“ New Money Trash, ” Meet “ Dope Bitch ”

Jessica Zakrisson

Vt 2020

Examensarbete för kandidatexamen, 15 hp Engelska

“New Money Trash,” Meet “Dope Bitch”

Abstract

This essay explores the theme of identity in Kiley Reid’s Such a Fun Age (2019). The study departs from intersectionality (Crenshaw 1989; McCall 2005) and focuses on the concepts of race (Barnshaw 2008; Keaton 2018), social class (Peckham 2010) and privilege (Bhopal 2018), which rest on a common ground of gender. Moreover, these are all elements of a person’s social identity (Eriksen 2014) and will be examined as such. Through the main characters of Emira and Alix, this essay analyzes and compares the construction of the self, how their social identities affect that process of construction, and how they relate to those social identities.

Keywords: intersectionality, social identity, identity, race, social class, Kiley Reid,

Table of Contents

1 Introduction ... 5

1.1 Theoretical Perspectives and Central Terms ... 6

1.1.1Intersectionality and the Categorical Approach ... 6

1.1.2The Concept of Race ... 7

1.1.3The Concept of Class ... 8

1.1.4The Concept of Identity ... 9

1.2 Previous Research ... 10

2 Constructing the Self ... 11

3 Comparing the Self ... 19

4 Connecting the Self ... 22

4.1 Further Research ... 23

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1

Introduction

Identity is not an uncommon theme in literature, but it does not always deal with such controversial issues as race and social class. In Kiley Reid’s coming-of-age novel Such

a Fun Age (2019), which is indisputably ironically titled, the theme of identity is a

complex one. Because a person’s identity may contain several different elements that all play a part in creating the self, an intersectional approach will be employed to explore these. The story at hand surrounds Emira, a twenty-five-year-old black woman working two jobs to sustain a sufficient income, and Alix, a white woman and mother of two living off her blog and sponsored social media merchandise. The opening scene features a party-dressed Emira coming to Alix’s rescue, taking her and her husband’s oldest daughter to the supermarket amidst a crisis. While there, Emira is approached by a guard who accuses her of having kidnapped little Briar.

By close-reading the text from an intersectional perspective, it is apparent that the theme of identity is at the core of Reid’s novel. It is here explored through the multifaceted identities of Emira and Alix, and through some typical elements of a person’s social identity: gender, race, and social class. To add more dimension, the concept of privilege and who is granted it is also part of the discussion. Thus, this essay focuses on how identity and the self is constructed and maintained in the novel. With the categorical approach toward intersectionality as suggested by McCall (2005), this study will analyze and compare how the self is re-/constructed, how social identities affect that process, and how Emira and Alix relate to those social identities.

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1.1 Theoretical Perspectives and Central Terms

1.1.1 Intersectionality and the Categorical Approach

The intersectional perspective developed as a reaction against mainstream feminism because it had failed to cover issues of women who suffer multi-faceted oppression. It was in Kimberle Crenshaw’s (1989) article on antidiscrimination cases that she first criticized the treatment of gender and race “as mutually exclusive categories” (139). Because these groupings obviously coincide in, for example, black women’s existence,

intersectionality was introduced to escape the limitations of traditional feminism. Black

women should not have to define their experiences as either woman or black, when they simultaneously are and live both categories. Hence, intersectionality underlines the fact that discrimination and oppression operate across different elements of social existence. The foundation of feminist criticism is gender, but the intersectional approach extends this to include race, class, sexual orientation, disability, religious belief and so on.

However, Leslie McCall (2005) acknowledges the lack of standardized practice amongst research concerned with intersectionality. Focusing on the complexity of the subject, McCall suggests three separate methods to approach it: the anticategorical, the

intracategorical, and the intercategorical method. These are all defined “in terms of

their stance toward categories,” meaning how they define and employ social categories to study intersectionality (McCall 1773). I will only explain the latter of the three as it is the basis for my analysis.

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the groups, comparing them, and then finally seeing them as a whole entity, the full meaning of an intersectional identity may be revealed.

