Most scientists suggest not to separate human beings into races based on any single combination of physical features. Especially in Australia, where we are so multicultural and filled with different people from different backgrounds. Yet, we are quick to classify each other in to a category of some sort. This essay will therefore investigate multiple socially defined group identities, especially how the race, ethnicity and social class of an individual can influence their perception and experiences of as students. I will demonstrate this by looking at the identities of different immigrants who have migrated to Australia, the cultural conflicts of second generation migrants and international students who fall under the socially defined groups. We will investigate how their identity is contested, renegotiated or rejected.
A punk haircut, Dark skin. A ‘funny’ accent. Almond shaped eyes. The smell of curry. We label each other all the time. It is our personal shorthand for making our way through the world. All people have multiple socially defined group identities and these identities influence one another. When defining one’s identity it is important to consider various other types of socially defined group identities that a person has, which may affect our understanding and perception of gender roles and norms.
Can people choose their identity? how much of our identity do we choose? Identity is a complex subject, more fluid than fixed. I believe identity can be chosen and ethnicity is fixed. Identities are constructed on the basis of various traits and experiences. Many of those characteristics are open to different interpretations. Race is a good example. Skin colour is an important marker of identity in many societies, but in oth...
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...nclusion, the identity of bi-lingual, bi-cultural students is always in the process of continuous renegotiation. Identity formation for mobile students turns into a life-long task, never complete; at no moment of their life is their identity final. The varied answers given by respondents to questions asking about where they belonged suggest that ‘home’ is a shifting concept in a life of constant mobility. Those students who had moved only once or who had returned consistently to their base location found it relatively easy to describe ‘home’. As the number of moves mounted up, however, so it became more difficult to decide which place claimed their primary allegiance. Cultural identity is fluid and contingent in relation to historical and cultural circumstances. David Miliband, former British politician once said ‘History is information. Memory forms your identity.’
The clusters of social definitions used to identify persons by gender are collectively known as “femininity” and “masculinity.” Masculine characteristics are used to identify persons as males, while feminine ones are used as signifiers for femaleness. People use femininity or masculinity to claim and communicate their membership in their assigned, or chosen, sex or gender. Others recognize our sex or gender more on the basis of these characteristics than on the basis of sex characteristics, which are usually largely covered by clothing in daily life.
In this paper I will present the numerous theories built around the process of establishing one’s identity and provide examples of how this identity shapes a students involvement and actions while in school. I will also reflect on the importance for systems that foster identity formation that is equal for both inner-city and suburban children. It is crucial to the success of America’s schools to understand that a mixture of cultures creates a mixture of identi...
A careful look at these five readings finds identity or ethnicity divided into the following three categories, society’s preconceived impression of the identity or ethnicity, the division between the identity or ethnicity and main stream society, and the judgment of the identity or ethnicity by mainstream society.
Culture and identity are two very strange ideas. They are received at a very young age, yet they are very hard to give to someone else. They will affect you for the rest or your life, yet for the most part you are born into them. However, they soon become very important to us and we cannot, no matter what we do, live without them. They are a part of us, and a vital aspect of society. However, it took me a very long time to recognize that I had an identity and a little while after that before I knew what it was.
Developing a face within a new environment is challenging. Which in many cases can be a result in an identity crisis, which is defined to be, a period of uncertainty and confusion in which a person's sense of identity becomes insecure, typically due to a change in their expected aims or role in society. Although the move to America is for a positive gain there are also some negative effects inflicted upon the lives of immigrants. Being faced discrimination, possibilities of poverty and broken homes immigrants still make the decision to place themselves self in subsequent societies. Melissa L. Curtin stresses the sensitivities of “Coculturation: Toward A Critical Theoretical Framework of Cultural Adjustment” as well as highlighting the discourses of assimilation and theories of coculturation/acculturation.
Talk about a label or ethnicity may sound normal for most of the people in the United States. However, in the border, I’ve found many people that talks about ethnicity as it was a depicting way to talk about other people. Nonetheless, as we understood during the first weeks of this course, even though people never think in a label on their person, or have never thought in one, other people might get one for them in a daily basis. No matter where a person is, nor the country a person lives in, that person has a label for others and that person forms part of an ethnic group. In many cases, people’s ethnic identity will depend on the place where they grew up, but some others it simply will depend on their family descent. In my personal case I consider my ethnic identity as a Mexican-American. The reason for this are simple, but has many ramifications, I grew up in Mexico.
