Dhruv Parekh

Prof. Ellenzweig
Basic Comp 100:06
13th November, 2017
FD#4 (2)

“Covering in Professional Setting”

In his essay on the phenomenon of “covering,” Kenji Yoshino discusses covering as

a “social contract” in which “racial minorities are told we will be rewarded for assimilating

to white norms” (308). Of course, as Yoshino explains early in his essay, those who

“cover” usually do so to minimize any sort of “stigma” or “disfavored identity” and to

advance in their careers (293). Chimamanda Adichie might certainly characterize being Commented [AE1]: At first mention, give her full name:
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
a woman, and more specifically a woman who declares herself a “feminist” or otherwise

works with men in a professional setting, as one who suffers from a “disfavored identity”

for which she might “cover” in order to fit into the mainstream. Author Kenji Yoshino

explains in his text, “Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights”, Everyone Commented [AE2]: If this is the start of the quotation,
where is the quotation that shows it is starting?
covers, to cover is to tone down a disfavored identity to fit into mainstream.” Yoshino Commented [AE3]: Where is the citation after the quote?

adds that everyone covers, covering here doesn’t mean physically cover but people

also cover mentally. People hide their thoughts and ideas so that they don’t have to

make it present it in front of, maybe, public or maybe they are afraid to do it so they

don’t possess any.
In the modern world, covering has become an integral part of the society not only
people but also institutions and even government covers to facilitate smooth functioning
Commented [AE4]: You neglect to give any examples of
how covering works. Yoshino gave us several examples,
using well-known people, so the textual evidence was
available to you. Instead, you use generalized abstracted
language, which for many readers will not suffice.
Commented [AE5]: You need to indent the first line of
each paragraph a full 5 spaces. There is a default setting for
this, so I don’t know why your indentation is so shallow.

of our daily lives. Covering doesn’t always ensure smooth functioning of our lives. Due
to the Bandwagon Effect, covering has become a trend among people. People tend to
cover and hide their sad and stressful lives and always portray their happy lives, while
Commented [AE6]: I would need an example to credit
this assertion. Otherwise, I am skeptical.
Commented [AE7]: On what evidence do you think this
encourages “covering”? Is this mentioned in either essay?
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the reverse should be happening. People should be coming out and seeking help for

their stress but all they do is hide it, from the world which in turn leads to more problems

in their life. People fail to realize that covering is not the solution to all their problems.

In the business world of today, there are many employers that claim to be "Equal

Opportunity Employers". This means that the company pledges to its applicants that

their employees are treated without regard to race, religion, sex, color, age, national

origin, physical or mental disability. This pledge encompasses employment, promotions,

transfers, recruitment, compensation, and ensuring a work environment that is free of

harassment. Moreover, there still exists another negative phenomenon in the workplace,

that is discrimination. I believe the phenomenon of covering is used a plethora in the

professional world. Professional industry has cutthroat competition throughout all the

sectors. The need to fit in this rat race is greater as no one wants to be unemployed just

because he doesn’t want to be mainstream. Chimamanda Adichie quotes how one of

her feminist friend working in a professional setting was getting payed less than her

peers just because she wasn’t mainstream. Professional world doesn’t really admire the

feminist view, it imposes too much limitations and restrictions such as to dress up in a

particular fashion, to behave in certain manner, to have a masculine and manipulative

behavior and not to show your weakness and ignore the controversial topics. These Commented [AE8]: Are you claiming this is what it means
to be mainstream?
rules and regulations forces all of the employee to cover and become mainstream rather

to lose their job and be unemployed.

Discrimination towards certain communities have been prevalent in the workplace

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just because of stereotypes established in the society; These stereotypes tend to
extend at workplace. An example of this case is the discrimination against Muslim
people. After the 11/9 incident, the whole Muslim Community was suffering from the
prejudice and stereotype of the larger American population. Muslim employees were
suffered discrimination everywhere, from public place (school, job, market…) to their
own community (by the white Americans living among them). The main characteristic of
the conflict between white Americans and Muslim community was the generally
misunderstanding of the white Americans about the Indian community (Sikh) due to
their clothing is alike to those wear during the 11/9 attacks (Muslims veil). The Indians,
as well as others Muslims look-alike, were suffering during this period of time. Due to
this discrimination, many Muslims started converting to other religions or even started
covering their religion just to attain peace in their life and avoid all the discriminations.
This type of covering is known as Authenticity that is covering your authentic self just to
fit in the mainstream world.
These norms rules and regulations, point out a key term ‘Social Contracts’. These
norms are just like contracts that has to be followed by an employee in professional
setting. Just like how contracts can’t be broken even these norms can’t be broken or
else it could bring professional shame and disgust. Social contracts arise an important
question: Why it is it in an individual's rational self-interest to voluntarily give up the
freedom of action one has under the natural state (their so called "natural rights") in
order to obtain the benefits provided by the formation of social structures? Adichie
Commented [AE9]: … which was similar to the clothing
worn by the terrorist attackers of 9/11.
It seems to me you are imprecise here. Yes, women who
wore the veil might have become targets of anti-Islam
sentiment, but hardly because the Muslim “veil” was what
any of the 9/11 attackers wore. Sikh males, who wrap their
hair in turbans (I believe) were the unfortunate victims of
anti-Muslim sentiment because many Americans took them
for being “Arab terrorists”—or at least, sympathizers.
So I think you need to explain the “anti-Muslim”
assumptions of some Americans with more precision. The
clothing worn by some Muslim-Americans, or even by non-
Muslim Middle Easterners, was taken to symbolize Muslim
radicalism generally. And no doubt, some of Middle Eastern
or even those of South Asian inheritance felt they had to
“cover” to avoid discrimination.
Commented [AE10]: Again, this is a confusion of terms.
The act of covering is not known as “authenticity.” Rather,
those who “cover” are covering those authentic ethnic or
religious or sexual preference characteristics that are the
focus of their “disfavored identities.” One’s authenticity is
who one truly is; covering is the act of hiding that
authenticity.
Commented [AE11]: Raise, not arise.
Commented [AE12]: This strikes me as a rather abstract
way to phrase the question and would likely leave a reader
unclear as to your meaning.
 Parekh 4

