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Social Identity Paper

Decent Essays

As shown in Appendixes 1 and 2, the individual identified as a white, heterosexual, bio man which was not something that I was surprised by. He also identified as gender conforming and able-bodied, as well as being a middle-class, young adult. These were all identities that I had previously assumed and was not surprised by any. There was some clarification going on at this time to ensure that the correct identity was being identified. He also declined to answer his identity on religion at this time. He stated that he perceived his gender, class, sexual orientation, and ability as all being purely agent status. Regarding his race, sex, and age, he felt that these identities were a mix of both target and agent statuses. Differences: Biases, …show more content…

I think that in our society we place a great value on being a white man, and this was confirmed in some respects, but also disputed in some respects, which will be examined further below. I think that I held the assumption that all white men would feel they were completely a part of the agent status, but I was surprised to hear that his beliefs included being a part of both target and agent statuses. This was because being a man can be seen as having the upper hand over others and society has certain expectations of you when you wield this privilege. This could have been a part of my personal biases toward individuals of the agent status who believe that they are being disempowered. It was something that I thought of when reading “At the Elite College”, where they stated roughly 15% of individuals enrolled were not actually qualified to be there, they just had the means to get there (2013, p. 175). I know that this stems from my feminist beliefs, where I believe that in general, and this is obviously not true for everyone, that women must undergo greater struggles in their lives than men do to achieve the same

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