Reflective Journal: Who Am I?—The Journey Continues

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Running head: WHAT ARE MY SOCIAL IDENTITIES?

Running head: My Social Identities

Week 1 Assignment: My Social Identities

Alexis Lowe

Walden University

EDUC 6164: Perspectives on Diversity and Equity

Professor Wendy McCarthy

July 2nd, 2020

Identifying My Social Identities

According to the text of Deaux (2001) Social identities express who we are based on our beliefs as an individual. There are various ways social identities can be constructed. For example, race and ethnicity, education, religion, social class and so forth. Even more so, social identity is made up of the labels projected onto a person based on how society views someone’s personal identity. However, one must remember there are some factors which are extremely important in shaping one’s personal social identity such as, their culture, memories, traditions or even their societal labels. Furthermore, according to the article titled, “Does culture shape our identity” it is safe to say social identities include self-characteristics that will be used to categorize and group individuals within our society. Therefore, the social identities I have chosen are: feminist, middle-class, Democrat, mother, African-American, Pentacostal Christian, Heterosexual, young adult, and Black Lives Matter. The Social Identity that cannot be Categorized

The one social identity that can not be categorized is the Black Lives Matter. It can not be categorized simply because it is not a social identity rather an ideological and political intervention where many blacks are advocating for non-violent civil disobedience in protest against incidents of police brutality facing many African-American individuals in today’s society. Over the last few months, we have seen many protests spread across the United States rallying for Black Lives Matter. Many African-Americans took to the street protesting, pushing many supporters and allies to the polls for the November 2020 Presidential Election. Many African-Americans demand justice and even changes on the issues of racial injustice, police brutality, criminal justice reform, black immigration and even more leniency in voting rights led by suppression.

Disadvantages/Advantages of my social identities

Unfortunately, it hurts me to say the least that having a social identity of being Black or African-American is a disadvantage to me. According to the text of Horowitz, Brown & Cox (2019) Regardless of race or ethnicity, many adults say blacks are treated less fairly than whites in encounters with police or the Criminal Justice system. Even more so, being a Black African- American has hurt my ability to get ahead. Even more so, growing up with Black African-American brothers many white people have acted as though we were suspicious or let alone not even half as smart when compared to other races. Furthermore, growing up in a predominantly African-American household and neighborhood we were taught early on about the challenges we might face simply because of our race. For example, we could get shot by the police while unarmed.

However, I will say that my social identities of being a feminst, christian and a young adult have been an advantage for me. Being a mother, I have learned to love someone else besides myself. Even better than that, being a mother has helped me in regards to personal growth in becoming more patient, responsible and even sympathetic. Now, when it comes to being Christian I also see this social identity as an advantage. My religion of Christianity is what gets me up in the morning. It is important and an advantage because it allows me to worship with great benefits of spiritual and emotional growth; thus, a sense of belonging. Christianity has taught me what is right or wrong morally which I abide by daily in order to live a peaceful happy life in today’s society. Lastly, being the social identity I have chosen such as a fat person is indeed a disadvantage. Being labeled or called “Fat” poses not only detrimental threats to my health physically but also mentally. It makes me doubt my beauty on the inside and out. However, being given the social identity of “Fat” makes it hard for me to go out in public without being judged or ridiculed based on my weight.

Stereotypical Traits

Society exposes the different social attributes to some level of stereotypical traits based on the different societies' beliefs and cultural views. Out of the many social identities, I have outlined, the democrat and middle class conform least to the stereotypical trait attributed by society. This is mainly because society seems to have a common opinion towards the social identities; hence the less exposure to the stereotypical traits attributed. Feminist, heterosexual and African American conforms to the most. These are issues that have been subject of discussion globally, and so many events have been related to them as well. The confrontation and the stereotypical traits attributed to the social identity is a subject of the type of the society and as well as the individual opinion on the same issue (Smith & Cokley, 2016).

Emotional Connection of Social Identities in my life

Social identities like the feminist, African American, young adults and heterosexual seem to evoke deep and strong emotions. These emotional connections manifest in several ways in my life as an individual. They come out based on the manner I interact with different people in the society, respond to the different issues as well as the personal belief and take on the specific social identities. Some of the social identities have a significant effect on my behaviour when I am with other people depending on their social identities and whether or not they are like me. Feminist for example greatly affects my interaction with the other people, I may behave differently with people who hold opinions that support the women or the female gender and exhibit a different behaviour around people who do not support feminism. My social roles are also affected by other people or groups. The roles change when I want to support or defend my social identities as I interact with the people and groups.

Social Identities and How they Influence my behavior

The type of connection or relationship I develop with the other people is dependent significantly on my social identities. It is quite challenging to align my social identities with the people who hold contrasting social identities to enhance peaceful coexistence and healthy relationships. We all have an image of ourselves, a sense of who we are which we called self-concept. A social identity is the part of our self-concept that results from our perceived membership in a group. Moreover, social identities allows people to be a part of groups such as feminist, African-American, heterosexual etc.., in which the more people identify with a particular group, the more that affiliated group will play a huge role in how people feel about not only themselves but also others. In all honest, my social identities of feminist, African-American, Democrat, young adult etc helps to foster prosocial actions for caring for others such as my friends, children, husband and siblings. Not only that, but the social identities I have chosem helps to satisfy the psychological need for esteem from others.

References

Anaya Jiménez, L. M. (2018). Membership matters, peace achievement matters the most… A test of complex social identities and attitudes toward peace with youth leaders from Kosovo.

Deaux, K. (2001). In J. Worell (Ed.), Encyclopedia of women and gender (Vols. 1-2, pp. 1-9). Maryland Heights, MO: Academic Press.

Horowitz, J. M., Brown, A., & Cox, K. (2019, December 31). Views of racial inequality in America. Retrieved July 04, 2020, from https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2019/04/09/views-of-racial-inequality/

Smith, L. V., & Cokley, K. (2016). Stereotype threat vulnerability: A psychometric investigation of the social identities and attitudes scale. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 49(2), 145-162.