1.1.2 The Concept of Race

As Tricia Keaton (2018) suggests, there is no universal consensus of how to define the concept of race. However, John Barnshaw (2008) makes an attempt in the Encyclopedia

of Race, Ethnicity, and Society, describing it as “a social grouping of people who have

similar physical or social characteristics that are generally considered by society as forming a distinct group” (1091). The stress of society’s impact on definition is a highly relevant one, as both Keaton and Barnshaw, and scholars in general, recognize race as a social construct (Keaton 163; Barnshaw 1091). Due to this belief that the concept of race as way of categorizing people was invented by man, its definition is dependent on situational and relational contexts.

It is also important to note that, because race is man-made, it has nothing to do with biological properties. Although there are commonly used classifications such as ‘black’ and ‘white,’ these are still based on social differentiation. The shared physical characteristics of a group like “skin color, facial features, or hair texture,” succeeds the social categorization rather than precedes it (Barnshaw 1091). Additionally, distinct racial groupings typically share “history, speech patterns, or traditions” (1091). White people in the United States, for example, share the history of slave-ownership, while black people share the history of enslavement. Lastly, racial categories also depend on the society’s compulsion to employ them. According to Barnshaw, these groupings “emerge from historical processes and often gain legitimacy in society through political action” (1901). Hence, society needs to ‘accept’ race as a concept in order for such legitimacy to occur.

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mainly through prejudice against, for example, black people, social class and gender are important in the “positioning of black and minority ethnic groups” as well (47).

To conclude, Barnshaw’s definition of race encompasses four major ideas: race as a social construct, shared physical characteristics as socially rather than biologically distinct, similarities in terms of social and historical being, and society’s employment of racial concepts. These are evidently widely generalized ideas, yet clearly convey the modern meaning of race that will be used in this essay. In addition to that, the element of privilege and especially white privilege will be analyzed as well.

1.1.3 The Concept of Class

Ever since Karl Marx’s introduction of the class discussion, the definition of class has been broadly debated. Irvin Peckham (2010) describes the early Marxism’s definition of class as “a group’s relationship to the mode of production,” which is the generally accepted meaning by classical Marxists (24). Marx focused on the bourgeoisie and the proletariat as two essential groups in the capitalist society. However, that definition is rather outdated. Peckham’s discussion thus offers a more modern take on class.

The difficulty to describe class is a direct consequence of the changeable living and working conditions in society, which in turn depend on what society is discussed and where that society is located. In his comparison of England and the United States, Peckham claims that class is a natural element of social identity in the former but often has its existence erased in the latter (24). The importance of discussing class, Peckham suggests, comes from a need to consider different “status markers” as these occur simultaneously and not in isolation from each other—which in turn is why it is included in the intersectional analysis (16).

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1.1.4 The Concept of Identity

The concept of identity can be approached from different corners of academia. Many, if not all, theories around identity stem from Erik Erikson’s psychoanalytical perspective (for example Identity: Youth and Crisis 1968). However, this study is not as concerned with the psychoanalysis of it as the concept of identity in a social context. The approach which specifically favors social identity is anthropology; hence, Thomas Hylland Eriksen’s (2004) discussion of identity as such will operate as the basis for my analysis.

Eriksen describes social identity, which he also refers to as identification, as a “continuous process, not a thing people either possess or don’t” (152). This distinction is worthy to remember as it suggests that social identity is dynamic and erratic, and that it does not refer to a static membership of a certain group. Social identity is furthermore acknowledged as “the groups a person belongs to” and identifies with (153). The distinction of the group enables limitations between the groupings, creating a dichotomy of us and them, and setting apart one from the other. It is not always done consciously yet usually works in favor of one group ahead of the other.

Furthermore, Eriksen emphasizes the necessity of a counterpart for identification to be possible, as it “happens both through establishing perceived similarities with others … and through establishing differences to others” (155). The ability to compare and contrast oneself to an other is essential in the process of identification. Similarly, it is important to note that social identity is “created both from the inside and the outside,” meaning that no one individual has complete control over their own identity as it is always mirrored and negotiated in the views of others (157). As with race and class, identity is socially constructed; thus, the process of identification occurs in the interaction between persons or groups, and is dependent on outside perceptions to exist.