explains how boys are always told to emasculate and not support feminism, just like the
contracts in professional setting support masculinity and white norms. Women that look
to establish careers outside the home, for years, were thought of as being selfish and
Commented [AE13]: Again, you misunderstand terms.
Boys are NOT told to emasculate—emasculate is to lose
one’s manliness, not to gain it. Boys, if anything are told not
to support feminism because to do so will emasculate
them—that is, make them appear more feminine than
masculilne.

self-centered. Adichie explains how women are stereotyped and were viewed as

homemakers they were often given jobs that were meaningless, and they were not

thought of as managers or professionals. Even today, women are not treated the same

as men. One area that clearly shows this oppression is the area of equal pay for equal

jobs. Another area in which women are at a disadvantage in the workplace is through

discrimination. Discrimination can be an uncomfortable situation for the women

involved. Sexual harassment is closely linked to sex discrimination. Sexual

discrimination forces women into lower paying jobs, and sexual harassment helps keep

them there. One tiling is clear, whether the problem is sexual harassment or sexual

discrimination the problem continues to exist in the workplace, creating tension that

make their jobs more difficult.

When you look at the restrictions imposed by professional setting, it seems to favor

the white norms and it doesn’t support the norms of other races. In this case, people

from other races working in a professional setting face the problem of disfavored

identity. Author Kenji Yoshino presents two legal cases which is characterized by

workers working in professional setting facing ‘disfavored identity’. One of the cases

was of Rogers in her dispute with American Airlines. Rogers wasn’t allowed to wear

cornrow braids an important norm in her culture, just because it wasn’t mainstream and
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white norm favored. This shows us how white normed professional setting must be

changed and be more accepting. We are all the same - therefore we should treat each

other in the same way. This is the easiest way to remove discrimination and stereotypes

in the workplace.

I do see that you are trying to fulfill the essential tasks of this paper, including
establishing a thesis, identifying key terms from your authors, and connecting your
authors as part of building an argument. But you neglect to introduce sufficient textual
evidence. You don’t quote our authors, but rather summarize in your own generalized
language concepts from their essays. Unfortunately, you also misuse or, should I say
confuse, some of the very terms you employ to make your case. Thus, a word as
essential as “covering” is not described with specific examples that would make the
concept absolutely clear to your reader. Then, the word “emasculate”—on which
Adichie spent some energy—is misconstrued by you to mean its exact opposite.

Your grade reflects, as well, your failure to post the second draft of paper #4 which was
an exceptional opportunity to set yourself up for the eventual final draft. This must
mean that you also did not have a second round of peer review.

You need to pay closer attention to deadlines so that you submit your papers in class
and post them on Sakai on the same day.

As for your Works Cited list, you have a lot of reviewing to do in Keys for Writers. After
several class discussions on formatting the list, you still fail to follow essential formatting
guidelines.
 Works Cited
 Yoshino, Kenji. “Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil
Rights.” Points of Departure, Third ed., Cengage Learning, 2011.
 Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. We Should All Be Feminists. Anchor
Books, 2017.
Commented [AE14]: This late in the semester it is
disappointing to see that you have not yet learned MLA
Works Cited format style: Briefly:
No bullet point at the start of each entry. The list is
organized alphabetically, which automatically shows the
“order.” No bullet points; not numbers.
The entire list is double-spaced, with no extra space
between entries.
Points of Departure has an editor who must be identified.
The place of the publishing house must be identified. The
pages on which the essay appears must be noted. Whether
this is Print or Web is the final element to appear.
Adichie’s essay appears in a book. The publisher’s location
must be identified. Likewise, is it “print” or “web”?