Passing: Intersections of Race, Gender, Class and Sexuality

Passing: Intersections of Race, Gender, Class and Sexuality Dana Christine Volk Dissertation submitted to the faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy In ASPECT: Alliance for Social, Political, Ethical, and Cultural Thought Approved: David L. Brunsma, Committee Chair Paula M. Seniors Katrina M. Powell Disapproved: Gena E. Chandler-Smith May 17, 2017 Blacksburg, Virginia Keywords: passing, sexuality, gender, class, performativity, intersectionality Copyright 2017 Dana C. Volk Passing: Intersections of Race, Gender, Class, and Sexuality Dana C. Volk Abstract for scholarly and general audiences African American Literature engaged many social and racial issues that mainstream white America marginalized during the pre-civil, and post civil rights era through the use of rhetoric, setting, plot, narrative, and characterization. The use of passing fostered an outlet for many light- skinned men and women for inclusion. This trope also allowed for a closer investigation of the racial division in the United States. These issues included questions of the color line, or more specifically, how light-skinned men and women passed as white to obtain elevated economic and social status. Secondary issues in these earlier passing novels included gender and sexuality, raising questions as to whether these too existed as fixed identities in society. As such, the phenomenon of passing illustrates not just issues associated with the color line, but also social, economic, and gender structure within society. Human beings exist in a matrix, and as such, passing is not plausible if viewed solely as a process occurring within only one of these social constructs, but, rather, insists upon a viewpoint of an intersectional construct of social fluidity itself. This paper will re-theorize passing from a description solely concerning racial movements into a theory that explores passing as an intersectional understanding of gender, sexuality, race, and class. This paper will focus on contemporary cultural products (e.g., novels) of passing that challenge the traditional notion of passing and focus on an intersectional linkage between race, gender, sexuality, and class. Passing: Intersections of Race, Gender, Sexuality, and Class Dana C. Volk General Abstract The concept of passing (the notion of appearing as something, or someone, you are not) has been explored thoroughly in novels, memoirs, biographies, and films. Passing novels tend to look closely at the effects of passing on the passer and the motivation for passing. The motivation for passing differs but does include a desire to cross the color line. However, here, the traditional concept of passing was expanded and an intersectional passing model was constructed, which closely analyzed the stages a person must overcome in order to successfully pass. This model was then applied to a selection of six literary texts. These texts were divided into three separate chapters: gender, sexuality and class. The intersectional passing model illuminated several elements of the passing experience; however, certain stages did present unforeseen issues in the model. These stages were most applicable in Western constructions of gender, sexuality, and class. The stages of the model were intended to give a practical guide to mapping the experience of passing, not only in literary texts, but also for those who are interested in the concept of passing. The intersectional passing model can likewise be used as a teaching tool to illustrate the hurdles one must overcome to pass. Dedication This journey has been a long one and I would like to take this opportunity to thank those who have steadfastly supported me over the years. Dr. David Brunsma, my advisor and staunchest supporter! Thank you for believing in me. I don’t think I could have made it through this entire process without you. Terry Lovern, my friend and brother, thank you for your unwavering support over the years. You have seen me at my worst (crying uncontrollably during my comprehensive exams) and you always talked me through my various meltdowns. You have no idea how vital you were to my sanity! You always believed in me and in turn gave me the confidence to continue this project. This work is as much yours as it is mine! I am forever grateful to you, and love you. Ericka, Travis, Kameron, Krista, and Patrick: I love all of you! You all have been such a wonderful support network, and patient throughout this process. Thank you for standing by me. Pamela and Sara: I loved all our conversations about race, women, black power, and marginalized groups. I miss those days in the classroom where we bounced ideas off each other and I’m so grateful to both of you for giving me the push I needed to finish this project. Finally, I want to thank my Dad: I am so proud to be your daughter and your support throughout my years in higher education has been so wonderful and very much appreciated. I remember the day you dropped me off at Radford University in 2000 to start my college career and I’ve never stopped going to school