1. Final paper - Identities
Identities: Ethnicities and being a woman
Family context: Since I was born I have had two ethnicities, Mozambican and Swedish.
However, the first ethnicity is not as strong as the Swedish one, this because I have been living
basically my whole life in Sweden. Moreover, my mother is in the same situation, she has
likewise two ethnicities, but she has been living half her life in Sweden and the other half in
Mozambique. Nowadays, I believe she also now feels more Swedish than Mozambican, she has
lost some of her language skills and cultural capital (she can not pass as a native Mozambican on
the street anymore, she is a tourist in her own home country). My mother comes from parents that
likewise have mixed ethnicities; my grandmother was born in South African but has lived most of
her life in Mozambique. While my grandfather’s ethnicity is Mozambican but has ancestors in
Portugal, United states and in India. My father’s history tree has not change for centuries, he and
his ancestors are all Swedish. However, the cousins of my father have moved to the United States
and created a life here with two ethnicities. The history of having two ethnicities is very
important for me, and my relatives, it is what defines us. Many women from my father’s side
have been and are very successful, my grandmother for example was the manager for the staff
restaurant at the Volvo headquarters in Gothenburg. Another example is my father’s cousin who
lives in the United States and is one of the deans at the University of Webster in St. Louis. Many
women in my father’s family have been “power women” at the same time as they were
housewives. The women on my mother’s side were on the other hand only housewives until the
recent 50 years that has passed. My mother comes from a family where they were four sisters and
two bothers, and where the brothers had the authority over them. Mozambique have been and is
still a country were women’s biggest obligation is to serve and make men happy. It was for
example very important for my mother and her sisters to learn how to cook and iron clothes from

2. early adolescence, even though they had three or four domestic helps. This to make sure that they
would be able to please the man when married, being a woman in Sweden and in Mozambique is
very different as one can see. We did not in my family really discuss what the ethnicity of being
Swedish meant or the privilege it gave me; it was instead something that I saw while growing up.
For example, travelling to Mozambique during my childhood made me understand the privilege
of being a Swede, I did understand that people did not have the same rights as me. People did not
have free heath care or education, people did not have the opportunity to climb the class ladder as
I did. We did discuss how fortunate we were/are to live in a nation that has so many privileges,
and that we all should cherish it. We did sometimes discuss some obstacles/events that I as a
girl/woman could encounter, for example, that boys would not believe that I was good at sports,
that I should be careful walking by myself late at night and that I might have to struggle more to
get the same salary as male coworker. My parents would say that even if being a woman
sometimes may be a disadvantage, it is also an identity that can give you privileges. I will never
forget this statement. I understood early that women are suppose to be emotional, that a women
should not take too much space in institutions or that women that work in male dominant fields
are considered unfeminine. I learnt that even a country like Sweden with their gender-neutral
propaganda, the majority of women still are cleaning the house, cooking and taking care of the
children. During the time I grew up I saw scripts like these being passed on to me. I would help
my mum clean the house, cook and wash clothes while my brother played games. Being in
Mozambique during the summer enforced my understanding of the gender inequality, men are
idolized, final decisions have to be made by them and they are being served all the time. Having a
Swedish ethnicity gives me privilege even though I am a woman; I am a part of a country that
fights for women’s equality in every institution, and the improvements are noticeable.

