Personality vs. Identity
The two universal identity categories that I chose to discuss my own cultural expectations are gender and age. Some of the expectations that I have of males are that they are the primary source of financial resources and security for the family unit. Additionally, I see males as playing key roles in providing leadership and discipline as the head of the household. As for females, my belief is they are to be the nurturing figure and source of comfort for the family with the primary role of supporting and raising the children. I think that both women and men can have careers and both be equal in the work place, I just feel that they have distinctly roles that are mutually supporting within the family. My cultural
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The identity categories that are at the center of this friction point are gender and family status. We were both corpsman and active duty service members, I had been deployed 3 times at this point to either OIF and OEF. I’m not naïve to the fact that women had been deployed to both theaters and made significant contributions to both theaters. However, when my wife wanted to deploy or receive training that would facilitate her deployment to a combat zone, I was not to supportive. My lack of support wasn’t rooted in the thinking of she could contribute but because I saw her primary role of being a mother and wife present for our children more vital than a deployment to one of these countries. Additionally, I couldn’t imagine the hurt and devastation it would bring to the family if something would’ve happened to her on deployment. The ultimate decision did not reside solely with me as I was in the reconnaissance community and held a critically undermanned Navy Enlisted Code the detailers didn’t support her efforts to be assigned to an operational platform either. As a result, she never deployed to OIF or OEF, at the time the resolution seemed to support our family the best and was satisfactory to me. I realize now that the decision to not support her desires to deploy and contribute to the war efforts was selfish and based on my expectations of her status in the family and to some degree her