Gender Differences In Passing By Nella Larsen

In Nella Larsen’s novel, “Passing” she tells the story of a two mixed race friends, Irene and Clare, one of which accepts her heritage while the other hides it by passing as a white woman. Throughout their conversation, they discuss their lives, but most importantly Clare’s descent to passing as a white woman in society. Their differences in lifestyle choices are clearly displayed, the lives they lead completely different than the other and by showing this comparison Larsen’s tries to show to cultural appropriation of women in the 1920’s. There are many factors as to why someone would make the choice to claim a better livelihood, and in this novel Larsen explores the differences that both women experience in their communities and the lives …show more content…
I, myself, am not of mixed race, but I understand one could have the choice of becoming a completely different person separate from your familiarity in order to exceed in life. “She wished to find out about this hazardous business of ‘passing’, this breaking away from all that was familiar and friendly to take one’s chances in another environment, not entirely strange, perhaps, but certainly not entirely friendly” Irene questioned (Larsen 118). Though, I don’t agree with Clare’s decision, it does have it’s appeal as well as my interest. Willingly ignoring and not acknowledging one’s black identity in order to gain an advantage was a reality for many, not only during this time period, but it is one that has been around for quite some time. The fact that living in a world as a black was so difficult that you had to conceal yourself as something different to prosper, is a sad but awful truth that many would carry out during this …show more content…
Although it left them with having to abandon their family and friends from their communities, it also gave them opportunities that a black person during that time didn’t have access to. There are many justifications that encouraged the ideal of passing, of the numerous included were: safety, economic convenience, education, legacy equality and privilege. Despite the fact that in the past passing was most commonly used by blacks, it now can refer to the crossing over of any line that divides social groups such as sexual orientation, religion and class. Even now there has been multiple occasions and recent headlines of white people actually trying to pass a mixed race blacks, this practice is one that still occurs among different racial groups for a variety of reasons. The idea of passing is one that is controversial and hard to understand, but when really looking at it, it truly is one just trying to be accepted by others around