Avowed identities:
Modern female
Daughter, granddaughter, sister, niece, and cousin
Catholic
Good student
White
American, Minnesotan, Irish-American, German-American, Swedish-American, French-American
Ascribed identities---Person Responsible---Actions to Resist
Traditional female---Grandparents---Ignore advice, discuss my life with them
Age (21, college student)---Friends, college students---Explain my beliefs, ignore peer pressure
American---People I've met traveling---Get to know people, talk about America
Middle class---Friends, college students---Explain my finances and situation
When I was writing a list of my identities, I realized that some labels have very different meanings to different groups of people. Therefore, my avowed and ascribed identities may be very different in nature but the same word could be used to describe both of these identities. For example, when I think of myself as an American, I think of being very individualistic, focused on the future and on goals, and proud of my nationality and independence. However, when I was traveling in Europe, I met many people who had a different view of Americans. The American identity they ascribed to me consisted of a very loud, arrogant, and disrespectful person. I resisted this identity by allowing Europeans to get to know me and by discussing my country with them. I am a very shy, quiet person, so my personality was often enough to change this ascribed identity.
Another identity which is ascribed to me, most often by my grandparents, is a gender role. My grandparents view me as a traditional female and expect me to get married and become a housewife. They do not understand why I want to attend graduate school because they believe a girl only goes to college to meet a husband. Mainly I resist this identity by ignoring it and going ahead with my goals. I have also tried to talk to my grandparents about what I want from life; however, the cultural differences between our generations makes this difficult.
Age, and the properties that go along with it, is another ascribed identity. I am a young, 21 year old college student. However, I am a very strong Catholic, which means that I do not participate in many of the "typical" college activities. I know how to have fun and party, but I refuse to get drunk or compromise myself. I am also very responsible in that I always put schoolwork before having fun, even on the weekends. Sometimes other college students expect me to act differently and conflict arises when I refuse to party as hard as they want to. Again, I resist this identity by following my beliefs and ignoring their wishes.
The final identity I feel is ascribed to me is the middle class identity. I was born into a middle class family, and I will probably be middle class myself someday. However, my parents cannot afford to give me a lot of money for college. I pay for college mostly with financial aid and summer earnings, so I have to be careful of how much money I am spending. Some of my friends from lower class backgrounds view me as being middle class and do not understand when I'm concerned about spending money on a concert or trip. One time I solved this problem by showing them by bank balance and explaining that I really did need to worry about money. Since then, my friends have been more understanding.
Do you think ascribed identities are more commonly given to us by our peers or by people who have very different identities than we do (for example, people of a different race, age, or gender)?
What factors have influenced the development of your avowed identities (family, peers, media, etc)?
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I think ascribed identities are more commonly given to us by people who have very different identities than us. Most of the ascribed identities that I came up with for myself were from people who had very little relationships with me, at least not personal relationships. I feel like ascribed identities are mostly created by stereotypes and can likely be wrong depending on the person. Factors that influence our avowed identities would first and foremost be our family and closest friends. These are people we relate to and form strong relationships with and eventually become who we are because of them. I think the media can create many ascribed identities for people because they focus on what people should look like, should act like, and so on.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kim. I think ascribed identities are more commonly given to us by people who have very different identities than we do because they have no idea who you are and they judge you from their knowledge, experiences, or your surface, not your inside.
ReplyDeleteMy family gave me a big influence to the development of my avowed identities. I liked prised by them and I wanted to be a person who is prised all the time. Then, I became who I am.
I think that our ascribed identities are given to us more by people who dont have identities than we do. Our peers and the people that we hang out with would most likely have things in common with us and would have a lot of the same ascribed identities given to them.
ReplyDeleteI think ascribed identities are given to us by a mixture of all; family, peers, associates, society in general, government, and in general people with different identities, beliefs, and views. It happens consciously and unconsciously and it can be inclusive or exclusive.
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