3. History: The intersecting social history of the Swedish ethnicity and gender is vowed together in
the way that our Swedish values and norms have affected the rights that have been passed. There
have been many social movements and historical events that have happened to my identities as a
woman. In 1870 women got the right to graduate from High school and 1873 women were aloud
to graduate from University (NIKK, 2014). This historical event is very important since my
father’s side of the family is very educated, and has influenced my father and me to get a good
education at university. The Swedish norm of having citizens with high education is also an
important aspect that defines our ethnicity. This is one of the reasons why Swedes believe that
education should be free; no one should be excluded because of social class. The woman’s voting
act was approved in 1921; women were aloud to vote and were also able to be elected to the
Swedish Parliament (Ibid). I believe that the fight for voting rights before being passed in
Sweden got the extra spark by the United States, which the year before had got their voting
rights. This is one of the bigger events for the women’s fight for equality and for the Swedish
ethnic identity. It affected my grandparents and their mothers, they could finally vote and get
their opinions heard. However, women had been able to vote in the municipal voting before this
act was passed (after 1862), although there were strict rules that had to be followed. To be
eligible to vote you had to be over 21 and earn over 400 Riksdaler annually (about $3090) which
was a lot of money, few women had their own income at this time (Fredrika Bremer
Association). During 1938 contraceptives were allowed and maternity benefits for everyone was
introduced (ibid). The maternity benefits helped many households economically and the
contraceptives prevented unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. This helped my
ancestors improve their economy, since it was more common to have several children and also it
prevented them from getting STDs. In 1939 employers were prohibited to dismiss women on the
basis of pregnancy, childbirth and parental leave (NIKK, 2014). This act is naturally very

4. relevant to my family history; this insured my grandmother and her sister that when they were
ready to have children they would not lose their employment. Furthermore, as I mentioned earlier
in this paper my grandmother had a very important position and might have reconsidered having
children, which would have resulting in neither my father nor me being born. In 1947 child
support was introduced (Fredrika Bremer Association). This further helped the economy of my
grandparents and it still helps families like mine. This child support often becomes the allowance
when being a younger teenager. My brother and I got allowance and this helped us understand the
value of money and the importance of saving for the things we wanted before being old enough
to work.1950 both parents became guardian for minor children within a marriage (Ibid). This
“forced” the man to have equal responsibility of the children. In 1960, the act of equal pay for
equal work was approved (Ibid). This meant that my grandmother started to earn more money,
resulting in being able to afford things like better housing and being able to start saving for the
future. 1964 it became legal to take birth control pills and 1975 the right to abort (until 12 week)
is established (NIKKA, 2014 and Fredrika Bremer Association). This stands out if one compares
the legislation with many countries for example United States; my Swedish ethnicity as less
religious gives me the privilege of being able to take my own decision about my own body. In
1974 parental insurance is established which means that the parents are aloud to share the
parental leave (NIKKA, 2014). This act has an effect on my family since my father had the
mentality that it was obvious that he should shared the parental leave with my mother, he would
stay home every other day. During the 1960-1990 Sweden was economically flourishing and
needed workers to fill the labor market, since Sweden has such a small population it needed
workers outside of the borders. Immigrants and refugees started to come from all over the world
like Chile and Iran but also European countries; at this time it was easier to become Swedish
citizens. The increase of immigrants has affected how Swedes think about their ethnicity, it is

5. more important for individuals to be “Swedish”. In conclusion all these events that have
happened in the history has shaped a part of our Swedish ethnicity, the norms, beliefs and culture
values that we share. We are proud to be Swedish.
Understanding my identity: Being born in a biracial family has been quite interesting, the process
of my development in identifying a woman and having the Swedish ethnicity. Like Tatum (2003)
indications in her book, biracial children start to understand that there is something different
between them and their peers in pre-school. I early discovered that I was a bit different from my
friends at kindergarten; I was the only one that had a brownish complexion and dark curly hair.
This however, did not affect me in a bad way, everyone was curious in a good way about my and
my mothers origin. Furthermore, the skin color and texture of the hair I posses has been envied
by many, therefore I do not feel that my color has been an issue. Growing up I learnt that color
was not as important as it is here in United States, the social norms, believes and the shared
values were more significant. The values that many Swedes have about racial equality have made
me ignorant about racism and instead produced racial neutrality. Furthermore, the socialization
my parents exposed me to made me produce an identity of being white with a Swedish ethnicity
but also with a symbolic ethnicity of being from Mozambique, where I only apply the fun rituals
and practices (Waters, 2011). As long as I can remember I have always lived in predominate
white community, with few minorities like blacks and Latinos, but that has more to do with
economical class than racial discrimination. I live in one of the most expensive places in Sweden.
This has however, probably enhanced my development of creating a Swedish ethnicity. When
one looks at the identity gender, the process of discovery was pretty similar; during pre-school I
had my first real contact with the other gender. The first two years we would play together and
with the same toys, but when I reached the years of four to six things started to change. The girls
would start playing with dolls, boys were forbidden in the games and we would start to have

