Identity: The Mutuality Of Identities

I am a heterosexual American female with red hair and blue eyes. I am not religious or wealthy. I am aware of my identity and where I fall on the social hierarchy. Understanding identity means to recognize how we fit in with other groups of people who may have more social, political, and economic power. Identities fulfill many roles, it’s how we characterize our learned responses through family, institutions, media, and ourselves, our learned behavior in society through stereotypes, our values and belief systems, and other social and historical constructs. “Identity is evoked in the ways we talk about oppression and privilege, or about who is included and who is excluded in any number of social contexts. There are many ways to conceptualize

It is a recognition that the intersection of categories such as gender, race, class, sexuality, ability, makes a difference to how each person is positioned in the world and, in turn, experience the world around them” (Braithwaite and Orr). Identities are shaped through historical events, social structures, stereotypes, and religion. Our identity groups influence how we define and interact with one another. Clashes occur with different identity groups and can lead to racial stereotyping and discrimination. “However, thanks to racial stereotyping and discrimination, once people begin to believe that certain people are smarter, thanks to their skin color, those perceptions can become self-reinforcing, as lighter-skinned people will get hired and promoted more often, leading to more light skinned people in positions of power and authority”(DeMello). The shooting of Trayvon Martin occurred out of racial injustice. Martins shooter, George Zimmerman is a Hispanic minority who holds prejudices against other minorities. In this case it didn’t matter whether Zimmerman identified as Hispanic, the public painted him out to be a white man acting out in society’s fear of black

Many people believe naturalize identity categories like gayness and lesbianism through scientific views. “Just as we have come to take it for granted that right-thinking people believe homosexuality is innate and hardwired (either through genetics or through some broader combination of genes and hormones), we have also come to believe that wrong-thinking people—either vicious homophobes or simply ill-informed onlookers—insist on gayness as choice and volitional “lifestyle”(Walters). It seems those who believe homosexuality is innate are more likely to be accepting of their lifestyle, white others believe homosexuality can be cured with treatment and religion. When gayness and lesbianism are viewed as a natural fact I think it helps break down stigmas and the idea that sexuality is culture driven. There are many supporters on the fight for trans and queer liberation; one of those people is Buck Angel. The activist is the first female-to male transsexual porn star. He created visibility for trans and gender non-conforming men. Pornography was a source of identity and power for Angel because it was a way to explore and love his sexuality even when others didn’t. “I couldn’t find any role models of guys like me in the porn world, so I decided to step up to the plate myself. When I first started my work in the adult industry, I wanted to represent myself as a