Who am I?
At some point in our lives, all of us ask this question. Once itÕs asked, it becomes difficult to turn back. We must move forward, exploring and expanding our world and our relationships within it.
WeÕre talking about identity. Identity is all of the subjectivities, experiences and choices that shape us. It is how we perceive ourselves and our relationships with the outside world. However our perceptions of ourselves may be quite different from how others view us. Within that duality lies conflict.
are often assigned to us by the media and long held belief systems. These representations are sometimes accurate; often theyÕre not. Dominant, mainstream representations are believed to be accurate. We want to juxtapose these long-standing portrayals with more truthful representations and explore their effects on identity.
It is easy to compare the media representions of Native Americans with the ways that Native Americans see themselves. In her poem, INDIAN SINGING IN 20TH CENTURY AMERICA, Gail Tremblay provides insight into a more truthful representation.
Now, weÕll explore some of the subjectivities that shape us.
FAMILY
RELIGION/SPIRITUALITY
GENDER
Gender plays a major part in identity formation. Children learn at a very young age that there are differences between little boys and girls. Boys are encouraged to play with toy trucks, guns and baseball bats, while girls are encouraged to play with barbies and toy microwaves. These differences carry into adulthood with a myriad of implications.
Today, we hear many feminist accounts of the division between men and women. ItÕs interesting however, to learn how men feel about gender and its implications for identity formation. Michael Kimmel, in his article ÒInvisible Masculinity,Ó discusses the notion that white males do not have a clear idea of what gender means for them. He states that Òmen are invisible to themselves (29).Ó Women have recently become aware of the centrality of gender to our lives, but white men, because they have have always had power, have never investigated fully what it means to be masculine. Kimmel relates an incident where he understood this notion in detail. while at a seminar on feminism, he witnessed a discussion between a white and black woman. When asked what the women saw when looking into a mirror, the white woman replied, ÒÕA woman.ÕÓ The black woman replied, ÒÕA black woman. To me race is visible in everything I do and everywhere I go.ÕÓ Kimmel responds, ÒÕI see a human being. I am universally generalizable. As a middle class white man, I have no class, no race, no gender. IÕm the generic person!ÕÓ
This is probematic for Kimmel because in an age when gender is central to shaping identity, he sees himself as generic. For him, finding what it means to be male is important to finding what it means to be a unique person. We can conclude that gender is very important to identity formation.
Spirituality is often one of the routes people explore on the way to finding their identity. Currently the New Age movement is influencing popular culture because people seem to be dissatisfied with our social, political and environmental states. In our spirituality section you can learn about this.
Familial relationships play an enormous part in shaping identity.
Joy Mermin discusses the importance of the family to three and four year olds in her article ÒWriting: Magic and Power in the Preschool Years.Ó She states that in preschool, children learn that the symbol of their name can be used to differentiate their possessions and territories. Children learn the power of their own names and thus begin to understan their uniqueness. However, they very soon make the jump to wanting to write their parentsÕ and siblingsÕ names on artwork, in books, anywhere there may be opportunity to express their differences from other children. Mermin believes that children make lists of names and collect these to make Òassertions of relationship. Just as HannahÕs name on her cubby asserts her ownership of that space, her familyÕs names written together assert her essential connectedness to them. By writing their names, Hannah makes a statement about her family members: These people belong to me (17).Ó
As we get older, we realize we donÕt possess our family. But they belong to us. We are certainly shaped by the relationships within our families and respond to the world in much the same ways we respond to family members. Our family shapes us.
