Friday, April 17, 2009
Identity in America
Yesterday in class you all wrote how you would define your own identity. What kinds of criteria did you use? Do you use age, gender, religion, race, ethnic background, hair color? What kinds of criteria do we tend to use when we "identify" others--and do we honestly think others use that criteria when they "identify" us?
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I used age, race, and hair color to define what I saw as my own identity. I also talked more about personality than appearance because I think there is a lot more to someone than just what others see on the outside. I think when we “identify” others we used criteria based on race, hair color, and other physical characteristics—mostly only outward appearances. Since we are not really given a lot of time to get to know everyone we meet, we typically use physical criteria to “identify” them as a particular type of person.
ReplyDeletei used how i look, race, gender, personality, basically all the characteristics i see about my self. and no i dont think we used all the right criteria to identify others.. we tend to use how we see people and make a judgment off of what we see. we dont usually take the time to get to know people on a personal level.
ReplyDeleteIn order to define my one identity, I used race, age, gender,religion and hair color because that what the people see, when they see me. Basically, when we need to identify others, we also use age, sex, race and the physical appearance. We don't know what they are from inside, only by meeting once, so the physical appearance is the best way of identifying other.
ReplyDeleteI used mostly the outside appearance to identify myself and what I come across as, how I think other people see me as always smiling, because not everyone really knows me who identifies me. I thought other people identified me as outer also. I think that is how most of us do identify people in the first place because it is not like you are able to get to know every single person you meet. I usually look at the person’s athleticism as the first thing. Do they play sports? Are they in shape? Then I look at the usual race etc.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Katie, I think that we do tend to make a judgment off what we see and do not take the time to get to know them. Not saying that we should get to know every single person because that is impossible, but I think people should be less judgmental.
ReplyDeleteI do not feel that any race or gender has to deal with identity. Yes, it does contribute to your "physical" identity, including age, sex, race, ect. But it doesn't hold you back while finding out who you really are. People can identify you based on that, even if it might be wrong. But your identity is self discovered, and only you can find out who you really are, and I do not believe that physical characteristics have to get in the way of that
ReplyDeleteWhenever I need to identify myself i usually use my race, age and gender. I think that when we try to identify other we base it on race and gender mainly but i think is wrong becuause we are all equal. I think that we might do it without thinking about it.
ReplyDeleteMostly people are identified based on their race where are they from and what is their religion. Skin color matters a lot in in the indentification of a person because that tells who you are.
ReplyDeleteI used for mine just personality and appearance. Not so much as race but as physical features. I think that in todays world and society it views people by stereotypes for instance black people are suppose to be more athletic and white people are suppose to be more intellectual sport and not so athletic. I also think that society identifies people by race and gender.
ReplyDeleteAge, gender, race, hair color - all of those are factors in identifying others, and I use them also. I don't think others use a "criteria" when they identify us, but race, gender and age and hair color are all factors that people do look at and notice. Outside appearances really do seem to be the main thing humans notice of each other. I agree with Lisa when she said "I think there is a lot more to someone than just what others see on the outside."
ReplyDeleteI define my identity by a lot of different things. Not just my race or ethnic background eventhough many people define me by that and look at me as such. I tend to stay away from defining people just on their race or ethnicity.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Katie we don't usually take time to know people before we start judging them. I think that mostly everybody judge people by gender and race i guess we do it without thinking about it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ashley, when she said it is difficult to get to know everyone you meet but it would probably be better if everyone was a little less judgmental. I think it's interesting how everyone has pretty much agreed that most of the time, people "identify" or judge others based on physical and ethnical traits even when we know we do not know their real personalities. I also agree with Brian, a lot of stereotypes exist today because of the identities we put on others without knowing them.
ReplyDeleteI agree with ashley on this. I think that your identity is somewhat of a first impression, and other people see you the way you always are. To go along with that, your physical appearance also helps show people who you are. Also with what Lisa said, We would be better if people were less judgmental, and people didn't comment on others based on what their wearing and not who the person actually is.
ReplyDeleteIts kind of funny how people judge other people about how they dress, where they get their clothes from or even how they wear their hair but when someone talks about them they get all defensive. I think appearance is everything like in first impressions and everything. we say its wrong to be judgmental or a little less judgmental but you have to think about it from certain aspects. If you have a job working at a high end place that requires you to wear slack a button down shirt and tie and you see a guy come in with jeans and a t shirt your going to be judgmental. I think in certain situations we have to be judgmental.
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