Reply #92: I was just thinking of a funny example

[iverglas]

On Curb Your Enthusiasm, the African-American family that Cheryl and Larry accommodate after Katrina are named Black. This is a subject of some amusement to Larry, who finds it to be funny coincidence. Had their name been White, it would have been funny for other reasons.

Does anyone even notice when a white person is named White - or Black? Their colour is never in issue, so the similarity of their colour and name, or contrast between them, is never even thought of.

A well-known progressive woman in Canada who died a few years ago was named Rosemary Brown, and she was indeed brown. She entitled her autobiography Being Brown. Her race was a big factor in her life (she immigrated to Canada from Jamaica). Imagine a white person named White calling his/her autobiography Being White. Well, maybe if s/he had grown up in South Africa ...

Years ago, a family named Black moved into a house whose back door was only a few feet from the back door of a friend of mine. The children were horrific; destructive and unregulated. My friend caught himself one day referring to those horrid little Black children. They were actually white, but he realized it didn't sound good. ;)

I guess an equivalent, in terms of sex/gender, is when a woman is referred to as a "female doctor", and that sort of thing. And then there are "male model" and "male nurse" -- and what else would a man be, and why would anyone think it necessary to mention his sex?

When someone steps outside a stereotyped gender role, his/her sex is suddenly in issue. Female politician is a case in point.