I found an interesting article on the UCI webpage that deals with racial identity and its formation right here.
In it, it brings up the notion that identity formation is not necessarily a reflection of personal choice as much as it is a reflection of others' views upon yourself and in turn that influences how you view yourself as well.
To use an admittedly weird example, let's say an African American couple move to Taiwan for work and have kids there. The kids grow up and speak fluent Chinese, act Chinese, but doesn't look Chinese. Would the children's peers treat them as one of the in group or as an outsider, despite being born in that country and speaking the language perfectly?
So that brings up a chicken and egg-type of question - how is identity formed? Is it by the self or do we take in what we get from others first?
I'm inclined to lean toward the latter theory. That we first get our identities from our families and then we respond in kind with our peers. Our peers then would see it one another perspective and continue to give us feed back. All the while, there is dynamic that is continually changing.
Chelsea, Intersecting Lines
1 year ago
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1 comment:
Interesting theory. I've been thinking about identity a lot lately, particularly how we form our identities online. The issue of race is of particular interest to me, since the anonymous character of the Internet allows users to "pass" for whichever race or gender they like. In real life, though, this seems a bit more difficult.
Here's my question:
Given your theory, that parents are more influential on identity than peers, why couldn't their identity be a hybrid of the two cultures?
I know it may seem like a lame or naive question, but identity is an intensely personal and very complex aspect of self. Their actions (or enactions) may represent what they feel to be the norm, what they feel is expected, but actions do not an identity make.
And who says the desire to be like mommy and daddy doesn't wane when the child gets to adolescence and only wants to be like his or her friends?
Thanks for makine me think!
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