The need to identify with a particular group, ethnicity, club, sport’s affiliation, etc. is ingrained within each human being. Societal demands dictate this desire to belong to or identify with a group as a necessity. Without this identification, this bond with a group of people, one is left with the feeling that they don’t belong, that they are outsiders looking into a world in which they do not fit or one feels as though they are left with no support system or recourse when they feel as though they are being oppressed, discarded, or overlooked. As students enter the world of the university, they discover that it is the perfect place for them to experiment with this identity, locate a group with which they connect, and fight for those beliefs that the group feels are most crucial. These identity groups at various university campuses have embraced the need to right the wrongs that they feel they have been exposed to in society. Gitlin raises the question of where identity is formed and where identity politics are most prevalent. I will argue that identity politics are formed within society and strengthened, maintained, and supported within the universities. Students are exposed to and begin to embrace identity politics within society, but find the issues in the world of academia easier to fight and adjust.
Identity politics, according to Gitlin, is when “a group searches for and cultivates distinctive customs, qualities, lineages, and ways of seeing” (141). These identity groups search for their own “culture” in response to the recognition of a “collective hurt” the group has been subjected to by society (Gitlin, 147). Minority groups participate in identity politics as a result of their perceived lack of recognition and represe...
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...nges that were occurring in the United States led to a celebration of differences rather than a striving for commonality. This shift to celebrating differences manifested in universities as they are a confined community, an ideal community for identity and cultural groupings. Students come into the university inundated with identity politics from home, school, and the media, and encounter a ready made identity in the university. The organization of the university allows students to come in and learn about themselves rather than the world and the student within it (Gitlin, 149). Overall, students feel a pressure to join a group, to have an identity to bond with, and this pressure is created by society itself. The university atmosphere just emphasizes this necessity and provides a larger opportunity for students to locate a group and participate in identity politics.
The essay, “Diversity: The Value of Discomfort” is an argument written by Ronald L Leibowitz in which he addresses a group of graduates about the value of diversity in college. To me, diversity means the unique backgrounds which influence people’s thoughts, ideas, and opinions. Each of the factors in an individual’s background makes them unique, and creates an important facet of our communities. However, we need to recognize and understand diversity, and simply “celebrating” it is not enough—we must embrace it in our colleges, workplaces, neighborhoods, and larger societies.
Identity is 'how you view yourself and your life.'; (p. 12 Knots in a String.) Your identity helps you determine where you think you fit in, in your life. It is 'a rich complexity of images, ideas and associations.';(p. 12 Knots in a String.) It is given that as we go through our lives and encounter different experiences our identity of yourselves and where we belong may change. As this happens we may gain or relinquish new values and from this identity and image our influenced. 'A bad self-image and low self-esteem may form part of identity?but often the cause is not a loss of identity itself so much as a loss of belonging.'; Social psychologists suggest that identity is closely related to our culture. Native people today have been faced with this challenge against their identity as they are increasingly faced with a non-native society. I will prove that the play The Rez Sisters showed this loss of identity and loss of belonging. When a native person leaves the reservation to go and start a new life in a city they are forced to adapt to a lifestyle they are not accustomed to. They do not feel as though they fit in or belong to any particular culture. They are faced with extreme racism and stereotypes from other people in the nonreservational society.
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.
In Stuart Hall’s “Ethnicity: Identity and Difference,” he claims that identity is a volatile social process through which one comes to see the self. Hall argues that identity is not a thing rather a process “…that happens over time, that is never absolutely stable, that is subject to the play of history, and the play of difference.” These factors are constantly entering the individual in a never-ending cycle, re-establishing and affirming who one is.
Beginning their research, Levine and Dean targeted undergraduate students from a range of higher education institutions. 26 colleges and universities, nationwide, were examined; where an inclusivity of data was collected from community, private, and public environments (Levine & Dean, 2012, p.207). Further, it was designed to represent “the diversity of higher education” in terms of “size, control, location, degree level, demographics, and religious orientation” (Levine & Dean, 2012, p.206). This variety aided to present breadth and uniqueness to the cultures that are present throughout the United States. The data collected from each environment also prevented the bias that might exist if one region is overrepresented.
