Identity Formation Process - Essay Example

Taha Aldosari Thomson Rivers Faculty: Arts Dept: Sociology and Anthropology Instructor: 22nd Nov, 2012 Identity Formation Process The Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, New 8th Edition defines identity as whom or what somebody or something is. The process of trying to identify oneself is therefore very important. Identity is determined by two main factors. These are commitment and exploration. Commitment is defined by actions. For one to be committed, persistence and patience in doing something must be observed. On the other hand, exploration is the act of improving oneself. The society plays a big role in our identity formation..A worker working at industrial city behaves different from a worker at central business district. Even their social classes will differ. The school status and lifestyle of their children will not be the same either. Our identities therefore mirror the societies we come from (Kottak 1994, p285). Society plays an important role in dictating the way one dresses. One is always expected to dress in a manner that conforms to the societal expectations. A breach to this would be met with resentment and the society might not consider the person as one of their own .The person may thus lose identity. The mode of dressing is therefore a big contributor to shaping one’s identity. The role of the society in shaping the identity process cannot be complete without indicating the important role that language plays in shaping our identities. For example a lady in her new dress or car or motorcycle may display body language to illustrate her pride. Language is also a reality shaper especially if it attracts attention. Language contains the symbols and aspirations of a society from which a person comes. Through language, a person is able to express themselves. We are able to deduce the thinking processes of a person from their language. Their values in life also tend to manifest themselves immensely through the language. The way a person talks may also enable us to tell from which region in the world the person comes from. There is no other better way to shape identity other than language (Macionis and Gerber 1999, p152). Various cultural values come into play when one is trying to achieve identity. Culture is a fabricated network of many ideologies, all of which are highly interconnected. A cultural aspect like religion plays a major role in trying to achieve one’s identity. The fact that one is a Muslim, Christian, Hindu or even Buddhist, gives them particular rights to access certain places or otherwise. Looking at the manner in which rituals are performed in different religions, it is clear that religion is an identity shaper (Kottak 2010, p410). The kind of politics one associates with will highly be linked with them. Of course sibling marriages are prohibited in most countries in the world. However in the state of Hawaii, in South America (Peru) and in traditional Egyptian culture, brothers and sisters are allowed to marry. This, again affect identity formation (Kottak 2010, p307) Someone’s gender also plays a big role in identity formation. One is seen to be either a woman or a man. If the society views the person as a man, he is expected to behave the way men do in that society and if she is a woman, she is expected to carry feminine roles in the society. Gender thus plays an immense role in shaping one’s identity. Childhood background has always played a major role in dictating what somebody becomes. This is because childhood experiences tend to manifest themselves later in life in very distinct ways. If a child was traumatized or physically abused when they were young, the child may develop a general negative attitude and mistrust towards people and as a result leading to personality disorders. One’s family background may also shape the way the society views them. If a family has a history of theft, anyone from that family may largely be associated with this vice, and the community from which they come from may generally be skeptical towards such a family. The environment has also been a major factor in shaping one’s identity. The physical environment of a person may dictate their skin color, texture or even general creativity levels of a person. The social environment of a person has also been known to greatly affect the general world view of a person and thus shape their identity a great deal (Kottak 2008, p 23-45). The company a person keeps is also responsible in shaping an identity. When one always associates with criminal gangs in any given setting, the person will be seen as one of the gangsters as well. If a person keeps a company that the society deems as good, then the person will also be viewed as being very good. The society is naturally a communal place and it dictates the rules and regulations for people to live in it. The society sets the moral standards for the people living there. A person is therefore expected to adhere to the moral standards of the society. When the person seems very morally regulated, then the deduction can be that the person has lived in a society together with other people and probably adhered to its rules and regulations. A person that a society views as morally decayed, may, however receive resentments and such a person may be deemed as an outcast in the community. As a result, the person may get funny nicknames, also a way of shaping identity. It is very important that one conforms to the rules and standards of a society because a society naturally offers collective identity for its members. Collective identity is important because offer security for its members. One feels protected within a certain circle and their rights cannot easily be infringed. Culture is very dynamic. Biology and culture are somehow related. If someone changes his culture, it may change his environment. If he is adapted to this environmental change, then a change in identity will be manifested. Because identity is tied to culture, identities also do change from time to time in accordance to the environment (Kottak 2008, p241-289). The media is also playing a major role in construction of identities. Most of the times spent at home, children watch Television. In the televisions, the commercials they view surpass the programs they view. In the commercials, which usually tend to propagate gender stereotypes, the children end up forming various identities, either wanting to identify more with a certain category of people or even they may tend to emphasize more on their gender identities. The programmes the children watch on Television may also shape their world view and make them be associated with certain behaviours. This is because the children may want to mimic what they see on the Television. The commercials particularly usually try to propagate a lot of gender stereotypes thus shaping a person’s identity from when children are still very young. In the Television commercials, girls are always presented as the weaker sex compared to their boy counterparts. Girls are seen always relying on boys for what they need. For example if their play dolls enter muddy water, the boys are seen to bravely get the