Culture Saved My Life Gioncarlo Analysis

The identity of Americans today is changing. As we move toward a more liberal and more socially accepting society, we challenge the norms already set in place by religion, by the science we know of and by social norms we’ve established. A new set of ideas ranging from sexuality to gender identity have sparked controversy as more and more people motion into new and unorthodox gender identities and labels.

By challenging the norm and creating new sections of gender identity and sexuality many feel more at home with themselves. However, due to this being a more recent phenomenon, those who have had no influence from this new wave of preference based identities, feel left behind. P.C. Culture Saved My Life describes one person’s idea of the

By building a small social circle he, and many others who have shifting gender identities and sexualities have found peace in their experiences. “This wall made me feel beautiful, it made me feel loved — but it couldn’t teach me the words I needed to properly identify myself. The world I grew up in gave me no examples of fluctuation or variation”. Gioncarlo explains the difficulty of handling his changing identity, he had no point of reference so he found it difficult to be himself. By making friends, people in the same situation or allies who supported him, he was able to feel whole and comfortable exploring himself.

By questioning the deviant identities already established, transgenderism and the gay identity, Gioncarlo was able to fit himself into them through challenging his original identity. “My brief experience thinking of myself as transgender, it was jarring and confusing. I’d flinch if a girl referred to me as she or her; women often weaponized these pronouns against me when they viewed me as a threat or

He continues to feel as though he lost his chance at finding the shifting gender identity inside of him. “Sadly, it feels as though I missed the bus. I am completely at home now with my male identification. I don’t know whether this was a natural progression or if I was beaten into submission by the world”. His curiosity about what could have been is a constant reminder he wasn’t able to find his full identity. Although his continued acceptance of it shows his inability to challenge the society still. “-I feel comfortable with my ‘he’ and ‘him,’ but I know that I lost a lot in my retreat. At times I still fear that I’m not being my most authentic self”. His fear is based around stepping out of the norm, he’s older now, compared to himself in high school he’s probably less likely to make any drastic changes or step out of social norms due to this age difference. Since younger people are less likely to lose much with a shifting self. Since gender identity has been seen as a spectrum, he chooses to stay in his male masculine persona due to his childhood experiences. He fears becoming the societal deviant because he lacks confidence in his expression. His lack of self confidence in creating his own identity holds him back. Given he had no social rule book to follow he allows societies general norms to guide him. “As a society, it seems sometimes that we have no desire to grow. Any hint at change is met with aggression.