Chapter 6. The Cultural Construction of Identity

Transcription

1 Chapter 6 The Cultural Construction of Identity

2 Problem 6 How do people determine who they are, and how do they communicate who they think they are to others?

3 Questions 6-1 How does the concept of personhood vary from society to society? 6-2 How do societies distinguish individuals from one another? 6-3 How do individuals learn who they are? 6-4 How do individuals communicate their identities to one another? 6-5 How do individuals defend their identities when they are threatened?

4 Self and Others As we become who we are, we learn how we stand in relation to others. We learn how we relate to others as son, daughter, student, friend, or lover.

5 The Importance of Self Society is a collection of social identities distributed over a landscape. Individuals strive to arrive at some identity/destination from which they can relate to other social identities.

6 Individualistic and Holistic Individualistic: a view of the self in which the individual is primarily responsible for his or her own actions America is a highly individualistic society. Holistic: a view of the self in which the individual cannot be conceived of as existing separately from society or apart from his or her status or role Views humans as drops in the ocean.

7 Egocentric and Sociocentric In the egocentric view each person is defined as a replica of all humanity, the locus of motivations and drives, capable of acting independently from others. The sociocentric view of the self depends on context. The self exists as an entity only within the concrete situations or roles occupied by the person.

8 Question 2: How do societies distinguish individuals from one another? Identity Toolbox: features of a person s identity that he or she chooses to emphasize in constructing a social self Some characteristics are almost universally used to differentiate and to group them. Family membership, gender, and age, for example, are used in every society as categories of a social code. Other characteristics figure prominently only in some societies: ethnic group membership, skin color, and wealth, for example.

9 Constructing Male and Female Gender is a cultural creation. Gender assignment begins at birth with the announcement that it s a girl, or a boy, ignoring 4% of births in which the infant has both male and female characteristics. The infant is given a gender-appropriate name, dressed in proper clothing, and spoken to in gender-specific language.

10 The Third Gender THE SWORN VIRGINS OF ALBANIA (4 min) Published on Mar 10, 2014 For centuries, young women have taken a lifelong pledge to live as men. ALBANIA: THE WOMEN WHO LIVE AS MEN (7 min) Published on Mar 28, 2013 It's an unusual tradition in Albania, and today it's dying out: the tradition of the sworn virgin. They are women who choose to live as men to escape the restrictions imposed on women in their patriarchal society. TABOO: THE THIRD SEX NATL GEO (47 Min) Watch 10min Published on Jun 6, 2012 Hedras in India INDONESIA'S TRANSSEXUAL MUSLIMS (30 min) till 8:30min skip 18:00 end 20:00 Published on Aug 7, 2012 Indonesian transsexuals, or Warias, still feel the urge to practice Islam despite being shunned by Islamic Authorities.

11 Question 3: How do individuals learn who they are? In a classic work published in 1908, Arnold van Gennep introduced the concept of rites of passage. These rituals mark a person s passage from one identity to another. Van Gennep identifies three phases in rites of passage: The ritual separates the person from an existing identity. The person enters a transition phase. The changes are incorporated into a new identity.

12 Rites of Passage Girl's Rite of Passage (5min) Uploaded on May 31, 2007 Apache girls take part in ancient tests of strength, endurance and character that will make them women and prepare them for the trials of womanhood. Maasai Rites Of Passage (5min) Uploaded on Oct 4, 2010 The Maasai are arguably Africa's most famous tribe. Unlike most other Kenyan ethnic groups, they have largely retained their traditional lifestyles. Each Maasai man goes through the warrior stage, a period in their life between boyhood and becoming a man. And one can only become a warrior through several rituals. Willis Raburu has the details in this first part of our series, rites of passage.

13 Discussion Questions Question 4: How do individuals communicate their identities to one another? Question 5: How do individuals defend their identities when they are threatened? Identity Struggles: interactions in which there is a discrepancy between the identity a person claims to possess and the identity attributed to him or her by others.

14 Glossary of Key Terms Commodities (p.237) Goods that carry little personal meaning. (Compare with possessions.) Egocentric (p.220) A view of the self that defines each person as a replica of all humanity the locus of motivations and drives capable of acting independently from others. Holistic (p. 220) A view of the self in which the individual cannot be conceived of as existing separately from society or apart from his or her status or role. Identity Struggles (p. 238) A term coined by Wallace and Fogelson to characterize interaction in which there is a discrepancy between the identity a person claims to possess and the identity attributed to that person by others. Identity Toolbox (p.223) Features of a person s identity (such as gender, age, or personal appearance) that he or she chooses to emphasize in constructing a social self. Individualistic (p.220) A view of the self in which the individual is primarily responsible for his or her own actions.

15 Negative Identity (p. 224) The attribution of personal characteristics believed to be undesirable. Phallocentrism (p. 231) A term coined by Peggy Sanday that refers to the deployment of the penis as a symbol of masculine social power and dominance. Positive Identity (p.224) The attribution to people of personal characteristics believed to be desirable. Rites of Passage (p.228) The term suggested by Arnold van Gennep for rituals that mark a person s passage from one identity or status to another. Social Identities (p.218) Views that people have of their own and others positions in society. Individuals seek confirmation from others that they occupy the positions on the social landscape that they claim to occupy. Sociocentric (p.220) A view of the self that is context-dependent; there is no intrinsic self that can possess enduring qualities.