2: Identities
- Page ID
- 138163
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In addition to examining race and ethnicity and how these social identities pertain to Latinxs, Chicanx and Latinx studies in general and this chapter, in particular, are concerned with the ways power structures (ideologies, discourses, institutions, systems) shape particular subject positions, experiences, access to resources, and life outcomes for Latinxs and how these vary based on the intersecting dynamics of gender, sexuality, class, language, religion, nationality, tribal affiliation, and immigration status. This mode of analysis––developed by feminists of color and popularized as intersectionality in the 1980s––is examined in detail in Chapter 5: Feminisms and illustrated in Figure 2.1 as a “Wheel of Power/Privilege.” This chapter investigates the ways privilege was cemented for a select few through the creation and maintenance of hierarchical identity categories across time and place and the ways that marginalized communities have resisted their oppressors' classifications.
| Social Identity | Marginalized identity, furthest from power | Identity between marginalized and power | Identity closest to power |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skin colour | Dark | Different shades | white |
| Formal education | Elementary education | High school education | Post-secondary |
| Ability | Significant disability | Some disability | Able-bodied |
| Sexuality | Lesbian, Bi, Pan, Asexual | Gay men | Heterosexual |
| Neurodiversity | Significant neurodivergence | Neuro-atypical | Neuro-typical |
| Mental health | Vulnerable | Mostly stable | Robust |
| Body size | Large | Average | Slim |
| Housing | Homeless | Sheltered/renting | Owns property |
| Wealth | Poor | Middle class | Rich |
| Language | Non-English monolingual | Learned English | English |
| Gender | Trans, intersex, non-binary | Cisgender woman | Cisgender man |
| Citizenship | Undocumented | Documented | Citizen |
- 2.1: Defining Latinx Demographics
- This section provides a demographic portrait of Latinxs in the U.S. as defined by the U.S. Census. It also illustrates some of the tensions between how Latinxs identify and the ways the Census categorizes and counts peoples of Latinx origins, historically and in the present, highlighting both the potential and the limitations of census data.
- 2.2: (Re)constucting Latinidad(es)
- Section 2.2 paves the way for the remaining sections, which examine the perspectives, stories, and contexts that surround the census data. This section unpacks the questions: What is the difference between Hispanic and Latino and where did these labels come from? What does it mean to be Latinx and who gets to decide?
- 2.3: A Brief History of Latinx Racial Formation
- This section explores the ways Spanish conquest and colonization and U.S. settler colonialism and imperialism have fashioned hierarchical identity categories inherited by contemporary Chicanxs and Latinxs. While settler projects of racial domination have attempted to cement social, economic, political, and national boundaries, marginalized communities have always resisted and subverted these projects, including the ethnic and racial classifications imposed on them by their oppressors.
- 2.4: Xicana Feminist Ontologies- Indigeneity, Spirituality, and Sexuality
- Section 2.4 introduces readers to mestiza consciousness and Xicanisma, foundational Chicana feminist identity theories that center gender, sexuality, Indigeneity, and spirituality.