Free Essays on In The Kitchen

Ethnicity at it’s Finest Henry Louis Gates Jr. was born in 1950. He grew up in a small town in the state of West Virginia. He gained degrees from Yale and Cambridge and is currently chair of The Department of Afro-American Studies at Harvard. His Scholary works include Loose Cannons: Notes on the Culture Wars. His books include Colored People, Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Man and Wonders of the African World. In his essay In the Kitchen, he uses his detailed personal family experiences to help the reader gain insight into the cultural beliefs and understandings of how Afro-Americans perceive themselves and their fellow Afro-Americans. His writing style allows the reader to feel welcome and at ease while his verbiage is kept at an easy level of understanding. Gates begins the essay speaking of the kitchen in his house. He mentions the gas stove and the role it played in everyday duties from cooking to the functions of doing hair. This introduction to hair brings about the debut of the second kitchen. The definition of the second kitchen, as Gates explains, â€Å"but the word has another meaning, and the kitchen that I’m speaking of is the very kinky bit of hair at the back of your head, where your neck meets your shirt collar,† page 312, paragraph 5. This definition allows the reader to experience a little Cardoza 2 cultural background from the Afro-American point of view and to better understand exactly what Gates is attempting to provide to the reader. Gates uses this, â€Å"kitchen,† terminology , along with detailed examples, to lead the reader to feel and see the tribulations of being an Afro-American. These illustrations are created with vivid explanations on how detailed the process is in straightening hair and the importance â€Å"good† hair plays in the role of an Afro-American. The idea of good hair comes from Gates mothe... Free Essays on In The Kitchen Free Essays on In The Kitchen In â€Å"In the Kitchen,† Henry Louis Gates Jr. illustrates how social acceptance changed his appearance a as young Afro-American, while in â€Å"On Being Black and Middle Class,† Shelby Steele contests that social status and race cannot be related. Although these essays cover somewhat different topics, they both come to the same conclusions about society’s ideals, and how they effect people and they way in which they identify themselves. To survive in the world people have to conform to society and society also has to conform to the individual. There is an extent to the how much an individual has to undergo in order to be accepted by society. Gates feels that because of society’s high standards, he, along with many other Afro-Americans, changed their appearance in order to conform to society and have more of a Caucasian look. Blacks during the 50’s and 60’s felt that if they had straight hair like that of Caucasian’s, they would be more readily accepted by society. Gates described the various processes developed by many blacks in great detail. He included the processes used by well, known celebrities that were developed in order to conform to the idea that whites were superior. When Gates was growing up, it was thought that straight hair gave people a cleaner appearance. Therefore, most blacks went to great lengths to achieve that clean, sleek look. Because all they wanted was to be socially acceptable, blacks gave up their own identities to achieve this goal, which is too much of a sacrifice. In actuality, a society is not defined by race, gender, religious, or sexual preferences, but r ather it is based on the unification of a community on the basis of economic and social status. Therefore, people should not feel the need to change their appearance as a means to conform to society. Steele also concluded that society effects the way people identify themselves, but in a slightly different way than Gates. She rea... Free Essays on In The Kitchen Ethnicity at it’s Finest Henry Louis Gates Jr. was born in 1950. He grew up in a small town in the state of West Virginia. He gained degrees from Yale and Cambridge and is currently chair of The Department of Afro-American Studies at Harvard. His Scholary works include Loose Cannons: Notes on the Culture Wars. His books include Colored People, Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Man and Wonders of the African World. In his essay In the Kitchen, he uses his detailed personal family experiences to help the reader gain insight into the cultural beliefs and understandings of how Afro-Americans perceive themselves and their fellow Afro-Americans. His writing style allows the reader to feel welcome and at ease while his verbiage is kept at an easy level of understanding. Gates begins the essay speaking of the kitchen in his house. He mentions the gas stove and the role it played in everyday duties from cooking to the functions of doing hair. This introduction to hair brings about the debut of the second kitchen. The definition of the second kitchen, as Gates explains, â€Å"but the word has another meaning, and the kitchen that I’m speaking of is the very kinky bit of hair at the back of your head, where your neck meets your shirt collar,† page 312, paragraph 5. This definition allows the reader to experience a little Cardoza 2 cultural background from the Afro-American point of view and to better understand exactly what Gates is attempting to provide to the reader. Gates uses this, â€Å"kitchen,† terminology , along with detailed examples, to lead the reader to feel and see the tribulations of being an Afro-American. These illustrations are created with vivid explanations on how detailed the process is in straightening hair and the importance â€Å"good† hair plays in the role of an Afro-American. The idea of good hair comes from Gates mothe...