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Struggling to find your identity
Privilege and how it impacts our lives essays
Privilege and how it impacts our lives essays
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Recommended: Struggling to find your identity
“A butterfly can’t see it’s beautiful wings, but the rest of the world can,” would be my saying, that I honestly can’t pin down besides a vague year in Middle School. Beyond that, it holds meaning not only to me, but in context of life and the world currently. Gleaming at my phone at midnight because of a friend who admitted they almost took their lives through pills, this phrase while not used was apparent in my hours of conversation with that person that night. Struggling with an identity is something everyone across race, gender, class, and intelligence struggle with from trying to understand an innocent crush to understanding yourself and your position in life especially in such a competitive environment is difficult. People today must
“Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.” This mantra from Margaret Mead is a somewhat humorous yet slightly satirical spin on how people tend to think of themselves as one-of-a-kind, irreplaceable human specimens. However, one English teacher from Wellesley High School takes this critique one step further with his polemic presentation at the school commencement. David McCullough, a Massachusetts English teacher, gave a seemingly somber sendoff to his graduates in 2012, with a speech that contained some unapologetically harsh sentiments. However, by looking past the outwardly dismal surface of the speech, the students can infer a more optimistic message. By incorporating devices of asyndeton, paradox, antimetabole, and anadiplosis, McCullough conveys to each student that even though none of them is unique, their commonality is not a fault they all have merit and should strive to view the world through a more selfless lens.
On the other hand, ideally one should be true to one’s heart, if Disney’s Mulan is to be believed. But these are neither solid pieces of advice nor wise counsel; they are at best hand-wavy, wishy-washy statements that offer no guidance on traveling the minefield that is remaining true to oneself. In fact, given the wide swath of human experiences, it is difficult to imagine a panacea effective for each and every trial and tribulation people may encounter in maintaining the integrity of their identities; personally, I don't think one exists. Just as there are myriad events, emotions, and memories from which one’s identity develops, it surely follows that there are just as many ways social norms act to compromise one’s individuality, ostensibly for the worse. Therefore, it seems that an indirect solution would best serve individuals filled and bombarded with doubt about who they really are; namely, the unwavering support of a community would allow individuals to resolve, on their own terms, their inner conflicts stemming from outward
“In Defense of Mask,” by Kenneth Gergen he states that it is not possible for humans to find a coherent self identity without having a solution. The idea of developing a “coherent sense of identity” makes us act a certain way to please the wish of others. Gergen wants to find intentions of an individual 's choice of mask and how outward appearances and inward feelings we all come across. The author proves his statement by experimenting on people who had a positive and negative reaction from an interviewer.Therefore, the “coherent identity” versus “multiple identities” is detrimental to many individuals when they are trying to perceive into someone that they wish to become. I agree with Gergen, because having a mask hides
What forms Our Identity is individualization, no one is a carbon-copy of one another and there are many things that makes each person unique whether that be their ethnic background, personality, religious beliefs which can range from Non-religious, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Etc; In the book Uglies by Scott Westerfeld the book is set three hundred years into the future, with the government giving surgical operations which provides every citizen with the “Pretty” operation which makes everyone meet the standard of societal beauty.
A human being is a complicated entity of a contradictory nature where creative and destructive, virtuous and vicious are interwoven. Each of us has gone through various kinds of struggle at least once in a lifetime ranging from everyday discrepancies to worldwide catastrophes. There are always different causes and reasons that trigger these struggles, however, there is common ground for them as well: people are different, even though it is a truism no one seems to able to realize this statement from beyond the bounds of one’s self and reach out to approach the Other.
Every day in our lives, we desire to be perfect to please others. No matter how hard we try, if we do not achieve the concept of being perfect, then we will feel like failure. For example, every year at the Olympics, a newly crowned Olympic champion receiving a gold medal persuades young athletes to worry about winning a medal in every competition they compete. If they do not win a medal in a certain competition, then all their hopes are vanished for the next competition. This action shows how if we do not strive to emulate other people’s achievements, then we will not stand out from the rest of our population.
