Ethnography About Myself

The peer reviewed article “Ethnic and Racial Identity During Adolescence into Young Adulthood: An Integrated Conceptualization” is a well written article on the struggle that people of color face when coming face to face with their identity in social situations. Umana-Taylor, Quintana, Lee, Cross, Rivas-Drake, Schwartz and Seaton (2014) analyzed ethnic and racial identity or ERI and how it relates to important developments and issues from early childhood well on into young adulthood. They worked to find the most important milestones during the development or ERI as well (Umana-Taylor et. al 2014). This paper will consist of the information given from the article and how I’ve dealt with my own ERI.

If not met to the status quo, our sex,gender, ethnicity, able-sim, and class can cause us to be seen as less in society, thus effecting our multiple identities, the amount of power we have, and empowerment we feel or give; which ultimately excludes or includes our privileges. In conclusion, intersectionality is a growing problem in our society today; it continues to enforce oppression and enable people to truly define

Culture is defined as the traditions, customs, norms, beliefs, values and thought patterning passed down from generation to generation (Jandt 2010). The world consists of many different cultures. In this Ethnographic Interview, I was given the opportunity to explore and learn more about a culture different from my own. Through observation I’ve have seen how people of different cultures differ from mines. For example, the type of foods a person

I am applying intersectionality and the sociological imagination to my intersecting identities: class, gender, and ethnicity. By employing intersectionality and the sociological imagination, I am analyzing how my positionality affected my personal experiences while connecting those events with society. I also included five peer-reviewed articles as supporting evidence.

Race and gender are two facets that inherently dominate individuals everyday lives. A person’s social environment, work environment, and educational environment is congruent to their race and gender. From birth, it has been set up that everyone is assigned to a label. A pink or blue blanket is swaddled around a newborn child and a box is checked signifying that child’s place in society. These two actions ultimately define how a child is to be viewed and treated. As children grow into young adults they either decide to stick with their original assignment, while others decide to deviate from it. These individuals deviation results in many of them being viewed harshly and looked down upon because they strayed from their social norms. This constant cycle of being classified and labeled from birth is the social institution of gender and race. These social institutions aid in the inequality that is present in society, and race and gender are shaped by this. However, if these social institutions were removed, race and gender could dissipate. This is due to the fact that race and gender are not real, but are socially constructed concepts used to organize the power, or dominance, within our society to one social group over the other groups.

I’ve never taken into consideration how all of my experiences growing up has really formed the person that I am today. I’ve never really taken the time to think about my story of intersectionality until I took this class. I never realized how my inner, outer, experiential, relational, and developing identities have really constructed the person that I have become today. Many of my identities have influenced and changed my life especially my identities in social class, race and ethnicity, religion, citizenship and immigration status, first language I learned, my gender, and my gender expressions.

My pre-adolescent years were spent in a community thick with diversity. My friendships were as diverse as the environment in which I lived. It never struck me that racial and ethnic ideals separated people in society. However, upon moving to a predominately white upper-class community I began to question such racial and ethnic ideas. From my adolescent years through today I began noticing that certain people are viewed differently for reasons relating to race and ethnicity. As a result, the most recent community I grew up in has kept me sheltered from aspects of society. As a product of a community where majorities existed, I found myself unexposed to the full understanding of race and ethnicity. Prior to the class I had never fully dealt with issues of race or ethnicity, as a result I wondered why they would be of any importance in my life.

To want change, it requires a vivid mindset. To envision that life is occupied with a multitude of differences. To understand that things may not go the way you would like it to. To comprehend that everything you do and live by contributes to the life you live. Which includes your race, class, gender, sexuality and even religion. All of these aspects mentioned, shapes an individual, and in a way pathes their future. In this research paper, there will be a exploration on identity, diversity, stereotypes, discrimination, difference, and oppression that everyone in some lifetime will face . The evaluation will help get a effective comprehension of cultural identity and intersectionality.

We talk a lot about our social location, or identifying who we are. Before I get further into this paper I wish to identify myself. I am a white male born to two white, heterosexual Anglican parents. I grew up having mostly white friends, until graduating high school. I also have been diagnosed with clinical depression, which is a significant attribute of my identity. As a result of these intersectional attributes they create an identity that is both privileged and oppressed and these elements change depending on the situation (Curry-Steven, 2007, p.37). It is important to understand who you are, as it will shape who I am in the work I do as a social worker.

When I entered the Dynamic of Racism and Oppression class I was the individual who had blinders on. I did not have a full understanding of what racism was, which in itself is shocking to me as I thought I had. What made me really stop and think was this class opened my eyes to the fact that I did not know my own identity. I have heard individual say “I’m black”, “I am of African decent”, “I’m Latino”, “I’m Canadian”, and “I’m white”. These are common statements of how individuals view their race and identity. I have even placed my identity in one of those categories, I’m white. I was unaware and unsure of what it meant to have a culture, which many individuals claim everyday. Some individuals know their identity, others do not, I was one

The central idea of this article is about the unfair treatment people are facing because of intersectionality. Such as Nicole, her grades are suffering, shes always late to class,etc. As The teachers dont dig deep into why she is late and her grades are suffering. They believe because she is a female African she is not doing well in her classes. What they dont know is that her socioeconomic status is low, and she has to take care of her two younger siblings.

I grew up in a family where my father was a doctor and my mother a homemaker, both immigrants from Pakistan hoping to achieve the American dream. Growing up in a white-dominant community and attending a high school with predominantly, white students and teachers, I was restricted in my growth and freedom. I was treated differently by my friends, peers and faculty members as I tried to acclimate to the American culture. My low social status, identity as a student in my high school was due to my race and gender. My race, defined by my phenotypic traits, compelled my peers and teachers to treat me differently, because of association with an inferior race. Despite being born in America, my foreign looks and association with another country, led me to be captured by the chains of racial profiling. My family, my low-social status in a White-dominated institution and my membership in primary groups were all pivotal aspects that have allowed me to attend UC Davis, where I plan to combat the low expectations of my Pakistani race.

The perception of race and gender as binary opposites rather than intersecting social iden-tities, underestimates the complexity of social status (Nash, 2008) as does the perception of sex-ual identity and race as binaries. For both theoretical and political purposes, intersectionality promotes a means of analyzing and understanding the complexity of social identities beyond bi-naries (Nash, 2008) and devoid of competitive notions. The majority of us are socialized to ad-here to “competitive either/or thinking” instead of in terms of compatibility (hooks, 2000) when we discuss, analyze or advocate for social reforms. People’s social identities do not hold hierar-chical importance, but are interconnect in how they shape and affect a person’s

While others claim that photography captures the inner soul of a person, or deliberately defines it as painting or writing with light, but in my case, it is just simply a newfound love hobby. I undeniably adore and look up to expert photographers I encounter down the road may it face-to-face or the other way around. In my heart, I silently desire that someday, with hard work, determination, and perseverance, I will become professional and famous as they are. Since my husband bought a Digital Single-Lens Reflex (DSLR) as an anniversary gift, my penchant for photography commenced and ignited. Let me detail the essential truths behind my passion over photography.

The following paper will discuss two of the major dimensions of my cultural identity, and analyze the way in which my identity holds privileges, or has exposed me to oppression. Being that I am white, I have lived a life of privilege simply because of the color of my skin. I have been afforded opportunities, and lived a life free from persecution due to my skin color. I have also lived a life that has been impacted by oppression because of my female identity. This unique position between privilege and oppression is where I live my life.