ipl-logo

My Identity

1604 Words7 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The influence of culture on the development of personality

hroughout my lifetime, cultural forces have identified, characterized and grouped me according to my appearance, ethnicity, and my values. My communication and interaction with the larger society particularly a biracial student-athlete, allowed me to perform to these subjections and associations in distinct, but also unique ways in the formulation of my identity. An identity is “a process of recognition that takes place among a series of differences” through which cultural categories of “our specific identities are located and negotiated” (Nealon & Searls Giroux 51). The development of my identity has had a profound influence on the ways I am to act and ultimately live. Furthermore, the lessons and topics that I have learned in this class have …show more content…

This helps to clarify the idea that identities are not essential, but “in theory and practice, are always changing and changeable” (Nealon & Searls Giroux 265). The ideals and beliefs of my Asian-American upbringing are not fostered permanently, but are subject to change based on everyday scenarios, interactions and happenstances, whether through new technology or incidences. In contrast, without identities being essential, it is much more apparent to say that identities are socially constructed. Social constructionism is “process by which subjects stay the same, but what the subject positions means is under constant reconstruction and deconstruction” by society (Nealon & Searls Giroux 191). As an athlete throughout my lifetime, I have been interpellated through subject positions primarily regarding my race, but also through being a student. Interpellation is the process by which “an individual is constructed as a subject by the institutions of modern life; the unique individual is always defined by the generalized social categories of the modern state” (Nealon & Searls Giroux …show more content…

Ideologies are “beliefs that gain the force of common sense in culture” in that these ideals require no thoughts or questions while containing power (Nealon & Searls Giroux 261). In short, the ideologies of Asian athletes being unathletic has helped me understand how these ideologies hold power over Asian athletes by communicating ways in which Asian athletes must act or perform. Power is the “diffuse, multiple, decentered social field that is continually shifting and always negotiated” such that it has the ability to repress, but also produce things such as “anger, knowledge and pleasure” (Nealon & Searls Giroux 259-263). Performance is how one compares to actions they are defined by culture to perform, while performativity is all about acts and “how one becomes a subject in the context of performing or not performing certain acts” (Nealon & Searls Giroux 188). In my lifetime, the journey of being categorized as an Asian basketball player has forced me to overcome the perceived stereotypes held by others that I am somehow not fast enough, cannot jump high enough, or was not athletically gifted. However, through my own individual identity, I have the agency to adhere to the actions in which I am defined by culture to follow, but my performance such as becoming a successful Asian basketball player

Show More
Related
2038 Words | 9 Pages

The minority athlete then becomes the symbol of the American dream for people in the United States and in the athlete’s home country. For most Asian athletes, this narrative of success entrenches themselves as a racial model minority (Joo, 2012). Being labeled a model minority suggests that Asian athletes are obsessive conformers, highly intelligent, rigorously self-disciplined people, and excessively hard-workers. The model minority stereotype appears to be very positive because it categorizes those Asians/Asian Americans as law-abiding and self-sufficient citizens, who completely embrace core American values. Yet, this perceived positive sometimes provides negative resentment amongst other minority groups and the majority of culture due to the overall abundance of success which Asians have had in school and careers (Nixon, 2015).

Read More
792 Words | 4 Pages

Every type of person struggles with a thing we call, identity. Personal identity come from multiple factors from our race to our own personal beliefs. Some people say we have the choice to choose our own identity, but is that always true? No, in fact other people can affect how we look and essentially identity our self’s. In the article called.

Read More
789 Words | 4 Pages

Dylan Frank 9/30/16 ANT 190 FSEM Professor Knauft Existing Outside of the Racial Binary The way an individual perceives his or her own personal identity can differ greatly from how he or she is seen by society. Although race is a social construct, its impact has been profound.

Read More
1463 Words | 6 Pages

This novel reveals that culture and language has a lot to do with forming one's identity. The type of culture and language a person has been surrounded with affects their sense of identity,

Read More
805 Words | 4 Pages

Running Reveals Me Your own culture can be a topic that is hard to grasp. It is much easier to see someone else’s culture because they are different from you. In the personal essay, “Ethnic Hash” explains, “Do I even have an ethnicity?”

