The White Body

Apologies. I actually wrote this a few days ago, then saved it because I got distracted. Now its here.



Today I am going to talk about a very touchy subject: race. I'm not quite sure how to go about this in a diplomatic way, as there are going to be problems from anyone's perspective. My perspective as a white female may or may not have an impact on my thoughts and ideas... I'm not sure.

I take issue with the fact that the white body is not racialized. Not because I feel like we are getting the short end of the stick or anything, but because why are all the other races defined as different? Aren't we all different from one another? White seems to be the standard by which all races are compared and thus becomes "race-less."

I wonder if there is a power shift and a country that does not have a white population gains power, white people will become racialized. I also wonder if since I am living in a country with a predominantly white population, we believe white to seem unracialized. Maybe looking at it from the perspective of India for example, white is racialized.

I realize I'm about to sound really stupid here: but it would be really awesome if nobody even cared about race. I know, I'm being really obvious here. But I was completely unaware of 'race' until I was taught in school how we are all 'different'. If I wasn't taught this I wonder what conclusions I would have come to on my own about race?

I suppose ultimately what I get confused about is the constant need to classify and point out the differences between one another. Because of the ways in which we all function within our various social orders the ways in which we view our own race, and other races is challenging to say the least. So, to end I still don't understand why my white body isn't 'racialized.'