When thinking about Identity, it might be easy to just say that is “who we are”, or it’s just me. An identity is much more than that though. I like to think of it as a living puzzle. There are hundreds or thousands of pieces that come together to form the complete identity, or the complete “you”. I say living because an identity grows throughout the years and even changes depending on the situation. There is a multitude of influences that goes into forming a person’s identity some of which a person chooses and others they don’t. Family members and guardians are a primary source of learning when a child is young. As a person grows, the sphere of influence broadens to include mentors, media, and school. This identity is then a lens through which
When we think about our identity we often think about the way we look. Such features as hair color, eye color, skin tone, height and weight come to mind. Whilst these features are part of our identity, there are many more complex factors that make us who we are. Whilst psychological issues are paramount to the formation of our identity, I will be addressing the nature of our identity in relation to socio-cultural factors (Austin, 2002, p.9). During the course of this essay I will be discussing the term of Identity and some of the axes of identity, including Race, Class and Gender. It is important to understand some of the significant issues of identity so that we have more of an understanding of who and what we are, which in turn may help us to begin to better understand others.
The multiplicity of cultures has played a significant role in defining Australia’s identity. In order to understand the problematic nature of the application of multiculturalism in Australia, it is imperative to observe and analyze two claims of the concept of multiculturalism. The first claim of the concept of multiculturalism is associated with identity, while the second claim is associated with recognition. At this juncture, it is important to pose the following question; how is the application of multiculturalism affected by identity and recognition within Australia’s diverse
Identity is within all of us. Without it, we would be nothing. It determines just about any personality trait, habit or manner one can think of. That humans have such varied attitudes is intriguing, but where does identity come from? People identify themselves using not only qualities within them, but through culture and family as well.
What is identity? Identity is an unbound formation which is created by racial construction and gender construction within an individual’s society even though it is often seen as a controlled piece of oneself. In Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum’s piece, “The Complexity of Identity: ‘Who Am I?’, Tatum asserts that identity is formed by “individual characteristics, family dynamics, historical factors, and social and political contexts” (Tatum 105). Tatum’s piece, “The Complexity of Identity: ‘Who Am I?’” creates a better understanding of how major obstacles such as racism and sexism shape our self identity.
There are millions of words across the globe that are used to describe people and uncover their identity, but what is identity? How can you begin to describe something that varies so greatly from one human being to another? Can you create a universal meaning for a word describing human concepts that people often fail to define for themselves? Of course there isn't one definition to define such a word. It is an intricate aspect of human nature, and it has a definition just as complex.
Social identity theory is based on four interrelated concepts: social categorization, social identification, social comparison and positive distinctiveness. Social categorization is tendency to divide and therefore categorise individuals into in-groups (individual belongs) and out-groups (individual does not belong); it groups different social circles based on the members’ stereotypical culture and behaviour. This often leads to category accentuation effect, which is exaggerating of intergroup differences and intragroup similarities; individual underestimate perceived variability within groups but overestimate variability between groups. Social identification is way of identifying individual with a particular social group based on their in-group norms and by doing so, may adopt some of the values and behaviours of that particular group. Social comparison and positive distinctiveness is when social identity contributes to our self-image so we seek positive social identities to maintain and enhance self-esteem. We compare in-group with out-group and also discriminate the out-group to establish the superiority of in-group, enhance their self-image...
One of the factors that influences identity is the culture a human being was raised in. There are many different types of cultures on Earth, and each culture has its own set of norms. These set of norms puts pressure of the human being to act in a certain way. This, as a result, influences
Identities are an important part of the human experience. One of the many identities that creates a person is gender. Society, being the entity establishing social norms and social roles, plays a part in effecting the individual’s gender, and how they choose to express themself. The underlying or overlying identities also have the same effect. Gender is not only an identity, it is a lifestyle inside and out. Gender, like race, class, and sexuality; is not limited to the binary scale, and that is normal, natural, and human. The concept of gender is man-made, but it forces one’s hand to analyze the thought processes behind an individual's perception on gender through self, through society, or through the dichotomy and/or correspondence of the