Read More
1190 Words | 5 Pages

It is not because those people did not have identities, but the fact that modern societies have been shifted to multicultural, and one’s recognition becomes more competitive than the previous time and should be acknowledged. It is Nelson Foote who has used the term first in the academic arena and the word has become popular in the second half of 20th century. During this period, the concept of identity has been deployed in numerous ways in the field of psychology, social sciences, anthropology, humanities and literature. Several academic debates have been used as platforms for refining this concept and contributed to this field. Erikson, Stanly Hall, and James Marcia are the main proponents and their contributions in negotiating identity formation theory are appreciated.

Read More
604 Words | 3 Pages

At first I wrestled with where my identity lay. The strong values and traditions of the Indian culture sometimes made it difficult to fit in with the crowd. As I grew older, I began to understand that I was not part of an individual culture, but a fusion of two rich and colorful histories. I recognized that there is remarkably more to an individual than where she comes from, and more to her than where she currently lives. Importantly, being from two cultures allows me to incorporate the best qualities of both.

Read More
579 Words | 3 Pages

The identity a person holds is one of the most important aspects of their lives. Identity is what distinguishes people from others, although it leaves a negative stereotype upon people. In the short story Identities by W.D Valgardson, a middle-aged wealthy man finds himself lost in a rough neighborhood while attempting to look for something new. The author employs many elements in the story, some of the more important ones being stereotype and foreshadow. For many people, their personal identity is stereotyped by society.

Read More
843 Words | 4 Pages

In the article ‘The Complexity of Identity - Who am I?’ , the author Beverly Tatum argues that the definition of identity for a person is laid down by the societal norms and not by one’s own conscious understanding of her or his existence. And these societal norms are the ones that are acceptable to the dominant group of the society. Any aspect of one’s identity that sets her or him apart from others is targeted by the dominants. Tatum has used the terms ‘dominants’ and ‘subordinates’.

Read More
1601 Words | 7 Pages

but I do not think about what that means nor what means for my other identities nearly as much as I probably should. While the captured Africans, repressed Native Americans, and the European settlers that fragmented them are all parts of my ancestry and have led to my current identity, my identity now is so vastly different from their modern counterparts. Let me begin with the dominate culture that makes up the bulk of my identity, African

Read More
1538 Words | 7 Pages

Everyone 's identity and culture does have an effect on who they are because of the clothes they wear, their personality, and where they come from. The short stories "Totem," by Thomas King, and "Identities," by W.D. Valgardson, both explore how people are judged and treated differently because of their identity, color of their skin, and culture background.  This paper will discuss the ways in which the authors engage with the themes of judgement and discrimination.    In the short story, "Totem" shows how racism causes people to treat culture and identity differently. Totem took place in the Southwest Alberta Gallery and Prairie Museum.

Read More
1298 Words | 6 Pages

I am an international student from Vietnam who came to the United States to pursue higher education. I was brought up in a very unique culture and family traditions, and this has had a strong influence on my beliefs and mindsets. Together with all the experiences that I have been through so far in my life, I have formed some social and personal identities that I might or might be aware of. Such identifies are an important tool that can stay with me and remind me every day of who I am and my origin.

Read More
957 Words | 4 Pages

Introduction The concept of identity has been a notion of significant interest not just to sociologists and psychologists, but also to individuals found in a social context of perpetually trying to define themselves. Often times, identities are given to individuals based on their social status within a certain community, after the assessment of predominant characteristics that said individual has. However, within the context of an ethnicity, the concept identity is most probably applied to all members of the ethnical group, and not just one individual. When there is one identity designated for the entire group, often times the factor of “individuality” loses its significance, especially when referring to the relationship between the ethnic

Read More
1883 Words | 8 Pages

Throughout my experiences in this course so far, I have had many opportunities to reflect on my own past and have begun to better understand my own cultural identity. It has been much more difficult to wrap my head around than I would have predicted it to be because so many things play into the construction of an identity that it can be hard to look at all of those separate pieces together. My cultural identity, like all others, is more complicated than it first appears. I identify as a white person, a woman, an American, a gay person, and a feminist, just to name a few. While all of these labels carry with them stereotypes and expectations, they also interplay with the cultural influences I was subject to throughout my childhood.

Read More
885 Words | 4 Pages

Self-identity is defined as the recognition of one's potential and qualities as an individual, especially in relation to social context. In other words, self-understanding. Finding self-identity is more more difficult for some people than others. In the autobiography Black, White, and Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting Self by Rebecca Walker, the author reflects on her identity as a mixed raced individual which is illustrated through Walker’s reflections. People define themselves in many different ways.

Read More

More about My Identity

Related Topics

Open Document