Meaning of Identity For a Person - Essay Example

IDENTITY ASLAM SHAIKH 9420 ORDER NO 175724 06/07/2007 11.45 am Identity: What is Identity? Identity is an individuality of a person. There are different structures which have an impact on our identity. Each and every moment that we live shape our identity and in turn it shapes our destiny as well. It is rightly said," Child is the father of man" What this means in essence is that whatever we experience in our childhood, makes us what we are after we filter out the elements from our experiences that dont agree with our belief system. We do this with the use of perception in our thought processes. Our belief system develops during our growing up years, when we interact with our parents and with the society at large. Soon the way we respond becomes our habit and then it gets labeled as Personality and that gets stamped as our identity. Our identities are influenced and shaped by a number of structures. The key structures being a)the family we are born into b)The nation we are born into and c)our gender. So we may well ask, do we have any control over our identities? How can we? We cannot control any of the above factors. Its all a matter of IDENTITY chance as to where we are born as well as the gender that we are born into. Now let us analyze each of these structures in depth. Our family: Our family plays a vital role in shaping our personality. The status and class of the family that we are born into plays an important role. Not only that, the attitudes of our family members set a precedent expectation from us. For example, the number of siblings that you have as well as your own number, whether you are a elder brother or sister, or a middle one or the youngest one will definitely have a greater say in deciding how you yourself turn out to be. Each and every moment of your life that you lead impacts and etches a stamp on your personality. Our nation: while we are growing up, we are constantly influenced by the environment. Things that happen around us are going to color our thoughts and belief patterns for ever. There is peer pressure which gives life to our personality, helps us in making choices. While we are in our teens, the growth stage of our country will definitely have its impact on us. A person in a third world country will definitely have different values as compared to a person in a developed country as ours. The values that our country stands for are the values that we will take up albeit subconsciously. It may happen occasionally that we may take an opposite stand; this is just the growing up phase. Youths have a need to prove themselves even it means getting rebellious. Then there is the herd mentality. Just IDENTITY because your friends think so, you do too or may be thats the sole reason you do not. So it all depends on your need of the moment. Changes offer new opportunities along with new challenges, so changes will test your mettle in adverse circumstances.(  Kath Woodward ,2004 , Questioning Identity, Gender, Class, Nation)1 Our Gender: Last but not the least; gender plays an important role in forming our so called identity. There is some substance in the saying; Men come from Mars, Women from Venus. How exactly does the gender affect our identities? It is in the perception and the expectation that are set on us as individuals by the society. Besides the different genetic make up of the sexes, the expectation set by society also plays in important role in creating and widening the gap between men and women. Different opportunities are given to us just because we belong to a particular sex.The environment within which a child is raised may determine his personality to a large extent.The parental support that he may receive as a result of him belonging to a particular gender will certainly influence his thoughts. ( http://findarticles.com/p/articles)2 As we move into the 21st century, on the surface, it may seem that there is equality between the sexes, but read between the lines, and you will see that with all the progress made, the fairer sex has brought with it the emotional baggage carried around by them since ancient times, into the workplace, and has in fact burdened IDENTITY the male species with the same, bringing to the fore the male sensitivity, leading to furor and chaos. Sources: 1 . Kath Woodward ,2004 , Questioning Identity, Gender, Class, Nation 2 http://findarticles.com/p/articles Influence of structure and agency on Identity ASLAM SHAIKH WRITER 9420 ORDER NO 175724 06/07/2007 11.45am Identity has two causative factors namely agency and structure. The ability of the individual to act independently and to make their own free choices is agency, whereas structure refers to those factors such as social class, religion, gender, ethnicity, and customs etc. which seem to limit or influence the opportunities that individuals have. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structure_and_agency)1 Structure and agency are seen as complementary forces by modern social theorists. Structure influences human behavior, and humans by their very actions are capable of changing the social structures they inhabit. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structure_and_agency)2 So in effect both are interlinked. Agency has an impact on the Structure. The combined action of the agency of a vast majority of humans goes towards the outcome that is created in society as a whole. Let us take a simple example of Outsourcing. Ten years back, it was unthinkable that a country would outsource its work, and that too work Influence of structure and agency on Identity related to Financial institutions such as the Insurance or the Banking Sector. But the human mind has the potential of adapting to situations and working out its own defense strategies in such a manner that now it has become the norm rather than an exception, so much so that any new venture that gets started plans its strategies centering around this aspect as well. Let us now discuss how a responsible person is born in a society. What is it that given the same circumstances, two individuals develop entirely different personalities? Look around you and see if you can spot a person who seems as if he is carrying the burden of the whole world on his shoulders, the most responsible person in the group, not exactly a leader, however a person who is sensible, mature and responsible. There are ten to one chances that this person is the second born person in the family, and has for an elder sibling a person of the same gender. Now how did this person become the way he is? Is it solely the parents who influenced him? How come he is so responsible when the first child two years older to him is still carefree, childish, confident and a happy go lucky person. It is mainly the expectation that the parents set for him. But did the parents set responsibility as a predefined characteristic for him? No, not exactly, but that was the out come of how this child was expected to perform. When the first child came into the family, the parents showered him with love, and they were in the Influence of structure and agency on Identity learning stage, not knowing exactly how to bring him up and went along with their instinct. It was the child who led them to behave as they did. In the due course of time ,the parents learnt from the child, they grew up, their priorities changed, they set some limitations when the second child came along, having expectations on how to interact with the child, almost a casual attitude, were not as overwhelmed as when they had their first child. Apart from this the elder child who was used to getting things done for him by the parents, and who was till then the centre of attention of his parents, started expecting responsibility to be handled by the younger one along with his as he grew up. The elder was used to getting whatever he wanted. This setting of expectation is what made the second one develop the way he did, turning into a worried responsible sort of person, trying to live unto the expectation of his family. So two people born in the same family, given similar opportunities in terms of material wealth, environment, surroundings, not to forget the genes still develop into complex identities putting their own inputs by way of perceptions, turn out into completely different people with the stamp of their identities etched firmly on their personalities. So we see by these two above-mentioned examples that the two causative factors Agency and Structure work hand in hand, and this interaction between the two creates a social system governed entirely by its own Influence of structure and agency on Identity resources and rules, gradually setting a pattern, which ultimately leads towards habitation. So in essence, race, ethnicity, gender, up bringing, all go towards making an individual the way he is. All these basically form the foundation of how he will perceive himself in the years to come. It affects not only the individual but also everyone around him. It forms the stability and gives security to the social system, especially if people identify with particular definitions of them or strike out and forge new identities. (http://www.eddington-hook.co.uk/ehook/display)3 This can best be described by a candle that burns. With the resources that the candle is provided with, it not only shines in its own flame but also provides light to the surrounding area and that light strongest in the immediate surrounding diminishes as we go further from it. Influence of structure and agency on Identity Sources: 1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structure_and_agency 2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structure_and_agency 3 http://www.eddington-hook.co.uk/ehook/display ************************************************************ Read More