6. “crushes” on the boys. When I entered elementary school the division between boys and girls
would be more noticeable, for example we would have gender divided changing rooms where we
could change before the physical education. We would still play with the boys but they soon
started to be “gross” for us, we could not longer understand them. We would play pretty gender-
neutral games that both genders liked but slowly coming into middle school I would notice that
some sports were more “boyish” and others “girly”. This difference would be even more notable
in high school where one had the decision to choose what activity one wanted to do, I would be
the only girl choosing a ball sport while the rest would do yoga or something. This is how the
stereotype of women not being good at sports is reinforced. I also noticed that the teacher would
treat us different depending on the gender, it was more accepted for a guy to be noisy and
annoying than for a girl. I also started to acknowledge stereotypes of male being the better
gender, males are for example better in science courses like math and physics, which made me
angry, I knew many girls that were good in these subjects too. I have not thought much about my
identities before taking this course, even though I have taken courses that talk about different
identities, its not until now that I have really examined my own. The process of understanding my
identities has been very interesting. I feel that most of the identities I posses are privileged; this
may be because I live in a country that is very liberal. In conclusion being identified as biracial
with a Swedish ethnicity has not given me disadvantages that people might have in other
countries. It has rather given me privileges, it is more important to have the same values,
customs and speak the right language than having the right skin color. I do so far not feel that
even my chosen disadvantaged identity has affected me significantly, sure I see it in everyday life
but I have a hard time coming up with events where I got discriminated and had an impact on me.
Personality may contribute to how I deal with implicit and explicit racism/sexism. Perhaps this

7. will change when I get older and enter the labor market and other institutions where explicit and
implicit discrimination to women exist.
“Social oppression is distinct from brute force in that it is an interlocking system that involves
domination and control of the social ideology, as well as of the social institutions and resources
of the society” (Hardiman, R., Jackson, B., & Griffin, P. 2007, p. 2). As this quote state the
oppression that exist in our society comes from the powerholder; the privileged people decide
what is socially acceptable and creates the rules/norms that others have to follow. Oppression
survives on the fact that there must exist groups that are oppressed and that can threaten the
hierarchy that the powerholders have produced. My understanding of oppression and privilege is
that it happens because of the need for people to define themselves and others in different groups,
and some groups has the “need” to be better. When the privileged group has acquired power, the
resources (privileges) that the privileged group has obtained will be maintained by institutions
(Pharr, S. 1988). Furthermore, oppression and privilege goes hand in hand, they do not exist
without each other. I can see the oppressions that are created by not having the “right” ethnicity,
having a Swedish ethnicity in Sweden gives me a lot of privileges that other Swedish citizens
lack. I have the power to oppress other ethnic groups if I want to, and there is a political party
(The Swedish Democrats) that wants other ethnic groups to leave Sweden, according to them
they are polluting the Swedish culture and “blood”. My other identity is the oppressed one;
women all over the world are for example being looked down at, it can be anything from the
workplace to the personal relationship. As I mentioned before I do not feel the weight of
oppression yet, I have seen it in institutions I have not yet entered and in family relationships I
know. However, I can give some examples from things I have seen. Women in Mozambique
have little power when they are married. My aunt who is married, has a respectful position at
work where she has a good income, nonetheless, all the spending’s she wants to do has to be

