16 Analysis

Performance, Code Switching and Identities

In The Vanishing Half, we can decipher sociological concepts within the characters relationships, settings and identities to better understand how society takes an underrepresented role of black women in society.

In the story, after the twins move to New Orleans, Stella changes her Mallard accent and confirms to a white passing conversation when she interviews for a job as a secretary. Stella practiced code switching, which is defined as “the practice of alternating between two or more languages or varieties of language in conversation,” for example Stella changing her accent, the way she talks, and her choice of words to conform more to a white passing voice to receive her job as a secretary. Stella’s action has a bad connotation in today’s society, because people of color are forced to change their tone of voice, so they are not assumed as ‘ghetto’ and receive better benefits such as having a better chance to get into a college or job. This concept of code switching coincides with Goffman’s claim that people in our society are just “actors” who adapt themselves to a situation, as Stella did to receive her job, but with this concept of pretending to be something else to conform to societal norms is on the other hand coherently bad. In the article the Cost Of Code-Switching For Black Women In The Workplace by Jazmine Reed-Clark, she claims that code switching takes a financial and emotional toll on black women because black women face both racial and gender inequalities within the workplace. (Reed-Clark) Clark says, “Like a trapeze acrobat, the performance of code-switching demands risk, physical manipulation, and the understanding that your success, at times, is in someone else’s hands.” (Reed-Clark) Thus, Goffman’s presentation of self-coincides with modern code switching because they are both a performance individuals show the audience to conform to the social environment around them. Moreover, black women have to perform because it is the only way they can move up in society due to oppression and white supremacy. For the character Stella, it is the only way she could get a higher paying job. So, Goffman’s idea of presentation of self is true for all different types of groups, but specifically for back women, the performance is at higher stakes because if their performance is not directed specifically to the audience  then it’s harder for black women to move up in an economic social class. Although, concepts such as performance of self and code switching are not a choice for black women, it does have a huge factor in identity.

In the Vanishing Half, Stella loses her sense of self and starts to continuously present as white passing. So much so, that when a black family, the Walkers, moves into her predominately white neighborhood, Stella joins her neighbors and shun them away. Within this period of time, she understands the privileged she holds since she can white pass, on the other hand, she understands that she is black. Thus, Stella starts accepting this “presentation of self” as her new identity. When the Walkers finally leave, Stella realizes that her performance was turning into a true reality for her and lead to identity crisis of who she is. Goffman insinuates this “blurred line” between performance and reality. In Stella case she tries to understand the question, which is when can black women stop performing, although society does not see them? The reality is that black women’s presentation of self is a necessary façade that people can believe in and it is a privilege to truly express or be yourself. Clark states that performance/code-switching allows “Creativity and self-expression in appearance can feel like a privilege protected from us [black women] by the tight guardrails of what is expected, and what will make others more comfortable” (Clark).

To understand society’s attack on black women’s self-identity, Goffman explains that the importance of social identity (which in some cases coincides with Goffman’s idea of performance) is this is what society sees and judges the individual on. When a social interaction occurs, society will categorize individuals from what they see, such as physical appearances, then society makes assumptions based on what they know. For example, a black person is usually assumed as someone from a low economic status. This concept is also known as Goffman’s tribal stigma. Thus, tribal stigmas lead to the confusion to the individual which is why would we use ideas such as performance, code switching, or social identity, when it dismantles self-identity. As Clark says, “I often battle the idea of code-switching, and if it’s a loaded, unwinnable ultimatum that begs us to “sell-out or get out.” The answer is black women must use these concepts to survive whether they lose their self-identity is not as important as providing for themselves or their family within society. In other words, “compared to their white counterparts, African Americans have higher rates of poverty, lower rates of education attainment, and are more likely to be employed in jobs that put their health and bodies at greatest risk”(Miles). With all of these odds against the African American community, concepts such as code switching become a survival technique.

Black Feminism

According to the institute for Women’s Policy research “more than 20% of black women are raped during their lifetimes – a higher share than among women overall” (Barlow). According to UjIma, the National Center on Violence Against Women in the Black Community “For every Black woman who reports rape, at least 15 Black women do not report…Give the impact of historical trauma, racism, and oppression, often Black women will tell no one about the abuse.” Although these statistics are sad, they are true for all black women. In the Vanishing Half, Stella is raped by an old white man before she leaves her hometown which led her to the false assumption that if she changed who she was, it will never happen again. As Malcolm X said, “the most disrespected person in America is the black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the black woman. The most neglected person in America is the black women.” So, Stella became anything else but the black women. In the Vanishing Half, Bennett says “Being white wasn’t the most exciting part. Being anyone else was the thrill. To transform into a different person in plain sight, nobody around her even able to tell. She’d [Stella] never felt so free” (Bennett). The ties of being a black women was hurting the character Stella, that she presented herself as someone else. Olive presents the idea that sexual assault against black women affects all black women, such as the fear of being rape. In a Washington Post by Lewis-Giggetts, his black daughter told him “I wish I could paint my skin white so I can blend in and nobody would hurt me.” After his daughter heard a white man screaming at a black woman during the summer of 2020, he said, “My perfect timeline for unraveling [to her] the complications of being a black woman in America was obliterated.” Self-identity is important, but for black women, performances is not just to climb the social society ladder, but it in some cases it is a tool used in case of life and death situations.

Collins creates this space for black women to reinsure their identity as a black female, black feminism. Throughout the Vanishing Half, we are dealing with the importance of identity for black women and the idea that it is easier to be something else. To solve the issues Goffman, Olive and Bennett presents is not a simple answer, but a step forward would be black feminism, especially in America. Collins says that identifying as a female has its draw backs as much as being black in America, but for black women especially, it’s the fight between the two that creates identity issues. Instead, black women have to be a part of both groups, feminism and black nationalism. As the story continues, Stella starts to understand what it means to be a black woman and that itself is Stella showing her belief of black feminism. “Black feminism is an intellectual, artistic, philosophical and activist practice grounded in black women’s lived experiences” (Peterson). These “lived experiences” are the identity of black women and the acceptance of who they are is the most important concept.