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meaningful, self-respecting existence” (161). There must be a clear motivation for the cohesion to grow strong, like movements, strikes and protests all over the world are examples of. Ultimately, the process of identification as explained through Eriksen above is the framework for the discussion of social identity in this study.

1.2 Previous Research

Due to the novel’s recent release, no other research on Such a Fun Age could be found at the time of writing this essay. Reid’s debut will undoubtedly be subject to many more analyses in the future, and for these I offer some suggestions of further examination of the novel in the section “Further Research.” However, neither the identity theme nor the theories employed in this essay are new or untested. Previous works concerned with similar subjects are thus discussed below.

Since Crenshaw’s (1989) introduction of intersectionality to the study and practice of law, the analytical perspective of social multidimensionality has expanded to several other academic fields as well. In “Becoming Black Women: Intimate Stories and Intersectional Identities,” Amy C. Wilkins (2012) applies the intersectional perspective on social psychology. She is specifically inclined with storytelling as a process “through which intersectional identities are achieved and managed” (174). The qualitative study focuses on interviews with black college women about interracial relationships between black men and white women. These interracial stories, Wilkins claims, is a way for these black women to construct and modify their own identities as opposed to being stereotyped as “strong, independent, and angry” (185-6).

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While Leigh Gilmore and Elizabeth Marshall’s work in “Girls in Crisis: Feminist Resistance in Life Writing by Women of Color” (2019) is more inclined with the politicization of self-representation than Wilkins is in her study, they share the focus of intersectional narratives. Gilmore & Marshall analyze three works of autobiographical writing by women of color to investigate the performance of girlhood. In their study, the idea of the “vulnerable girl” that humanitarian campaigns use to gain sympathy is central (13). Gilmore & Marshall mean that this harmful image of “girls of color as endangered” is reproduced through such campaigns, and assert that life writing (as in the works analyzed) functions as “an important practice of feminist resistance” (13; 15).

Although Such a Fun Age is not autobiographical, it is undeniably a novel about current issues similar to those discussed in the above-mentioned works. Wilkins, Gilmore & Marshall, and my analysis of Reid all employ an intersectional perspective to study the process of identification, construction and redefinition of self, and privilege.

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Constructing the Self

The formation and maintenance of self is greatly influenced by one’s social existence, which includes the social categories that one belongs to and interacts with. Although these social groupings are not fixed entities, they constitute what finally makes up a person’s self. Because of the changeability of social identities and what they mean, the self is fluctuating. Moreover, social categorization is based on identification, a constant process through which one identifies and is identified with a social category (Eriksen 152). In the following intersectional analysis, the social categories of gender, race, and class are in focus. This section will explore the characters of Emira and Alix and how they re-/construct the self, how their social identities affect that process, and how they relate to those social identities.

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that the Tuckers are likely working class, or specifically, upper working class (26). Emira, however, has attained a degree in English. The educational ambition of working-class people, Peckham suggests, is an attempt to escape one’s working-class identity (19). He refers to this phenomenon as a way to “make over our identities” and that “many of us would prefer not to make apparent what we were trying to cover” (19). By attending university, then, Emira has tried to reconstruct her class identity and escape its confines.

However, she still suffers from the limitations of her social status. Not only is she worrying about losing the safety of her parents’ health insurance at twenty-six, but she also diminishes her babysitting job and blames herself for the grocery store incident, stating that it “wouldn’t have happened if [she] had a real fucking job” (Reid 39). The accusation that Emira had kidnapped little Briar was clearly motivated by racial and cultural bias, since the guard declared that she did not “look like [she’d] been babysitting,” and the woman who notified him was alerted partially by what she referred to as “booty dancing” (12). Although it may be natural to question bringing a small child to the store in the middle of the night, the guard’s approach was directly offensive. In a place that suddenly felt “very white and very still,” Emira felt threatened because of her social identities, especially those being black and working class (9).

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identities, but she is also painfully reminded of where they position her in the gender-, race-, and class-hierarchy.