8. authorized by her husband. In my opinion this is crazy and would rarely happen in Sweden. This
is an example of oppression on an individual and institutional level (Hardiman, R., Jackson, B., &
Griffin, P. 2007) I can feel more like an empowered target group member who is proud of my
gender and I reject the inferior status that has been created (Ibid).
Prejudice is often defined as a negative attitude against a social group, these believes are often
rigid, irrational and unjust (Stephan, W. 1999). The prejudice comes from negative perceptions
created by out-groups, and they are displayed in everyday life but also reproduced in new
generations. This is mentioned in the Compunction Theory where for example a white person
growing up in a racially divided society will learn the stereotypes of minorities like African-
American at an early age (Stephan, W. 1999). There are also ideas of the out-group wanting to
create a feeling of superiority (social dominance), that the subordinate group is different/alien,
which makes it easier to feel distaste, they are not “normal”. They also believe that they have
exclusive rights, which means that they do not need to feel sorry for the targeted group.
Stereotypes are based on generalization; stereotypes provide us with expectations that can be
used to guide our intentions (Ibid). The problem with this is that the stereotypes of the social
groups are often incorrect and negative. This result in us believing the worst thing about other
social groups and when we generalize we assume every individual is the same. Stereotypes are
passed on by different institutions like family and the media. “One of the reasons that stereotypes
are retained is that they serve so many functions, including helping people to maintain a positive
self-image, justifying their social status and worldview, reducing the complexity of the social
world, and providing guidelines for social interaction” (Stephan, W. 1999, p.2). Prejudice and
stereotypes are concepts I have been exposed to many times in my life, with both the identities I
have chosen in this paper. There are many stereotypes about women that the “society” has
created, for example that women are weak comparing to men, but I have meet men that are

9. weaker than me. Another example is that men love sport and are good at it, whereas women are
amateurs. This is however, not true, I love sport and I was pretty good at all of them. Women are
supposed to be submissive and not meant to speak out. This stereotype cannot be applied to me, if
there is something I want to say I will speak out. The stereotype that women are emotional,
cannot handle stress and think with the heart instead of the brain may be applied to some
individuals but this is not true for all of us. I rarely get emotional; I can often handle stress and do
not always take the discussion with my heart. The stereotypes of my identity are that every
Swede is blond, have blue eyes and is white, this is true for many especially being white but
being blond is not a factor of being defined as a Swede anymore. There is the utopian society that
suggests that every beneficial service is free and that the government takes care of your every
urge. This is not always the true; some ethnicities are excluded from some of the benefits for
example the Sami people and other minorities. I believe that the prejudice created by the men is
based on the fear of encroachment on the part of women, which threatens their position. The
prejudice against other ethnicities is based on the fear from the unknown. The negative
prejudice and discrimination becomes increased because of the endless competition
between limited resources. This would be a reason why my privileged ethnicity feels
prejudice to other ethnicity and how I am able to keep my privileges. Discrimination is the
actual behavior towards another group involving restricting or excluding members of specific
groups from opportunities that are made available by others. A type of discrimination that many
women get in the work field is statistical discrimination where unequal treatment based on gender
is applied. Women are for example often discriminated in the hiring because the statistics are
against them. Many employers are afraid of hiring women because of the generalization that they
eventually will take maternity leave (which cost money), but this is unfair since not all women

10. can have children or want them. Furthermore, managers who usually are males also have a
tendency to surround themselves with people like them, which often mean men. Consequences of
this are that there is a higher chance for a male to get the employment but also climbing the
ladder. This discrimination factor really frightens me since I soon will enter this institutional
environment, and I do not want to be misjudge or treated unequally just because of my gender.
“We are each born into a specific set of social identities, and these social identities predispose us
to unequal roles in the dynamic system of oppression. We are then socialized by powerful sources
in our world to play the roles prescribed by an inequitable social system” (Harro, Bobbie. 2010
p.46). These roles, norms and values are learnt and internalized by our parents, teachers, friends
and others. We are however, also influenced by cultural specialists that are specialized in the
production of images, values, ideas, and customs. These cultural specialists can be anything from
entertainment industry, public industry to priests and artists. Most of the roles and norms that had
to do with my gender were socialized to me by my mother or by different individuals in the
educational system. I would learn what was accepted and how to behave in different situations.
My ethnical identity I feel has been more internalized by what I have seen in the media and the
public industry. To conclude all these concepts have an affect on an individual level and it may
be positive or perhaps negative. I feel however, that my Swedish identity gives me more positive
in all of my identities than one could imagine. I am privileged in many categories and I try to
empower my disadvantaged identities.
Bibliography:
Fredrika Bremer for equality between women and men:
http://www.fredrikabremer.se/sv.html/om-oss-kvinnors-historia

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