communicating identities

Communicating Identities

Prosper Yao Tsikata

Socio-Cultural Identities

Gender Identity • Clothes of a newborn baby –

blue or pink – inform us about his/her gender identity

• Some roles and activities are considered feminine and others masculine

• Idealized notions of feminine and masculine (don’t be a female, be aggressive versus be sensitive and caring, be superwoman, etc.)

• Communication style

Elena Kagan Softball controversy


Sexual Identity • Varies from culture to

culture• Examples are: heterosexual,

gay or lesbian, bisexual, etc.• These are connected to

what is permissible and what is not permissible

• They are historical, contextual, and determine our consumption patterns

Robert Mugabe and Gays


Age Identity • Looks, act, behavior, dressing

are part of age identity • Nothing inherent tells us we

are old or young – some feel young at 30, 40, and even 50

• Some age brackets are significant and are accompanied by rituals, e.g. quinceanera and mitzva, etc.

• Generations are age identity groups, e.g., baby boomers etc.

The Reed Dance in Swaziland


Racial Identities • Dates back to the 15th and the

16th century when European explorers encountered who looked different from them

• Basis for slavery (the self versus the other, civilized versus the barbaric, etc.)

• Genetics and cranial capacity • Black and white and historical

constructs (by law 1/8 concept, attempts to classify Irish and Jews as nonwhites, etc.)

Craniometry/Paleoanthropology


Ethnicity • Shared sense of origin and

history • Self-identification with origin

outside the US – heritage • Knowledge about ethnic

culture – traditions, customs, values, and behaviors. Examples are distant cultures in Asia, Europe, Latin America, etc. (How different is that from tribe?

Ethnic versus Racial • Some scholars suggest ethnic

identity is constructed by both self and others, but racial identity is constructed solely by others

• Race is shaped by US history • The AAA has suggested that the US

government phase out use of the term race as it has no scientific validity.

• Bounded versus dominant identities (German American home and Italian, etc., but share the dominant white culture).

What characteristics define you?

Reality Check • Do you live in a white/black/brown

world?• Take a close look at privileges you

may have as a result of your characteristics. Do you find your type in the books you read, on the TV, etc.?

• From what standpoints do you look at yourself? (differences in black and white perception, e.g., the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina).

• Recent immigrants might share in privileges, but not support view points of dominant groups.

Whiteness • Whites have been the normative

(dominant) group in the US• White being superior to other races, etc.• Not all whites have power, e.g. Italians

and the Irish before the 20th century• There are many poor whites in the US

who lack economic power• Sometimes whites can be prejudged • How doe it feel to be aware that soon

whites will not be in the minority in this country?

• California’s attempt to protect whiteness – banning bilingual education, outlaw of affirmative actions, etc.

Religion and Identity

Religious Identity • Is religion conflated with

nationality or ethnicity – being Irish or Italian implying being catholic or being Muslim implying being an Arab?

• To veil or not to veil? Do we go the French way, with what implications for identity?

• The story of the Mormon’s

Burqa or veil in Islam

Class and Identity

Class Identity• Education level, financial asset,

profession, and family background may or may not be a factor.

• But certainly, some class identities are associated with some types of sports, food types, and even certain communication styles, etc. (own example of Pardon me?)

• According to Bourdieu (1987) middle-class people tend to watch soccer

Class by association with sports

National and Regional Identities

National Identities • One’s legal status in relation

to a nation• Dispute over a country’s

legal status can create problems for individuals. Examples are: Palestine, Eritrea, South Sudan until recently, Chechnya from Russia, etc.

Regional Identity • Homogenizing values in cuisine,

dress, manners and language identify some groups, e.g. Southerners, Northerners, Texas as “a whole other country.”

• Do you recollect the East Coast and West Coast brouhaha that claimed some iconic rap artist in this country?

• The other regional identity, e.g., EU, ECOWA etc.

Questions

• How does being white or black affect your identity in the United States?

communicating identities

Documents