and searching for knowledge. You gave me the drive to keep going because the sky was the limit! Dad, I made it to the top! iv Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction p. 1 Chapter 2: The Cassock and the Dress: Gender Passing p. 42 Chapter 3: In and Out of the Closet: Sexual Passing p. 139 Chapter 4: The Pilot and Fast Food: Class Passing p. 237 Chapter 5: Conclusion: Reinventing Passing p. 342 Bibliography p. 370 v Chapter 1 Introduction African American literature engages many social and racial issues that mainstream white America marginalized during the pre-civil rights era. These social and racial issues include continual racial violence, isolation, segregation, and fear. The subject of passing was the muse for many prominent African American novelists including Harriet Jacobs’ (1861) Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Nella Larsen’s (1929) Passing and (1928) Quicksand, James Weldon Johnson’s (1912) Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, Walter White’s (1926) Flight, Jessie Redmon Fauset’s (1928) Plum Bun: A Novel Without a Moral, Langston Hughes’ (1934) short story “Passing”, Charles Chesnutt’s (1900) The House Behind the Cedars, and more contemporary fiction Danzy Senna’s (1998) Caucasia, Mat Johnson’s (2008) Incognegro and (2015) Loving Day. The term “passing refers to the act of crossing the socially constructed ‘color line’ that separates white and black Americans, though the term has broad applications for other ethnic or racial groups, as well as for categories of gender, sexuality, or class.”1 Early African American fiction draws attention to a passing trope known in the African American community, but not readily exposed to the general populous. The use of passing fostered an outlet for many light-skinned men and women for inclusion. This trope also allows for a closer investigation of the racial division in the United States. These issues included questions of the color line, or more specifically, how: the color line is a means of measuring an individual’s identity and social sense of being strictly by skin pigmentation and racial origin. Of crucial significance is the term’s dual 1 William L. Andrews, Frances Foster Smith, and Trudier Harris, The Oxford Companion of African American Literature (New York: Oxford UP, 1997), 560. PDF e-book. 1 interracial and intraracial definitions as Blacks interact with whites and with members of their own race. On the interracial level, the color line connotes institutionalized racism and prejudices that were originated to segregate, oppress, and instill in Blacks a sense of inferiority to the dominant race. The color dividing line of American racism identifies the superior race as white and right, while the second-class race is recognized as dark inferiors whose burden of blackness is to experience the humiliating effects of Jim Crow and double-conscious identity.2 Therefore the significance of the color line to passing illustrates how the passer navigates social institutions created to exclude his or her presence. More specifically, the passer passes in order to cross the color line but must navigate various social institutions created to exclude male or female presences from certain social spaces. These social institutions, and spaces, include education, housing, employment, politics and law. All these social institutions deny access to certain bodies; thereby, continually marginalizing and thwarting efforts for social, economic, and political elevation. These social institutions also represent a denied space based on physical markers of race, class, sexuality, and gender. The creation of the color line is two-fold for the passer because he/she not only needs to navigate these social institutions created to exclude his or her presence, but also needs to constantly be aware of his/her position and the deadly ramifications that will result if their identity is disclosed. The notion that passer might endure death and the psychological effects one incurs while passing oftentimes insures that the passer will never return to his/her previous state of being. Frantz Fanon’s book3further discusses the complex psychological effects on men and women who have been subjugated by white ideology and prompt the individual to pass. He states, “We understand now why the black man cannot take pleasure in his insularity. For him 2 Ibid, 163. 3 Frantz Fanon, Black Skin, White Masks (New York: Grove Press, 1967). 2 there is only one way out, and it leads into the white world.”4 Fanon focuses on the men and women of Martinique, but parallels appear between African Americans living in America and those individuals living in Martinique because both societies value light skin over dark skin. Fanon’s psychological analysis of “the Negress and mulatto” shows insight into not only the people of Martinique, but also sheds light on mixed race Americans who choose to pass.5 Fanon describes “the Negress and the mulatto” and what both of these women are seeking: “The first has only one possibility and one concern: to turn white.

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