To Play the Game You Gotta Know the Rules
As an Asian woman living in the United States during this time it is difficult not to be aware of my own race. As I read Paul Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed and Should Writer’s Use They Own English by Ashanti Young, I realized that much of what they discussed is applicable to my own life. While the Freire reading explored the ideas around oppression and liberation, Young’s piece discusses how the oppressors use “standard” English to maintain control.
The Young reading was a breath of fresh air. There is a reason why linguists are told on the first day of their training that descriptivism, how language is actually used, is what they should be concerned with. Because why should we focus on the arbitrary rules created by a random group of people that decided how language should be spoken and written? Punishing sociolinguistic differences inherently implies a hierarchy of language and places people within different classes based solely on an arbitrary standard. Language is not something that is static, it is constantly evolving and engaging with culture and identity. Freire wrote that the oppressed can only be truly free when they are allowed to be authentically themselves. Reinforcing the idea that “standard” English exists and is the superior way of writing and speaking only furthers hegemonic agendas.
Growing up in China, my parents sent me to an international school three hours away from where they lived so that I could learn “proper” English. “Proper English” consisted of exactly two varieties: American Standard, and British Traditional English. If you spoke anything else, your pronunciation was not “right.” I would often be complimented for my “perfect pronunciation” and it gave me an advantage over some of my peers. In China, speaking “good” English would open doors because it was a symbol of status. Speaking English is often synonymous with success and being more “educated.”
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In the Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Freire discusses and outlines his structure of oppression. In chapter 2, he goes on to examine the teacher-student relationship created by an unjust social order. While he uses examples in a traditional classroom to illustrate his ideas, I argue that this education goes beyond the walls of a classroom. The subjective worldview created by the oppressors permeates every aspect of life from schools, to sports, to media and entertainment. In observing how different groups are portrayed, engaged with, and treated, we learn what we should associate positively and negatively.
Freire writes that the oppressors treat the oppressed as inanimate objects, to deprive them of their humanity. When the oppressed realize their oppression their first instinct is to try and become the oppressor, since that is the model the oppressor has demonstrated. Freire calls it a student-teacher relationship, but I think that these hegemonic ideals are also perpetuated through our daily lives. The oppressor, the teacher, fills the heads of the students, the oppressed, with ideals and theories about how the world works.
For example, movies and TV shows how people are portrayed on screen teaches the viewer what the world is like. From the earliest of times humans used stories to teach lessons and perpetuate values and beliefs. Since their advent, movies and TV shows have captured the hearts and minds of the public. Entertainment can serve as a teaching tool for the perspectives of others. However, when the hegemonic group is the only one creating the entertainment it limits that story to their perspective.
Representation in entertainment is important as it plays a key part in creating social identity. Media research has found that Asian female characters in Hollywood are often portrayed as exaggerated stereotypes, that perpetuate harmful beliefs. They are often portrayed as being exotic, sexualized, and submissive. These portrayals can limit the perspective of those who view them and cause real-world harm. Some might say that the responsibility of diversifying Hollywood should be in the hands of those in power (and it should be). However, Freire argued that true liberation can only be led by those who know the effects of oppression best. For the oppressed to gain freedom, they must be engaged in an open and critical dialogue with the oppressor. This dialogue can only be successful if the oppressed feel like they have agency. In entertainment, this means those in power bringing in more diversity at all levels of decision-making so they can have a chance to tell their own stories.