Whereas Emira is incessantly aware of her identity as black, that is usually not the case for white people. Bhopal suggests that “many of those who are white may not necessarily recognise or even acknowledge [whiteness’s] existence” (21). Emira’s boyfriend is no exception; in fact, Kelley appears to have embraced ‘black culture’ and ‘black community’ to the extent that he does not think twice about saying the N-word when citing someone else, even though they used it derogatorily (Reid 91). Of course, this makes Emira uncomfortable. For the sake of not complicating things between them, however, she refrains from openly reacting to his occasional insensitivities. For someone who refers to his taste in music as that of a “middle-aged black woman” and only hangs out with black folks, Kelley is surprisingly unaware of his own whiteness (69). As their relationship progresses, Emira tries to picture a future with him, and cannot help but to visualize the racial bias that their potential children would face:

Who’s gonna teach [our son] that it doesn’t matter what his friends do, that he can’t stand too close to white women when he’s on the train or in an elevator? That he should slowly and noticeably put his keys on the roof as soon as he gets pulled over? … Or that when white people compliment [our daughter] (‘She’s so professional. She’s always on time.’), it doesn’t always feel good, because sometimes people are gonna be surprised by the fact that she showed up, rather than the fact that she had something to say when she did. (194)

These are undoubtedly legitimate worries, but they are also worries that Kelley would never pick up on lest he recognized his own white privilege. Because of his oblivion about the benefits of his position, Emira is forced to educate him on the consequences of racial prejudice and remind him that they “have different experiences” (194). Their relationship thus manifests the hierarchy between their respective social groupings.

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background. They both have solid careers, where Shaunie has just gained a promotion, and Josefa works as a research assistant while aiming for her second master’s degree. Their advancement in their respective careers, although educational in Josefa’s case, makes Emira envious due to her own financial struggle. Zara, on the other hand, is the person that Emira is closest to—both in terms of friendship and across social categories. She is an African American nurse who comes from a working-class family with struggles of their own. When Emira looks at Zara, their closeness makes her think that Zara looks “like home” (128). But Emira also fears that their connection is threatened by her failures to live up to the rest of the group’s standards, as “Shaunie and Josefa could offer Zara friendship and first rounds” (129). However, their shared social identification ultimately makes their bond stronger. Eriksen observes that the mutuality of “external pressure” reinforces relationships between members of the same underprivileged groups rather than takes from it (159). Hence, the kinship between Emira and Zara is strengthened because of their similar experiences of being socially disadvantaged.

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Thus, Emira’s attempts at moving past the boundaries of her disadvantaged social identities are evidently mirrored in her quest for adulthood.

Alix Chamberlain used to be Alex Murphy back when her grandparents’ death left the remaining family an extensive inheritance. Newly rich, the Murphys moved to what Alex came to know as a “textbook McMansion” in Philadelphia (Reid 101). The pejorative term alludes to a specific type of architecture that is best described as faux grandiose. In the article “Dream City, Plaster City: Worlds’ Fairs and the Gilding of American Material Culture,” Rebecca S. Graff explains that these mansions are not only big and gaudy, but also that the fine decorations never reach the back of the house. The pricey ornaments are simply a showcase for the public. Graff suggests that these ‘false’ fronts mean that “someone … is clearly trying to demonstrate something about the socioeconomic position of those who dwell—or want to dwell—within them” (712). This notion is likely to be in line with Alex’s opinion, who appears mostly disturbed by her parents’ tackiness. The prefix ‘Mc’ furthermore implies a connection with a famous fast-food franchise. Graff writes that this allusion is probably due to “the replicability, superficiality, and soulless sameness” of mass-production (711). By living in such a house, then, it appears that the Murphys were inclined with controlling how others perceived them. They wanted to project a specific image of themselves as wealthy, and ended up in a stereotyped upper middle-class home.

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By being referred to in ways that effectively exposed her privileges as both white and upper middle class, Alex was confronted with those privileges. In terms of her position as white in a western society, she benefits from the “privileges conferred upon individual and collective whites through institutional structures and (un)conscious actors” (Bhopal 19). Yet, Alix does not seem to have reconsidered this past experience or her position in society when she recites the story to her friends in present-time. Thus, she remains unaware in the case of her own social identities, and how these advantage her as opposed to others.

