Everyone has an identity which is shaped by both religious, racial, or cultural affiliations, and present day society. Amin Maalouf discusses this, calming the first group as being a “vertical” heritage and the latter being a “horizontal heritage.” Though he clearly states that “vertical” heritage, cultural and religion, are crucial, Maalouf believes that people are more influenced by society; their “horizontal” heritage. He argues the fact that we may have our different “vertical heritage,” but we depend on our “horizontal” one to live day to day.
The excerpt is displaying the fact that individual are most influenced by their surroundings. Races are coming together and cultures are being intertwined but people still claim to be part of certain groups. Maalouf claim is interesting when he gives light to “…the gulf that exists between what we are and what we think we are” (In the Name of Identity). This is significant because Maalouf is trying to say that we keep in mind that we are part of this race or that sector of society, but we, as individuals, primarily claim to a piece of society. Society plays a
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Each individual has their own way of balancing the two heritages making up their identity. I believe that even though horizontal heritage is what young adults depend on to survive and fit into society, for me, vertical heritage is superior. Being a Pakistani Muslim, religion and culture always triumph the ways of society. I wear a scarf, covering my hair, even though it is not the social norm. Whenever anyone asks what my nationality is, I always have the tendency to say Pakistani even though I am an American citizen. My identity is balanced with vertical heritage overarching the horizontal one. Each individual creates their own identity, therefore it is up to him/her how much vertical heritage and horizontal heritage they want to
Unfortunately, the concept of identifying with a heritage group one is not born of can be looked upon with disdain by others. Two more points the author makes is that Americans appreciate their individuality, yet our unique backgrounds help to continually form our blended culture (Rodriguez 730).
William Jefferson Clinton was born on August 19th, 1946, in Hope, Arkansas. Bills father, William Jefferson Blythe, had died in a car crash three months before Clinton was born, leaving his mom Virginia Cassidy Blythe to take care of him. Bills mom moved away to further her education in New Orleans. Bill stayed with his grandparents Eldridge and Edith Cassidy where they taught him the value of education. Bill was reading little books by the age of 3. Clinton’s mother came home in 1950 with her nursing degree. Later that year she married a car salesman named Roger Clinton. Bill Clinton attended Hot Spring high school where he was an exemplary student. Clinton then got affiliated with Boys State, an American Legion Program where he became a Arkansas representative to
A major part of one’s identity involves a system of morals and beliefs which are too influenced though one’s culture and experiences in life. The
There are two different dimensions of our identities: ethnicity and race. Ethnicity refers to one’s belonging to a specific cultural, or racial group that makes up culture, race language, and/or place of origin. For example, one can be African-American but have different ethnicities, one African-American and the other African-Caribbean decent. Race is a social construct that can be changed over time. Historically, referring to its specific characteristics one possesses based on: ethnicity, religion, or language; today's its classified solely based upon the color of one’s skin. Nevertheless, ethnic and racial identities are important and instill a sense of belonging and identifying with that specific group through attitude, behaviors. Moreover,
There’s various things that describes everyone, but there’s only a few things that make each and every one of us unique, which is, our cultural background. As far as cultural background, it defines the individual’s upbringing. The cultural background includes ones religion, race, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic factors, linguistic and values. These values can be shaped by family, friends, society, or authoritative level. This paper is a great way for one to define my identity or at least understand who I am.
Stuart Hall defines identity as an ‘already accomplished fact, which the new cultural practices then represent’. We should think instead of ‘identity as a ‘production’ which is never complete, always in process, and always constituted within, not outside, representation’ (Hall 1994 p.392). An individual’s sense of belonging to a particular group, thinking, feelings and behaviour can also be referred to as identity. One’s cultural image can construct identity; such features as hair, skin tone and height. History shapes our identity.
As race continues to be an important factor across the United States, we increasingly become aware, of who we are and where we have come from, culturally and ethnically. Our ethnicity is what defines us, and is how we are defined by others. In their book, Diversity, Oppression, and Change, Flavio Francisco Marsiglia and Stephen Kulis, explain to us, the concept of Social Identity Theory. A theory that can very well give insight to our need to hold onto our past, and our ancestors’ history. Originally derived from Tajfel and Turner, they go on to further explain ‘Symbolic Interactionism’, a concept based on the identity that we developed about ourselves around our surroundings and how we believe others to
A person’s identity may be determined by him/her family background and this is proven evident in the essay “Private and Public Language” by Rodriguez. We live in a world in which identities are determined prematurely without hesitation. This means that even without getting to know an individuals personality the first thing that is done instead is determining identities based on your physical state, family, or family background. As a culture we live in a diverse environment in which the majority of people come from a different place, and as a result many are identified differently depending on where he/she and their family are from. Today’s culture is more diverse than ever, and more and more people are migrating to different countries and settling so I feel like it
Moreover, as an individual grows up from being a child, they receive cultural values from the family or the society around. There are questions raised on matters dealing with identity: Can an individual choose his or her own
Today more than ever, individuals and societies are built as an integration of different cultures and carry different characteristics that construct their unique identity.
In Amin Maalouf’s book “In the Name of Identity” Maalouf emphasizes that we should not judge people on one singular identity. He argues that, “Identity can’t be compartmentalized. You can’t divide it up into halves or thirds or any other separate segments. I haven’t got several identities: I’ve got just one, made up of many components in mixture that is unique to me, just as other people’s identity is unique to them as individuals.” The essence of Maalouf’s argument is that one should not define another based solely on a singular component of their identity but rather their identity as a whole.
In most case, identity is shaped by culture. Since culture is a set of ideals life practices, routines and attitudes set up by a certain community hence culture plays a major role in shaping the identity of an individual. An individual’s character and attributes can be because of their background. This is due to the set up that one has grown up (Dumas 19). People tend to learn more about their culture, and as they grow up it becomes part of them. They embrace the culture’s beliefs and tend to do things following the set routines. The aspect of following the set routine and beliefs play a significant part in shaping the identity of an individual.
This essay will outline how in today’s society, culture influences our personal identity, our actions, and media. Culture is a primary factor in our lives but it is also how we respond to the culture and identity we are exposed too.
Cultural identity is a part of the psychological self-concept that expresses an individual or group’s worldview and perceived cultural affiliations. The first step in finding a societal fit is to establish a cultural identity; this can be on an individual level and group level. Who am I? And where do I belong? These questions start to form in the human mind from an early age; it drives humans to explore their worldviews and how and where they fit in the world. Rosenfeld (1971) argued it is a deep-seated primal process that has ensured our continual survival. By finding others that think and act similarly we are offered some protection (Erickson, as cited in Carducci 2015). Erickson (as cited in Carducci, 2015) and Maslow (as cited in Mcleod 2007) argued that the need to belong is a basic building block of human development. Whatever the reason, the consensus is that humans have an intrinsic need to find a like-minded cultural group to belong to; this chosen affiliation is their cultural identity. A person may identify with more than one cultural
Religious identity can come in two forms, one from a nation of people all believing in the same values and another from the personal view of each individual or family within that nation. In a family or local community sense, it ties the smaller community together against its neighbouring ethnicities. It provides a feeling of togetherness and strength for the society. It is the basis for 'ethnic honour: the excellence of one's own customs and the inferiority of alien ones' (Weber, cited in Bruce 1996, p. 96). Religious identity brings great pride and hope to the citizens of any particular society and lends itself towards social cohesion (Browne 2005).