Abstract:
In our contemporary era of subversion of identities, the issue of millennial
identities has assumed unprecedented significance and scope. This research intends to
discuss the complexities and nuances of the millennial identities at the dawn of 21st
century. One of the basic contentions is to find patterns by explicating Simon de
Beauvoir and Judith Butler's perspectives of identities in Toni Morrison's latest novel
God Help the Child. At the turn of 20th century, Simon de Beauvior talked about
performative nature of gendered identities. She famously said "one is not born, but
rather becomes, a woman". Famous American writer Scott Fitzgerald also defined
human embodiment as a series of performative gestures. What these writers were
defining about nature and mercurial essence of human personality or identity is
equally true and valid about the millennial identities or the 21st century gendered,
queer and closeted identities. Butler's statement "one does one's body" adds weight to
the argument that in the new millennium all identities are up for grab as they have
become more fluid, malleable and plastic. There are plenty of examples, like Oprah
Winfrey, Rachel Dolezal, Tiger Woods, Obama, Micheal Jackson and the list goes on.
All of them embody the spirit of the new millennial in their own unique fashion.
However, the main objective is to bring in the politically, socially and sexually
persecuted oppressed minorities or the subaltern identities, who do not necessarily
occupy positions of acclaim and prestige and are struggling to create some space for
themselves without giving in to existing societal norms and scripts. For example, in
Pakistani context, the new millennial women are those who appropriate aspects of
identities which are non-conventional and perhaps multi or transcultural. Their act of
passing as the new millennials resides in their ability to demolish gendered prejudice
and stereotypes by establishing avenues of cross-racial understanding. This research
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on the new millennial identities aims to demonstrate this by way of comparative study
with Toni Morrison‘s latest novel God Help the Child. It is important because
Morrison's take on the new millennial in the God Help the Child talks about these
kinds of subversive identities to highlight how the queerness of identities and
malleability of the black body, in fact, all the bodies in God Help the Child has
contemporary relevance to our society.
