Pigeonholing
In its most literal sense, the term “pigeonhole” refers to the small perches and openings whereupon birds such as pigeons rest. The expanded definition includes any small space, cabinet, or storage compartment.
Figuratively, a pigeonhole refers not to a small physical space, but a small, specific category. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary also notes that a pigeonhole is a category that “usually fails to reflect actual complexities” of the objects, people, or ideas placed within them.
As a verb, “to pigeonhole” someone is to place that person in a specific category, based on their race, nationality, gender, sexual preference, background, interests, or another singular personal attribute.
Much like racial profiling, pigeonholing also involves the assumption that the individual in question possess a set of traits associated with their category. While racial profiling only refers to assumptions made on the basis of race, pigeonholing can refer to assumptions made on the basis of one of any attributes belonging to an individual.
Pigeonholing is also distinct from racial profiling in that it limits the subject in question to only one category. For example, one may racially profile a Mexican woman by assuming she enjoys rice and beans, but she is still acknowledged to be both a Mexican and a woman. But if one were to pigeonhole the same woman, one would choose to identify her as a Mexican or as a woman, ignoring all other attributes.
Pigeonholing is problematic when it comes to the transnational identity because it limits an individual to only one home country. For example, Argentinean American performance artist Susana Cook identifies as a member of both Argentinean and American society, but she is often pigeonholed as only an Argentinean or only American. In track 12 of her The unPatriotic Act: Homeland insecurities, she says that when she returns to her family, “I feel bound with the way people feel in my country, that hatred for the US. I don’t know if it is a general thing.” (Cook 16). But later she says that in America, she fakes her nationality until she can say, “I am American. I feel deeply (American).” (17). Her performance reflects her struggle that she cannot often be recognized as part of both nationalities at once.
See also: Racial Profiling, Stereotyping
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