Racial Identity Theory consists of five assumptions: Every member of society belongs to one or more groups of people; Belonging to a group influences a person’s worldview; The United States is a race centered society and operates on a hierarchy of racial groups; A racist social environment influences the process of racial identity development; As one develops socially, one grapples with racial identity (Brown et al., 1996; Helms, 1984, 1990, 1995; Parker, 1998; Ponterotto, 1993; Pope-Davis & ...
College is often said to be the time to be whoever you want to be. However, when a student feels they need to make the choice to cover, they lose the opportunity to be themselves and learn more about their community. Covering is a person or group’s acts of censoring portions of their identity viewed as disadvantageous in an attempt to assimilate. Judicial and societal unwillingness to provide protection for marginalized communities furthers encouragement for individuals to cover. While some civil rights activists intertwine protective legislation with equality, requirements for covering in college settings shows a lack of equality and the need for creating a model of acceptance, an opportunity to further equality throughout the world.
Mark Sisson argues that the use of banned substances isn’t a problem because these substances keep the athletes healthy and at the top of their game. This is a topic that is popular in today’s world of competition and professional sports. The claim to allow performance enhancing drugs is difficult to make people agree with you because the media always displays them as bad and they never say the positive benefits of these drugs. Since it is difficult to get people to believe and agree with your claim by pitching a well-constructed argument. Sisson presents a good argument by using strategies of persuasion such as ethos, pathos, and logos developed by Aristotle.
The past saw identity boundaries being stringently controlled by hegemonic discourse. Laws and social conventions aimed at controlling the “other” were common place. Racial, ethnic, and religious...
In the book, Identity and Difference by Kathyrn Woodward, she goes into depth about one’s own identity. Struggling with identity is bound to happen because one might have a different perspective of the world that was set by one’s community, ethnicity, or even social class. Furthermore, identity gives us a certain place in the world in which one can be connected with society where he live. Though much of identity is used to show the difference in each other, it can also be used to show how similar one is to another. Identity, however, can be used to set one group apart from another. In the apartheid and genocide in Rwanda, the Hutu was seen killing off of the Tutsis due to social class differences where the Tutsis was apparently wealthier, taller, and higher in the social status than the Hutus. Social class differences contributes to how one perceive another identity to the other. Much of what makes up one’s identity has to deal with culture, also because the way one’s culture shape a person is due to his/her experience. This experience of cultures is what makes each individual different from one another and also contributes to one’s own ideas and morals. Identity can be used to separate one person from another, but it can also be used to see how similar one is to
... and acknowledge dissimilarities. Prejudice, discrimination, and stereotyping have no place in the university, but rather than labeling people who partake in these acts as a racist, it would be in the university’s and student’s best interests to help educate one another on cultural diversity and further their intercultural praxes.
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.
Being able to identify with a certain group has been an issue that individuals hesitate with daily. Am I Black, are you a girl, what religion do you practice? These are all common questions that society has forced individuals to concentrate on. Should an individual have to pick a side or is it relevant to the human race to identify with any group? One may believe not, but for others having and knowing one’s own identity is important, because it is something that they have been developing their entire life. Along with how their identity influenced their life chances and their self-esteem. This can also affect how society interact with whatever identity an individual chooses to live. Which is why it was important to recognize how identifying
Colleges and Universities play a major role in developing the behavioral patterns of young adults. In addition to developing young minds, colleges help to cultivate character, responsibility, and social acceptable behavior. Students who attend Carlford have expressed their dissent with the current environment of the university. Because of these underling issues, Carlford’s retention rates amongst minorities have suffered. If Kirsten is unable to handle the situation, there will be a trickledown effect to all areas of the university. Being a new professional in the field of Higher Education can be challenge. There are times where an incident directly affects your position and there are other times where there issues that affect the entire institution. Because the issue directly pertains to Greek Life, the Coordinator of Fraternities and Sororities has the responsibility of identifying the concerns and implementing initiatives that will allow the college to be proactive in future situations of this nature.
Burke, P.J. & Stets, J.E. (2000). Identity Theory and Social Identity Theory. Social Psychology Quarterly 63(3), 224-237