I would like to start my post this evening with the question: what does “co-ethnic” mean?  These two weeks, the theme for our seminar has been race and ethnicity.  More specifically, as part of this week’s readings, we are looking at a couple of research studies done by Dr. Eric Fong at the University of Toronto and Dr. Elic Chan, who is an honorary research associate and sessional instructor at our very own university – UBC!

In their article, Fong and Chan gave an overview of past research, findings, and theories involving co-ethnic clustering. Then, they talked about their research on Chinese and Indian immigrants who settled in Toronto.  Back to the question I posed in the beginning — what does “co-ethnic” mean? It is simply when you have people of the same ethnicity together.  In the case of “co-ethnic clustering,” we have people of the same ethnicity coming together and living in the same neighbourhoods. They then go on to discuss factors that contribute to co-ethnic clustering: co-ethnic preferences, economic resources, and the use of co-ethnic information resources. Their findings show that co-et

Ethnic preferences (the favouring of amenities that are relevant to their ethnicity, such as Asian malls) and using co-ethnic resources – specifically Asian real-estate agents – were predictive of co-ethnic clustering.

This article led me to ponder about my own ethnicity and how that affects my choice of people I hang out with.  A few weeks ago, I attended an event on campus in which the purpose was to bring together Chinese-speaking international students to talk about their identities in light of the Occupy Central movement in Hong Kong.  With the exception of the Mandarin for Cantonese Speakers class I took in first-year, this was the first time I got together with so many Asian people all at once through by the factor of Chinese-speaking.  This makes me think about ethnic-clustering (mentioned above).  My reasons for being there though, were different.  One reason was to support friends who were there, but other reasons included interest in the topic.  Discussions focused on self-identity.  Participants were all from Asia – Hong Kong, Mainland China, Taiwan, and I was the only Canadian-born-Chinese.  I identify with Chinese culture and values, but not with Chinese as a nationality as I’ve never been to China before.

I think the event and the class discussions have really connected for me in that I’ve been asking myself questions of my identity and how I come about to hang out with friends that I hang out with.  For example, I often see many Chinese students clustered together or athletes clustered together. My reason for clustering? Mainly as a result of work/volunteer and class involvement!

Source: Eric Fong and Elic Chan, “The Effects of Economic Standing, Individual Preferences, and Co-Ethnic Resources on Immigrant Residential Structuring” International Migration Review 44(1): 111-141.

My Experience at a Social Club Ice Breaker on Campus

In the beginning of this school year, a couple of classmates and I decided to attend the ice breaker of one of the most well-known social clubs on campus.  I still remember the apprehension that built up as the event approached.  It was a combination of feeling excited about what’s in store and anxiousness  about being there.

The moment I stepped into the registration area, I felt a rush of nervousness despite the high positive energy that the club executives were giving off.  Only after seeing my classmate there did I feel a little bit less nervous.  I tried to act as casual as possible when getting myself a name tag in order to conceal my uneasiness.  It felt strange because when engaging in on-campus activities, I had often been on the host side where I was part of the group running the event.

The second time I felt strange was when I entered the venue where the ice breaker was to take place.  The room was already filled with people, chatter, and laughter.  Immediately I felt that I didn’t fit in.  After we watched the introductions to the club and a game started, my classmate and I left the venue together because we did not feel like participating anymore.

When we debriefed about our experiences and talked about how we felt, we realized that we felt uncomfortable for different reasons.  My reason was “I’m dressed differently.”  What I meant by that was literally that my clothing was fitting in with the rest of the participants at the event.  I felt that I was dressed a little too formally than everyone else.  However, I soon acknowledged to my classmate that I do realize that this is solely my own feeling – no one made any remark about the way I dressed nor did I feel that they looked at me in any way that elicited those feelings.  I knew that the reason I felt that way was due to my previous “knowledge” about how the club is perceived by others and how I didn’t fit into that description.

In the end, my classmate and I decided to head back to the ice breaker where we stayed until the event finished.

Relating this Experience to our Class

When I did the reading, “Guyland” by Michael Kimmel, I thought back to this experience.  For class, we read chapters 1 and 4 in the book.  In Chapter 1, Kimmel talks about the notion of “Guyland.”  “Guyland” is a phase in the life of males (in Western society) in which as boys, they become men.  Males in Guyland are mostly “white, middle-class kids; they are college-bound, in college, or have recently graduated….” (P. 8)  Concurrently, Kimmel speaks about Guyland as if it was a physical space.

After discussing about fraternities, in chapter 4, Kimmel writes about how college girls find their identities in their sororities in relation to these males.  Kimmel writes as though these girls are entering the physical location of “Guyland.”  The girls can choose to be either a “bitch” ¨(please excuse my language) or a “babe.”  The latter “ does not model herself on a guy’s expectations of her, but rather on her own expectations of herself,” (P. 249) and as a result they are shunned and ridiculed.  To be a “babe” one must comply with the expectations and social norms of the sisters and brothers.  For the girls, their first time entering Guyland is very unfamiliar to them, and the choices they then make have a big impact on their identities and how they are perceived by others.  In a similar yet non-identical way, I felt as though I was entering a “foreign territory” when I entered the event venue.  I was constantly thinking about how I was presenting myself and whether I should engage in activities (such as chants and photos) that I did not feel comfortable engaging in.  Thankfully, throughout the event, regardless whether I participated in the activity or refused to take part, the club members and event participants were non-judgmental and did not look down on me.  I felt respected regardless of the choices I made.

This is also a topic of structure versus agency, where this social club is a structure and everyone within it may or may not have agency depending on how the person personally feels.  For example, when I left the event out of nervousness, I chose to leave the event because I personally felt that I didn’t belong because of my preconceptions of the club.  The structure, or my preconception of the club, came into play with my choice or actions, or my agency.

To conclude, I must say that the social club I mentioned in this blog post is very different from Guyland in that basing off from my observations from the ice breaker event, the social club is an open and inclusive club and will not coerce club members and event participants to do things they don’t  actively nor passively.

Source: Kimmel, M. (2008). Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men.