When Alex left for college, she eventually met Peter Chamberlain, who would become her husband, and changed her name to Alix. To change one’s name is nothing short of an extreme reaction, which shows that Alix became so humiliated by how other people viewed her that she had to remove any trace of that person. Moreover, it appears that her connection to her parents and younger sister were also deeply harmed by this. Looking back at her dreadful high school years, Alix refers to her parents as “crazy, trashy rich people” and later admits to feeling relieved when they passed (Reid 102). To reiterate the words of those who made her suffer by calling her parents trashy, Alix tries to reclaim her own identity. By using the word about her family but not about herself, she separates herself from them to suggest that she is, in fact, not trashy (but they were). Her aversion to how her parents handled their newfound class identity is an indicator that she thinks of them as inferior and fears becoming like them. To maintain the distance between her parents’ identities and her own, she continuously seeks to detach herself from any association with them. However, Eriksen notes that “the more different [people] try to be, the more similar they become,” which indicates that Alix’s identity only becomes more similar to her parents through her attempts of differentiation (164). Alix’s removal of her family name and the echoing of the words of her bullies when speaking about her parents, thus only strengthens her affiliation with them. Hence, while Alix reinvents herself both literally and figuratively to eliminate the bad memories and unwanted associations, she cannot escape the confines of identification.

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party with guests from Peter’s work, Alix suddenly finds herself contemplating whether “she would ever call Philadelphia home” (Reid 55). She looks at her husband’s colleagues and appears to feel no sense of connection to them at all. On the contrary, she finds it hard to picture herself being the person that she aspires to be in the company of the type of women that she ever only saw in airports, and “had come to completely despise” (55):

Women with full faces of makeup, way too much luggage … and plastic bags with souvenirs that took up all the room in the overhead compartments. They noisily called their husbands as soon as they landed or to let them know they’d made it to the next gate. They held up the line to get off the plane (”Do you have everything? Because we cannot come back”). (55)

Evidently, Alix fosters feelings of contempt toward this specific kind of woman. By mentioning the makeup, souvenirs, and loud assertion, it seems that what Alix is describing is what she would also refer to as ‘trashy.’ This reading is firstly suggested by the fact that the only other thing she expresses such disdain for is anything trashy. Secondly, Alix likens the event taking place in her living room to “a gathering of her parents’ friends” (51). Because she refers to her parents as trashy, one can assume that it includes their connections, and by extension, Peter’s new colleagues. Consequently, it appears that the women Alix refuses to familiarize herself with accurately fit her image of what ‘trashy’ people are like. Associating with them would then equal accepting her own identity as that of her parents.

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regular middle-class people. The newfound wealth then offered them new opportunities and experiences, which resulted in a greediness that Alix did not want to be associated with. This furthers the idea that Alix was merely trying to distance herself from an identity she did not want to belong to.

As Eriksen notes, it is not only up to the lone individual to identify themselves. Since identification happens in the relation to other people, it is therefore also dependent on these other people’s perceptions (Eriksen 157). Subsequently, Alix cannot choose what social identities she wants to be linked with. The fact that she is a white woman of the upper middle class is not negotiable, yet she distances herself from crowds similar to her—with the exception of her New Yorker friends, but they are peripherical in the first half of the novel. Instead, she seeks to connect with Emira, who is most unlike her. Following the grocery store incident, Alix “developed feelings toward Emira that weren’t completely unlike a crush” (Reid 75). Her newfound reverence results in an approach different from what she employs with everyone else. Her fascination for Emira has her briefly looking through Emira’s phone, hiding the tags of new purchases, and lying about what she is having for dinner. She constructs a self that is similar to Emira so they can connect. Suddenly, Alix finds herself “reorganizing her lifestyle around Emira” in an attempt to reveal what she considers “the truest version of herself,” trying to engage the interest of Emira (138-9). Alix is eager to let Emira discover that one of her friends is also black, that she “had read everything that Toni Morrison had ever written,” and that her and Peter’s salaries were in fact not amongst the highest between their friends (139). This suggests that Alix is aware of how Emira is different from her in terms of classed and racial identities, but she is still oblivious to how she, herself, is different from Emira.