dolls out for them. The boys are on the other hand depicted as being very strong and are often seen with toy cars. The Television commercials therefore provide a very strong aspect of socialization for the children and in this case gender stereotyping. When children watch these commercials, they end up forming a notion in their minds that boys are meant to behave in a particular way and girls to behave in a certain way. The children end up growing with such stereotypes and their identities will have been shaped from that very tender age. They grow up knowing a boy is supposed to be strong while a girl is supposed to be generally weak; a perfect example of gender stereotyping in shaping one’s identity (Dickason 2000, p8-24). Also very strong in shaping identity is the way families raise their children, still, while propagating gender stereotypes. When a child grows up, if she is a girl, she will be given dolls and feminine accessories that relate to vanity ton play with. She is particularly taught how to sit like a girl and how to dress like a girl. A boy on the other hand will receive comments like “A boy should always be strong and should not be seen crying anyhow. The boy will also be showered with toys which express masculinity like cars or even guns. The boy is taught how to ‘behave like a man’ from a very tender age. As such, the children grow up clearly knowing that men are supposed to behave in certain ways and girls also in certain particular ways. Their identity as a boy or a girl is therefore emphasized from a very tender age. Another notable identity shaper is the entertainment industry. In movies and cinemas, the viewers may watch something interesting like Romeo and Juliet. They level of romance and affection in such a movie may shape up the viewers’ identity. Why not? I may decide to treat my girlfriend the way Romeo did for Juliet. The list is just endless, watching Lil Wayne in a music video with all the necklaces and tattoos may also affect the young generation. Young boys will star searching tattoo artists for the same. Through the internet, people can access all sorts of information. Some people may frequent certain blogs so much that they become addicted to them. Children, if their access to the internet is not controlled, may get access to certain media which may be sexually exploitative. The children may want to start experimenting whatever they see in the internet. If not checked, all these may end up affecting the child negatively when they become adults. They may develop a phobia for sex or may get addicted to sex, a trait not so admirable in most societies. The Magazines in the local media also play a big role in shaping our identities. The old adage goes ‘A man becomes what he thinks,’ the images and what we read in the magazines play a big role in shaping our thinking processes. One may want to ape the things they see in the media like having a tattoo on one’s body to imitate a certain personality and they therefore become associated with such personalities. All these work to shape our identities. The Magazines in circulation always have a tendency of portraying an ‘ideal’ body image. The ladies in the magazines are always portrayed as being very slender while the men are portrayed more as being masculine. Some people may want to ape such body images, and in extreme cases, some ladies would go without food for long in order o to become slender, while some men may overeat to attain the perfect image of being huge and masculine. This may lead to medical conditions Anorexia Nervosa for the former case and bulimia for the latter. All these shape identity (Dickason 2000, p52-139). All the above information clearly indicates how identity processes are formed. We become what we are generally because of the society in which we grow in. The persons we are truly reflect the societies we come from. Because of the important role that the society plays in identity formation, our personalities also tend to be shaped by the society. Our various personalities are as a result of our physical and social environments that we are exposed to. Childhood experiences also come in to play a major role. When trying to deduce someone’s identity, therefore, a lot of importance should be paid as to why the person behaves the way they do. We should avoid being judgmental with regard towards a person’s way of behavior. The most important thing should be to try and understand that person from a very deep angle; what is the family background of such a person, what is the person’s educational background? Why do such persons behave the way they do? We should also be keen in listening to the person’s speech as through this we will generally know the person’s worldview, that which they deem as important and that which to them might not be important. In other words, we get through the person’s mind and reason with them. Such an approach which centers on the person clearly provides us a better understanding of the person than we would imagine. When we centre on the individual like this, we get to provide a proper diagnosis of who the individuals really are, without necessarily misjudging them. PPSR involvements are therefore very important. This will help us exercise patience on others. Let me labor this point, it takes less time and effort to accept someone the way he/she is than trying to change the individual. We are tasked with assisting one another as an act of endearment. A friend is not determined by how much he can destroy but how much he can make. This implies that constant criticism towards our friends does not build their confidence but kill it. Let us learn how to appreciate the strengths of our beloved friends instead of searching for their points of weakness. Ask yourself what can my colleague do? How can he improve? And not what can’t my colleague do? For instance, the society around which a person was brought up greatly shapes his/her identity. The failure to connect events and people’s faces can affect a person. For instance, a person with a brain injury may be incapable of recognizing faces and events. These are syndromes called misidentification conditions. Again a widow can have some nightmares of seeing her late husband in her house. This would affect the lady to the extent of screaming. In this way the identity of the woman is hindered negatively (Leslie brothers 1997, p5-6). All the above, incorporated with trying to take a non ethnocentric view when trying to reconstruct a person’s identity, will produce an ideal identity formation process. Work cited Kottak, Conrad Cultural Anthropology, McGraw-Hill Companies Incorporated, 2008 Macionis, John, Gerber Linda. Sociology: Canada, Pearson Education Publishers, 1999 Leslie Brothers. Friday’s Footprint: How the Society Shapes the Human Mind, Oxford University Press, 1997 Dickason, Renee. British Television Advertising: Cultural Identity and Communication, University Of Luton Press, 2000 Kottak, Conrad. Anthropology: Exploration of Human Diversity, Random House,1974 Kottak, Conrad. Cultural Anthropology: McGraw-Hill International Edition, McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2010 Top of Form    Bottom of Form Read More