Definitions invite particular perspectives on the world

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Definitions invite particular perspectives on the
world
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The Politics of Definition

• Consider how the following definitions and terms
  involve questions of
• power, value and ideology
• Mr, Mrs, Miss (Ms.) defines women in terms of
  their marital status, but not men (hence Ms.) The
  convention of women being identified by the last
  name of their father or husband.
• Enhanced interrogation, enemy combatants,
  war on terror, axis of evil
• Far East, Middle East, Near East (defining
  regions wrt proximity to Britain)
• MEDICINE The re/definition and medicalization of
  illness male pattern baldness (going bald)
  social anxiety disorder (shyness) ED, or
  erectile dysfunction (formerly impotence)
  halitosis (bad breath)
• PSYCHOLOGY APA redefines homosexuality in 1972
  (before 1972 it is listed as a mental illness)
  the many shifting re/definitions of conditions,
  from hysteria to depression to sexual identity
  (trans-gender, transexual, bisexual, etc.)

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The Politics of Definition

• RACE the one drop rule Negro, Black, African
  American miscegenation laws. In South Africa the
  Japanese are defined as white, as Japan key
  trading partner. Others are black or colored
  (Asian). In Brazil, definitions of race are
  particularly varied. In the U.S., Caucasian has
  been redefined many times sometimes includes
  people from India, Afghanistan, Turkey, and the
  Mediterranean countries, and at other times (esp.
  wrt immigration) not. Consider Germany
  citizenship is largely defined in terms of
  racial/ethnic and national descent rather than
  place (unlike in the U.S., the children of
  foreigners assume their parents' nationality.) In
  most countries, racial definitions shift
  frequently, shaped by ideology, power, economics
  and history. Consider - the terms Maori and
  Pakeha in NZ.
• SOCIAL ISSUES drugs and alcoholism as moral
  failings vs. addictions.
• LEGAL DEFINITIONS the recent supreme court case
  ruling on the free speech rights of corporations
  defining rape within marriage as a crime (for a
  long time it wasnt in many countries)
• How should we re/define marriage (debates about
  gay marriage). Is marriage primarily to be
  defined as religious, as about procreation,
  stability and other social goods, a love
  relationship, etc.

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APA conference 1972
Gay psychologist wears a mask at the American
Psychological Association conference in 1972. He
is on a panel arguing that APA definitions of
homosexuality as a mental illness should be
abolished
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Definition of Caucasian 1932
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The Races of Men, Smallwood et al. 1952, p. 264
(cited by Morning, 2008
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• In the United States, the term Caucasian has
  been mainly used to describe a group commonly
  called White Americans, as defined by the
  government and Census Bureau.22 Between 1917
  and 1965, immigration to the US was restricted by
  a national origins quota. The Supreme Court in
  United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind (1923)
  decided that Asian Indians unlike Europeans and
  Middle Easterners were Caucasian, but were not
  white, because most laypeople did not consider
  them to be white people. This was important for
  determining whether they could become naturalized
  citizens, then limited to free whites. The court
  and government changed its opinion in 1946. In
  1965 major changes were made to immigration law,
  lifting earlier restrictions on immigrants from
  Asia.23 (Wikipedia)

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Definition of Caucasian 1932
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• In the United States, the term Caucasian has
  been mainly used to describe a group commonly
  called White Americans, as defined by the
  government and Census Bureau.22 Between 1917
  and 1965, immigration to the US was restricted by
  a national origins quota. The Supreme Court in
  United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind (1923)
  decided that Asian Indians unlike Europeans and
  Middle Easterners were Caucasian, but were not
  white, because most laypeople did not consider
  them to be white people. This was important for
  determining whether they could become naturalized
  citizens, then limited to free whites. The court
  and government changed its opinion in 1946. In
  1965 major changes were made to immigration law,
  lifting earlier restrictions on immigrants from
  Asia.23 (Wikipedia)http//en.wikipedia.org/wi
  ki/Caucasian_race

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The Races of Men, Smallwood et al. 1952, p. 264
(cited by Morning, 2008
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Five Major Human Races (Oram et al. 1976, p. 614)
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• There is no more biological reason to speak of
  the Indians, Whites, and Blacks as distinct races
  than there is to speak of red-haired,
  brown-haired, and gray-haired people as distinct
  races. This is not to say that races are not
  real. They are all too real, but understanding
  how races are formed and perpetuated in societies
  is a matter of looking into social history, not
  biology.Two Anthropologists Reflect on Race
  Racism What is Race? An Anthropological View. By
  Thomas Bilosi and Marc Feldesman, DIVERSITY Vol.2
  1992.