What are the different ways in which we can understand gendered diasporic identities?

Abstract

Gender studies has facilitated the exploration of Aids and Migration among other social problems, and has enabled a more sensible understanding of the discrimination practices that exist around them. This paper will discuss the aspects in which gender studies have contributed to assess issues regarding migration from the gendered diaspora perspective. This sociological construction of diaspora encompasses the many different reasons why migrants decide to leave their country, bounded by national, racial or ethnic background, which enroll in a strong political motivation. Although in this essay, the theoretical discussion will embrace male gendered diasporas as well, critics of the term have questioned how gendered diasporas have been traditionally understood of men. The first part of the discussion will be guided by the question: what is a gendered diaspora identity? The essay will emphasise the gendered category of analysis. I will argue how gendered identities are constructed under the circumstances of dominance and oppression that result from displacement. First, the deconstruction of the social category of gendered diaspora will be assessed, through an examination of Ella Shohat ́s agreement of identity. The essay will then examine the term diaspora and its ambivalences and criticisms. The second part of the discussion will consider three separate cases of how gendered diasporic identities are being understood, including: the cultural representations of Cuban Americans, the Sikh diaspora and Armenian women in Los Angeles.