take her in when she tries to figure why people automatically know she is Irish. Baker Kline writes, “Or perhaps it is my accent, still as thick as peat. “Humph,” she says, pursing her lips, when I stand in front of her. “Red hair.” “Unfortunate,” the plump woman beside her says, then sighs. “And those freckles. It’s hard enough to get placed out at her age.”(p. 27). Vivian looks Irish, therefore is assumed to be Irish and this stands as an extra barrier from he being picked first or by the “best” families which then determines how her life will unfold with more challenges or less challenges than those who cannot be singles out as …show more content…
Newman defines stereotypes to be overgeneralized beliefs that a certain trait, behavior, or attitude characterizes all members of some identifiable group (p. 338). The stereotype of “Indians” in the United States is that they have red or tan skin, struggle with alcoholism, are unruly and most are extinct. Molly does not fit these stereotypes in any way and happens to be Indigenous American or what some might call Indian, though her “race” is less noticeable due to her mixed parents. Molly’s mom is “white” while her dad is Indian. Baker Kline writes of Molly’s dad giving the Indian symbols to her for her eighth birthday, “I was thinking- you and me are Indian…. And I have always liked Indian symbols. Know what a symbol is?”(p. 135). Molly takes pride in her Indian heritage and remembers her deceased dad through the Indian symbols she always carries with