TMA 01 part a What is meant by identity. TMA01 part b How does class influence identity in a contemporary society?

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Diane Sharman                              W5483876          04/12/2007

TMA 01 part a

What is meant by Identity?

In this essay I am going to look at what is meant by the term identity.

I am going to discuss the aspects that help shape our identities and how much control we have over forming our own identity.

Also how identity provides a link between the personal and the social.

 The definition of identity from the Collins online dictionary. “ the individual characteristics by which a person or thing is recognized”

In my view the above mentioned characteristics could be factors including colour, race, gender, class, status and place to name but a few.

Identity is not the same as personality.

Personality is made up of inherited traits and behavioral patterns.

Identity comes from choices we make; we have an active role in the forming of our own identity.

Gender we have no control over. Gender is not the same as sexuality. Sexuality is the choice we make.

From the moment we are born we are categorized as either male or female depending on the genitalia we have. This is not a choice we can make.

A gender role is a perceived set of behavioral norms associated with males or females, in a given social group or system. (Wilkipedia, 2007)

We are put into the stereotypical groups for our gender: girls wear pink and play with dolls; boys wear blue and play with cars.

Sir Thomas Moore (p49) thought that a girls’ gender was formed because of the absence of a penis. He thought Boys were superior to girls because of this.

On reaching adulthood we are expected to go into certain job roles. i.e men as builders and practical skills and women as homemakers or secretaries.

Louis Althusser claimed that a person’s identity is formed when people are drafted into a specific identity they are interpellated (called) into.

For example Mother, Husband Scottish, Irish. These identities can change with time, in the example of a mother or housewife, they may no longer be only a mother / housewife as they may have been in the 1950’s but they may have full time careers as well. Or the husband may stay at home because the wife earns more money as so she can be the breadwinner. In 2001 there were 13.2 million women a workforce of 23.5 million (Woodward2003).

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Our identity can be fluid and changing. Agency allows us to identify with certain groups or people that share similar interests. In the example of religion, if we were Jewish we may attend the synagogue with like minded worshipers.

Or we may wear the claret and blue of West Ham Utd when watching Saturday football on TV, because this identifies you as a West Ham supporter.

This shows that as individuals we take up identities of things we enjoy and relate it to the social. The West Ham supporter is a member of a club where he can discuss ...

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