Identity Is Our Sense Of Identity Essay

Identity is our sense of self, and it defines how we see and position ourselves in the world (Jackson, 2014). Through one’s developmental process, our identity which encompasses various aspects, e.g. racial, cultural, gender etc. varies. In this context, the bodily expressions and performance refer to the non-verbal attributes and behaviours of our body that we present to the outside world. Humans often use non-verbal signs to reveal who they are and it was suggested that our bodily expressions and performances are closely related to our identity. This essay will argue that our body is a site where identity is constructed, communicated and challenged because there is an interplay between our body and identity. This will be asserted by demonstrating

According to biological determinism, this is because identity is biologically grounded. The supporter of this approach suggested that there is a combination of biological and socio-cultural factors that influence the sense of self (Lind & Brzuzy, 2007). Consider an example of about personal identity and skin colour. Due to the ethnic stereotype in Hong Kong, locals perceive the South Asians as a group of people who are bad-mannered and troublesome. The dark skin colour is one of the critical attributes to recognise them. The unequal treatment and discrimination faced by the South Asians immigrants would eventually develop them an inferior self-image and roughness personality identity. The genes, or to be more precise, the physical attributes of our body would culturally define people into a set of “ought to be” personalities and eventually affect how they see themselves. In the above case, the socio-culturally derived the meaning of dark skin associated with roughness identity that affects how locals treat them and thus construct their identities. The inborn bodily traits act as the cause for people to judge at first, and the meaning of that attribute is then to define the respective identity. This has explained the way the biological features form individuals’