The search for one’s identity can be a constant process and battle, especially for teenagers and young adults. Many people have a natural tendency to want to fit in and be accepted by others, whether it be with family, friends or even strangers. They may try to change who they are, how they act, or how they dress in order to fit in. As one gets older, society can influence one’s view on what they should look like, how they should act, or how they should think. If society tells us that a certain body type or hair color is beautiful, that is what some people strive for and want to become in order to be more liked. This was especially true with Avery as she longed for the proper clothes to fit into a social group and began to change the way she spoke to match those around her. As a young and impressionable sixth grader, she allowed herself to become somewhat whitewashed in an attempt to fit in with the other girls. However, Avery did not really become friends with any of those girls; her only real friend was
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
that life would be better and that my sister and I would be more accepted. For that reason,
This is the core idea behind Amy Tan’s short story, “Fish Cheeks,” as she outlines the general idea of self-acceptance. The narrator, fourteen year old Tan, declares her love for her minister’s son, Robert, who unlike herself is “as white as Mary in the manger” (Tan 1). This crush is anything but healthy, primarily because Tan is reluctant to reveal her true self to him. This hesitance she portrays is strikingly recognizable in the teenagers of today’s world. Amy Tan 's story,
Wing Biddlebaum allows people’s perceptions of him to alter how he views himself and lives his life. Though he was a person that knew what he loved and found his calling, Wing transforms into meek, timid man afraid of expressing who he truly is. Society pushes people to conform, and when a person does not or cannot conform they are often ridiculed. Wing is an example of the effects inflicted upon a person due to the pressures and powers society possesses. By illustrating the power that people possess and how strongly people seek validation from others, the author is able to express the need for a change in society. People like Wing Biddlebaum with distinguishing features are not to be looked down upon for their differences but validated and accepted because they are still human. Allowing society to operate on a system of pass or fail acceptance does not work. People have to learn that how they perceive others may have more consequences than originally
There came a point in my life where I started to lose a sense of who I was, and my sense of direction. When I got pregnant, my whole demeanor changed, from my attitude to the way I carried myself. It wasn’t until I gave birth that my eyes truly opened to find something that was lost for a very long time: a glimmer of my old self. That baby, my child, helped me recover, shine, and gave me a purpose.
EE Cummings once declared, “In a world that does its best to turn you into something you are not, the hardest battle to fight is to remain true to yourself – and never stop fighting.” The world is made up mostly of Somebodies, and they are always looking for others to become like them. It is a contagious disease that steals the originality of a person and replaces it with an imposter. It plays on a person’s self-esteem and destroys their true identity. It is a war that has to be fought and won each and every day, but most give up after a few insignificant battles. A poet named Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe once voiced, “Everybody wants to be somebody; nobody wants to grow.” The Somebodies are always caught up on trying to be someone else. They stay with the trend and do whatever it tells them to. The downside is that they don’t have the time or courage to grow their individuality like they were meant to. The Somebodies are blind to this and slowly disappear into the crowd as if they never truly were a single individual.
Over the course of my childhood I faced an obstacle of my identity as a child, I was becoming everyone else image of me instead of creating my own portrait. Unfortunately, I began to dress, talk, and behave like the people around me, I became a product of my environment. Myself started to change I gained a reputation of this little girl with a careless attitude, and a malicious looking face. I wasn’t being recognized by my own family members, and it started to affect my relationship at home. I started slacking in my studies, and just started diminishing myself and my personality. The issue was focused in middle school when I joined the Science Technology Engineering Mathematics Scholars after school team. I was a fanatic about learning about
My dad was brought into the courtroom wearing an olive green jumpsuit and restrained by metal cuffs around his wrists. The judge sat high at his bench with his gavel set off to the side, and I, my mom, and my sister, remained as tall as we could attempting not to show the worry that was running through our minds.