copyright, edyoung, phd, 3-1999 1 lesson 6 identity conflicts across gender, body type, race, and...

copyright, edyoung, PhD, 3-19991

Lesson 6

Identity Conflicts Across Gender, Body type, Race, and Stages Interact with Societal Structures

Presented by

THE NATURAL SYSTEMS INSTITUTE


Identity Conflicts Across Gender, Body Type, Race, and Stage

Interact with Societal Structures


Table Of ContentsIdentity Conflicts Across Gender, Body Type, Race, And Age

1. The Unique Combinations of Gender and Physical Body Structure2. Gender, Body Characteristics, and the Formation of Identity Conformity and

Departure from Stereotypes Has Powerful Effects on the Formation of Identity

3. Racial and Ethnic Association Influence Identity Horizontally and Vertically Socio-economic Status and Residential Location Influence Identity on One Vertical Dimension

4. The Effects of Racial and Ethnic Affiliation, Residence, and Socio-Economic Status on the Formation of Identity

5. Level of Social Status, Ethnic, and Racial Identity Engender Different Types of Psychological Changes and Inner Experiences With Respect To Affiliating with Persons of Other Status Levels or Ethnic or Racial Identity

6. The Interaction of Identity Features With Life Stages, Grades, and Ages7. Early Fluidity In The Formation Of Identity

School Structures Involve Transitions Through Levels That Influence and Shape Identity

8. Differing Characteristics of Stages Transitioned From and Stages Transitioned to

9. Adolescence: The Transition From Past To Future10. Physical, Physiological, and Societal Landmarks for Identity Changes


The Unique Combinations of Gender and Physical Body Structure

Interact With Cultural Stereotypes to Shape Identities and Produce Positive and Negative

Public Reactions and Private Feelings Resulting Unique Identities

1. Each gender has a wide range of body characteristics.

2. Each gender, in combination with gender ideal body characteristics, also has cultural stereotypes for the expected personality characteristics and stereotypes for identity.

3. Adherence to and Departure from the stereotype and ideal conception for each gender leads to social approval or disapproval.

4. Social approval or disapproval leads to huge effects on degrees of self esteem and feeling of self worth.


Gender, Body Characteristics, and the Formation of Identity Conformity and Departure from Stereotypes Has Powerful Effects on the Formation of Identity

Large, Muscular Male

Frail, Delicate Female

Husky, Strong Female

Frail, Delicate Male

Gender Body Characteristics

Identity

Male Large Muscular Tough Guy

Male Frail Delicate Feminine

Female Frail Delicate Lady

Female Large Muscular Butch

IdentityStereotyping

Approved, praised, admired High Self Esteem Disapproved, shamed, ridiculed Low Self Esteem Departure from norm for gender Low Self Esteem and body type results in confusion in Identity, affiliation, and sense of belonging


Racial and Ethnic Association Influence Identity Horizontally and Vertically.

Socio-economic Status and Residential Location Influence Identity on One Vertical Dimension.

1. Any person who is perceiving and assessing any other person does so in terms of [among other things] the racial or ethnic group they appear to belong to. This assessment includes assumptions that result in assigning the other person to one of the racial or ethnic groups with which they are familiar. Racial and ethnic groups entail association with territory and borders. They also entail valuation. Each racial or ethnic group within a person’s categories for race and ethnicity is imbued with a typically vague value ranking – some are better or higher and some are worse or lower in some sense.

2. Socio-economic status can cut across race and ethnicity. Place of residence within each territorially defined racial or ethnic group and across territories is used to assign a socio-economic ranking – richer to poorer.

3. Racial and ethnic association and socio-economic status, therefore, interact in a complex way when assigning identity to a person or when a person is adopting the identity norm.

4. Borders circumscribing racial and ethnic groups and socio-economic groups are not anchored to their respective physical territories but are mobile, carried with each person.

5. There are unspoken rules concerning crossing and permitting crossing borders and these rules contribute to consensual assignment and adoption of identities.


The Effects of Racial and Ethnic Affiliation, Residence, and Socio-Economic Status on the Formation of Identity

Identit

y Bord

er

Identit

y Bord

er

IDENTITY

A. ETHNIC OR STATUS IDENTITY

B. ETHNIC OR STATUS IDENTITY

C. ETHNIC OR STATUS IDENTITY

Perception by others of person A as belonging in an ethnic, racial, or status group, as a result of such factors as place of residence, appearance of degrees of wealth or poverty, skin color, primary language, etc., tends to involve including in person A’s identity the range of other characteristics they associate with that status, ethnic, or racial group as a whole.

A.

B.

C.


Level of Social Status, Ethnic, and Racial Identity Engender Different Types of Psychological Changes and Inner Experiences With Respect To Affiliating with Persons of Other Status Levels or Ethnic or Racial Identity

Identit

y Bord

er

Identit

y Bord

er

IDENTITY

ETHNIC OR STATUS IDENTITY



Appearing to be friends with or affiliated with people with different identities, to most people, means they seem to take on their ‘aura’, how the different IDENTITY fits into a ‘World Schema’, and will, therefore, be perceived by the anonymous ‘THEY’ as assuming some aspects of the ‘different’ identity.

