assumptions about identity

Assumption 1: Identity is what we’re born with.

For many people, answering questions about identity begins by listing details that can be found on birth certificates–name, sex, ethnicity, and family origins. People wishing to research their family histories locate the birth certificates of known family members because these documents provide essential information about the identities of ancestors. The importance of birth certificates might suggest that identity is basically fixed and stable from the time of birth. Consider sex and ethnicity, two labels applied at birth that are at the heat of how many people think about identity. Both are generally understood as clear-cut categories from which identity is established.

However, the assumption that identity consists merely of what we are “born with” can underemphasize the influences or impact of larger social forces that also affect identity. Consider gender identity, for example. Although it is true in one sense that sex is established at birth, it is important to note that developmental psychologists have concluded that a person’s understanding what it means to be male or female develops through social interaction over time. During preschool years, children begin to discover what gender identity means. They carefully observ who’s a boy, who’s a girl, how they dress, what they do, and how they are treated. In fact, children’s understanding and expectations about gender are largely influenced by what they see and experience. Gender identity is not fixed at birth; rather it is a process that evolves over time.

Similarly, the meaning of ethnic identity and nationality is something worked out within larger social and cultural settings.

In reality, the facts of our birth are merely starting points for understanding identity. Larger social and cultural forces also play important roles in shaping our sense of identity–including ideas about gender and race. Personal identity cannot be separated from the social contexts in which we live. During this course you will be encouraged, required, even,  to examine how some taken-for-granted aspects of identity, such as gender, ethnicity and even able-bodiedness, are shaped and influenced by larger cultural forces.

Assumption 2: Identity is shaped by culture.

From this perspective, cultural attitudes and assumptions largely define identity and allow us to label or identify others. People do not live in a vaccuum. Instead we pick up the influences of our surroundings.  According to this viewpoint, identity is shaped through acculturation. Acculturation is the process by which we absorb the practices, attitudes, and beliefs of particular social groups. Culture connects us by providing a shared set of customs, values, ideas and beliefs. Throughout the semester you will examine how the cultural markers of identity that we choose–such as the types of cars we drive, the clothes we wear, and the music we listen to–can affect our sense of identity. These markers allow us to label ourselves and others as belonging to a particular social group or as having certain shared interests or values.

Consider, for example, what it means to label someone as “normal.” What, after all, is normal? Is normal defined by how you look? How easy your name is to pronounce? Where you shop for clothes?  Is it normal desirable? Clearly, the label “normal” is loaded with a range of cultural assumptions. Attempting to define “normal” reveals that identity shifts with us as we move in different social settings or contexts. What is viewed as normal on a college campus may not be seen the same way in the workplace or in a social setting. By naming and describing some characteristics that we associate with the term “normal,” we can uncover the common assumptions behind the ways that we group ourselves and others.

The concept of “normal,” also helps illustrate that our daily lives are saturated with cultural messages about what is valued over what is not. Social and cultural forces that help shape our sense of identity are not neutral. Instead they operate like a powerful lens through which we make judgments about ourselves and others.

Assumption 3: Identity is shaped by personal choices

Another common assumption about identity is that it is shaped by our personal choices or decisions. According to this viewpoint, to understand identity we must examine the choices we make in our daily lives–choices about our social relationships and anything else we care about. Rather than seeing all matters of identity as determined by larger cultural forces that are beyond our control, this viewpoint recognizes that individuals participate in and make decisions about their identities.

Certainly this assumption is based in truth. After all, we are not simply dupes of Madison Avenue’s marketing machines, blindly accepting the trends, fashions, and cultural attitudes that they sell. Rather we make choices. Personal decisions can be crucial to one’s sense of identity, and that personal choices can outweigh the importance of cultural influences and the expectations of others.

What’s more, the identity that we convey to others changes according to different social contexts. That is, our individual identities are in constant flux. Recall the kinds of identification found in your wallet. The cards illustrate the idea that identity, unlike identification cards, is not fixed or permanent. While ID cards include a photo and a series of facts (where we live, height, weight, an identification number), the “facts” of our identities are not so fixed, they change and evolve. This is what it means to call identity an open text. ID cards show proof of the ever-eveolving nature of identity. The photos in these cards never seem up-to-date and many of us carry pictures of family and friends that are also out-of-date. Pull out one of these old pictures or IDs and look for details that reveal a now-discarded or changed aspect of your identity.

This assumption suggests that despite the larger cultural contexts in which we live, we shape our identities through the choices we make. According to this view, identity is not fixed, but shifts over time and in different situations.