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stereotyped, which means that others would be in control over her identity. Alix seems to think being stereotyped is the worst possible outcome, while continually doing it herself. Upon hearing Emira use the word connoisseur, Alix’s reaction is “confused and highly impressed” (79). She knows that Emira went to college and that her major was English yet becomes amazed in “moments like this” (suggesting that it happens frequently; 79). As she has caught a glimpse of what music Emira usually listens to, recalling the song title ‘Dope Bitch,’ Alix is seemingly unable to comprehend that a person’s music taste has little to do with the range of their vocabulary. Obviously, Alix has opinions and views that are deeply colored by the social context of her present and past experiences as a white middle-class woman. Regardless of her own acceptance of the fact, her upbringing in and belonging to certain social categories have affected the way she perceives the world; and in turn, how she is perceived by it.

To sum up these explorations of constructions of identity, Emira and Alix’s different approaches to and handling of their social existence is apparent. While Emira is persistently conscious of her social identities and what they entail, to the point of directly commenting on the matter, Alix is mainly unaware. Not only does she resist identifying with a group that she is otherwise alike, but she also seems incapable of acknowledging her own privileges. Furthermore, Emira’s identity is reinforced through her acceptance of her social identities and through her friendship with Zara. One can therefore conclude that Emira constructs herself through the connection with similar others. In contrast, Alix’s consistent refusal to associate herself with any group eventually has her construct herself in the absence of similar others, but in the presence of different others.

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Comparing the Self

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intersectionality in order to fully comprehend the object or idea of study (1787). This section compares the previous accounts of Emira and Alix’s respective social identities. The categorical approach furthermore requires a focus on multigroups, which here unites the categories of gender, race, and class. These are all elements of an individual’s social identity. The self, however, is the result of these identities combined, and thus refers to a person’s ‘ultimate’ identity.

While both Emira and Alix are women, their experiences and lives largely differ. On the issue of race, Keaton notes that “[r]ace and racism are not mere social constructs but political, lived, and at times deadly experiences” and that they play “a fundamental and intersectional role in the everyday” (163). Partnered with class, these elements of social existence affect people and their lives accordingly. As a black and working-class woman, Emira is constantly disadvantaged and met with prejudice. In the grocery store incident, which sets the tone for the rest of the novel, Emira is threatened with legal percussions due to her social identities. Had she instead been white with a middle-class culture of dress, it is likely that neither the alarmed woman nor the security guard would have interfered. Emira is thus doubly underprivileged. Meanwhile, Alix has the ultimate privilege of not even having to be aware of or actively reflect on her social identity. Society does not consistently remind her of her disadvantages, but rather allows her to dwell in benefits as the white, upper middle-class woman that she is. Evidently, Emira and Alix have seemingly dichotomous identities.

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from postmodernist thoughts, Peckham writes that “what one sees depends on who, from where, and why one is looking” (26). Since these properties of identity are social constructs, that means that Emira and Alix, to an extent, are capable of forming their identities into what they want others to see. But as they cannot decide how others interpret it, or how society treats it, certain boundaries will always remain.

Aside from the obvious, a prominent difference between the characters is to what degree they are aware of their racial identities, both in relation to others and themselves. Even when Alix is confronted with her whiteness, like when her black peer was arrested on her property and the taunts she endured following the event, she does not recognize its privilege. Bhopal refers to the concept of whiteness as a beneficial system which works on both an individual and systemic level. Moreover, she discusses “the perspective of ‘interest convergence’” which denotes how “whiteness and white people operate in society to act in their own self-interests” (Bhopal 20). Since Alix appears to acknowledge racial identity only when it is seen in others, or in others’ behavior, and because she ultimately uses it to further herself, her motivations behind recognizing race is purely selfish. Her apparent awareness, of which she refers to as her ‘true identity,’ is thus as much of a scam as McMansions. On the surface, she is a conscious feminist and cannot wait to discuss Toni Morrison’s writings with Emira. Underneath that surface, however, is an unwillingness to acknowledge one’s own privileges in fear of having them questioned. Alix likely thinks of herself as a good white ally, yet looks at Emira through stereotypical glasses, through which she construes Emira as incapable of having a decent vocabulary or making her own choices.

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her shortcomings in society. This is also what Alix misses in her inability to recognize her own privileges; she can never fully understand Emira, or herself, or how they are differently positioned in society.