When m

oving in

to asso

ciatio

n with

a pers

on of any r

acial

, ethnic,

or

status i

dentity

differen

t from one’s

own, the c

ritica

l ques

tion

becomes

: “How do I p

rotect, m

aintai

n, or e

nhance

my o

wn iden

tity?”


The Interaction of Identity Features With Life Stages, Grades, and Ages

•There are roles that features of identity such as gender, body characteristics, race or ethnicity, or socio-economic

status play in defining a person’s current identity

within different ages, stages, and grades in a person’s life.

•Each category of features has a period of life during which it becomes more prominent

in redefining and assigning or adopting identity characteristics.

•Persons’ going through such stages and persons’ witnessing passage through, out of, and into stages anticipate and converse

about stage typical behavior and identity.

•These discussions influence the struggle to shed and adopt the respective behaviors and identities.


Early Fluidity In The Formation Of IdentitySchool Structures Involve Transitions Through Levels That Influence and Shape Identity

Oh my gosh, what are they going to think of me

when I enter the next level? How should I present

myself? How should I handle this next challenge?

Identity Crises When Transitioning Through School Grades

Kindergarten Elementary Junior

High

College or W

ork


Differing Characteristics of Stages Transitioned From and Stages Transitioned to• From home to

kindergarten.

• Adventuring into elementary school.

• Adventuring into junior high school.

• Adventuring into high school.

• Adventuring into college.

• Adventuring into an occupation.

• Adventuring into marriage and parenthood.

• From living with a few people, mostly parents and adults. Child typically is the exclusive focus, whether positive or negative. Moves into setting with many people own age and adults who focus on group. Identity changes from being one to one among many, from one having prerogatives to loss of privileged status and restricted to limited and regulated resources and time.

• From a patronizing to a demanding regimen, from physical to mental and from mobile to sedentary activities and addition of continuous evaluating and grading of performance.

• From moderate peer comparison and feedback to increased peer critiquing and formation of alliances.

• From limited unsupervised activity to increased unsupervised mobility. From few formal roles to increases options or required formal roles. From few choices of studies and use of time to many choices and self determination of out of school use of time. Addition of increased homework as demands or requirements delegated for fulfillment on one’s own.

• Absence of supervision. Dramatically increased freedom of choice with long term consequences. Increased and completely unstructured time. Increased homework with fulfillment left completely to self determination. Increased self reliance for finances and self care. Decreased feedback from peers or adults.

• Completely unstructured choices for occupation followed by re-entering highly structured time, choices, and demands. Constant feedback. Total freedom and self reliance for financial management and self care on limited off time.

• Expansion to others relying on one for financial survival and personal care. Increased feedback. Nearly complete loss of free time. Increased negative consequences for inadequate performance.

See slides # 2 and # 5


•Wanting to be an adult and appear to have all of their Freedom of choice [especially vices] and movement.•Wanting to appear to have the key possessions of an adult.Wanting to appear to have adult knowledge and wisdom.•Resenting having to assume adult cares and responsibilities.•Being anxious about the uncertainties involved in future choices needed to become an adult.•Being afraid of not being able to cope or survive dangers.•Ridiculing childishness in peers and adults.•Shaming and teasing peers into exceeding their limits and feigning adult freedoms and prerogatives.•Associating with older peers and/or young adults.

•Wanting to remain a child and play and be carefree.

•Wanting to be taken care of and have no responsibilities.

•Being ashamed of showing any signs of childhood.

•Being afraid of seeming naive and not having adult skills.

•Forgetting one’s childhood.

•Ridiculing childishness in people younger.

•Avoiding the company of younger people.

ADOLESCENCE

FEARS OF NOT LOOKING GROWN UP

ADOLESCENTSAges 12 through 18 The horrible in-between period and its affects on looking backward and forward with ambivalence and increasing tendencies for exaggerated, paradoxical behavior.

FEARS OF FEARS OF TRANSITION TO TRANSITION TO ADULTHOODADULTHOOD

DR

EA

MS

OF

AD

UL

TH

OO

D

DR

EA

MS

OF

CH

ILD

HO

OD

Identity During this Transitional Period is in Constant Turmoil

Adolescence: The Transition From Past To FutureAdolescence: The Transition From Past To Future


Physical, Physiological, and Societal Landmarks for Identity Changes

1.Transitions across societal structures that parallel physical and physiological features of the growing child work together to produce regularly occurring identity changes.

2.Each transition presents its own typical identity crisis, yet due to the complex combination of physical features, each transition presents a unique challenge to each individual.

1. Gender and race are relatively static factors that contribute to identity. 2. Gender and body type interact to produce dynamic influences on identity.3. Body type changes somewhat with age and can affect changes in identity.4. Changing size with increasing age combined with physiological and mental

age are dynamic factors contributing to identity.5. Societal structures are designed to adapt to these external, bodily, identity

markers.6. These societal markers themselves become factors influencing changes in

identity.

copyright, edyoung, phd, 3-1999 1 lesson 6 identity conflicts across gender, body type, race, and...

Documents

racial identity

shape identity

identity changes slide

formation of identity

gender leads

gender low self esteem

unique combinations

body type results