Today I asked some people to come together to brainstorm on what identity means to them, who they are, how is that made up, and here are some of ideas that they came up with....
Respondent 1
IDENTITY =
Place of birth
Ancestors place of birth
Family/Family values
My Values/beliefs/ideals
Friends/those in the circle of trust!
Respondent 2
1) Human
2) (Western) European
3) Generation Y
3) Socialist
4) English speaker
6) Male
2) (Western) European
3) Generation Y
3) Socialist
4) English speaker
6) Male
Respondent 3
I think it's a combination of things - ethnicity, culture, nationality, interests, etc etc
But clearly other people don't always perceive this complexity - they may only see one aspect, e.g. that I have a funny name for example.
For this reason I increasingly think of myself as having multiple identities and that I can, and must, control how I portray myself to others. Eg how I portray myself in a work context is different to how I
portray myself to my friends (and there are probably also differences between the friends from home I've known for a long time and people I have become friendly with more recently); I will also show different sides of myself to my family when I visit them in the Middle East and even my parents.
But clearly other people don't always perceive this complexity - they may only see one aspect, e.g. that I have a funny name for example.
For this reason I increasingly think of myself as having multiple identities and that I can, and must, control how I portray myself to others. Eg how I portray myself in a work context is different to how I
portray myself to my friends (and there are probably also differences between the friends from home I've known for a long time and people I have become friendly with more recently); I will also show different sides of myself to my family when I visit them in the Middle East and even my parents.
Respondent 4
It's an issue I've thought a lot about over the last couple of years...
Identity as a "British Asian" - very conflicted. Values come from being Indian and a sense of community and ethnicity, sense of morality/ justice come from exposure to politics and way of living in a "western" country whereby issues such as gender have very different baselines. In terms of one's identity and how you resolve conflicts in being a woman with a British Indian head can be very complicated. It's hard to figure out what your identity really is and where you really belong.
Also, people tend to identify themselves with a country/ homeland. I was born here but wouldn't say that I'm English in an overly patriotic way. The place where my dad comes from used to be in India and is now in Pakistan post partition and therefore they're effectively a stateless community. I don't identify India as home and have no connection other than cultural which is a huge part of my identity.
Identity as a "British Asian" - very conflicted. Values come from being Indian and a sense of community and ethnicity, sense of morality/ justice come from exposure to politics and way of living in a "western" country whereby issues such as gender have very different baselines. In terms of one's identity and how you resolve conflicts in being a woman with a British Indian head can be very complicated. It's hard to figure out what your identity really is and where you really belong.
Also, people tend to identify themselves with a country/ homeland. I was born here but wouldn't say that I'm English in an overly patriotic way. The place where my dad comes from used to be in India and is now in Pakistan post partition and therefore they're effectively a stateless community. I don't identify India as home and have no connection other than cultural which is a huge part of my identity.
Respondent 5
Identity to me is something inside you already from birth (I image it as a little seed) that has all the essence, nutrients and potential energy to grow as you grow (I like to imaging it as a big tree with many flowering branches). But it is shaped from the words of what and who is around you and as you get older you need to discern what is part of your identity and what isn't (like pruning the dead or diseased bits off the tree).
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