Finally, the exploration of construction of self reveals that Alix and Emira create themselves differently. Like Eriksen emphasizes, a counterpart is necessary for the process of identification to be possible as it “happens both through establishing perceived similarities with others … and through establishing differences to others” (155). While Emira acknowledges her opposites, she mainly constructs herself through the bond with similar others. Zara is the best evidence of this, as Emira’s identity is strengthened by and she finds solace in their mutual social identities. Their connection is a great example of how the internal cohesion of the group can be solidified, and in turn reinforce the self by offering a “meaningful, self-respecting existence” (Eriksen 161). Alix, on the other hand, constructs herself in the absence of similar others. By denying any affiliation, she shapes herself according to different others, as seen in how she adjusts her projection of herself to what she guesses Emira wants. Through the refutation of her similar others, Alix’s self emerges in the separation from familiarity.

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Connecting the Self

In conclusion, the process of identification evidently has an impact on the construction of self. Emira may be the underprivileged one as a black working-class woman, but she is also the one with the strongest connection to herself and her social identities. Meanwhile, Alix’s attempts to clear her history by differentiating herself from anyone who is similar, eventually leaves her alone in terms of socially connected and validated identities. This furthers the notion that identity needs to be constructed and maintained in the relation to others, regardless of how the individual positions themselves to their social identities. Additionally, I emphasize the importance of awareness as discussed above. Since Emira cannot not be aware of her blackness and its disadvantages in a society that favors whiteness, it is only fair that Alix, too, should acknowledge her whiteness and its privileges.

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intersectional perspective on the theme of identity, race, social class, and gender are indeed negotiated. Therefore, Such a Fun Age is undoubtedly a novel about identity as well as the consequences of social existence. On a final note, this analysis is not to say that Emira and Alix are inherently different; only that their realities differ in ways that only one of them wants to realize.

4.1 Further Research

Reid’s novel invites to several different interpretations and probable theses. I will suggest three different approaches to an analysis. Firstly, one could read the novel as a possible love story. There are numerous examples of Alix expressing emotions for, or in relation to, Emira that are reminiscent of infatuation. Secondly, one could delve into the mystery that is Kelley Copeland and study his fascination with (and fetishization?) of black people and the black ‘community.’ Why are all his friends, exes, and girlfriends black? What, if anything, does that reveal about him? Finally, one could focus on the linguistic aspects of Alix and Emira’s respective narratives to compare their voices.

5 Works Cited

Barnshaw, John. “Race.” Encyclopedia of Race, Ethnicity, and Society, edited by Richard T. Schaefer, vol. 1, SAGE Publications, 2008, pp. 1091-93.

Bhopal, Kalwant. White Privilege: The Myth of a Post-Racial Society. Bristol, Bristol University Press, 2018.

Crenshaw, Kimberle. “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: a black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics.” University of Chicago Legal Forum, vol. 1989, no. 1, pp. 139-66. Eriksen, Thomas Hylland. “Social Identity.” What is Anthropology? London, Pluto

Press, 2017, pp. 152-65.

Erikson, Erik H. Identity: Youth and Crisis. New York, W.W. Norton, 1968.

Gilmore, Leigh, and Elizabeth Marshall. “Girls in Crisis: Feminist Resistance in Life Writing by Women of Color.” Witnessing Girlhood: Toward an Intersectional

Tradition of Life Writing. New York, Fordham University Press, 2019, pp. 13-37.

Graff, Rebecca S. “Dream City, Plaster City: Worlds’ Fairs and the Gilding of

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Keaton, Tricia. “Race.” Keywords for African American Studies, edited by Erica R. Edwards et al, New York, NYU Press, 2018, pp. 163-7.

McCall, Leslie. “The Complexity of Intersectionality.” Signs, vol. 30, no. 3, 2005, pp. 1771-800.

Peckham, Irvin. “Social Class.” Going North Thinking West: The Intersections of Social

Class, Critical Thinking, and Politicized Writing Instruction. Logan, Utah State

University Press, 2010, pp. 16-27.

Reid, Kiley. Such a Fun Age. London, Bloomsbury Circus, 2019.