Dissecting Boston IV: Border Masks of Identity

The first step of unraveling the borders that ensnare our identity is to turn inward.  While deeply personal, this process involves our relationship with the societies we inhabit, and the masks we wear when navigating these different realms.  We thus must come “face to face” with the superficial representations, flat signifiers, that are projected onto our image. In the current political and cultural climate, the color of one’s skin and cultural heritage have become inflamed by varying political ideologies. The borderlines of identity have thus been irritated. The lines that have been previously hidden, drawn beneath the surface of a “pluralistic society” have been strengthened, emboldened into monumental walls. The color of one’s skin (no matter the amount of melanin) has become a loaded signifier, a viral spectacle. It is thus necessary that we come to terms with how we digest the spectacle of our cultural and personal identity, how masks influence the way we perceive our actuality. 

In this following video, I dissect my own personal mask and the borderlines that segment my identity as Mexican American.  While my words are only a shard of light in the kaleidoscope of the Mexican American experience, this video serves as reminder that we must consciously tackle the spectacles projected onto our bodies. In the next blog posts, I will present the recipe I use to dissect my own inherent positionality, the "behind-the-scenes" of this video.