identity

Identity is the way we feel about ourselves.it is also related to the term self-concept or self-identity. identity is partly shaped by how others view us and it is some times controlled by a value consensus.
1. If identity is sometimes controlled by a value consensus this therefore sometimes determines what role each status has to adopt if it is to fit successfully into society.
  1. for example if a person take up the identity of a mother, there are clear expectations of what is a 'good' mother and also people who are defined as normal parents will engage in socially approved behaviour
Your identity is also product of the experiences you have had during the socialisation processes, both primary and secondary.
Indentity is is mad up on key aspects, which really affect how they see themselves and life experiences they have.
1. these aspect include
  1. Class
    1. An influencing factor in people's identity is the workplace and work. this is becuase 'going to work' palys a part in defining a person's identity and giving them status. this is because your class and the work you do affects your life experiences becuase for exmaple the working class are tipically expected to live in urban areas and have manual labour work, this means that they from'working class' communities where theey indulged inin the same leisure for example "working-men's club and also identitfying political parties they saw represent there views.
      1. However due to reseach it is found out that the notion of the working class identity is less important today but it was a greater factor in the 20th century
    2. However postmodernist Pakulsji and waters (1996) argue that we live in a globalised world and so there is a shift from production to cunsumption this means that our identities are now identitfyed by what we buy and not what we do
  2. Ethnicity
    2. Ethnic identity refers to the fact that people can recognize that they share cultural distinctiveness within a group on different factors..
  3. Gender
    1. Sex refers to the biological differences between male and females i.e the reproductive organs whereas gender is a social constuction and it refers to the expectations society places on male and females and these expectations are transmitted to the next generation through gender-role sociailisation
      1. Gender role socialisation
        This is done through the process of primary socialisation, this is when the parent uses gender based terms of endearment when talking to their children, also the parent dress boys and girls differently and sometime sex-typed toys are presented to the children as presents
        There are processes which Ann Oakley identifies is the central in gender-role socialisation. they include Manipulation (this is the way in which the parents encourage or discourage behaviour on the basis of appropriateness for the childs sex. Canalisation ( this reverse to the way in which parents channel interests and activities to the children based on the appropriatenss for their gender), verbal appellation( this is when the parents use gender based words and phrases to interact with their children to highlight what is appropriate for the gender, for example 'good' girl or naughty boy)
        She also claims that society is Patriarxhal
        It is argued that the experiences of men and women vary greatly depending on other factors such as ethnicity, area, class and age. Some sociologist argue that these factors are not accounted for when looking at gender socialisation.. Gender role socialisation also sometimes doesnt account for choices individual make in forming their identity, and assumes that we passively accept the gender identity given to us
        Postmodernist would argue that there are changes in gender role and socailisation and this is having a positive effect on women and female identity. It is suggested that the increasing participation and success of women in paid work means that traditional views on female identity is being abandoned., Sue Sharpe argues that young females are becoming more assertive and more dominant about their rights and every aspect of their lives. and it is argue that women now use divorce in in order to escape their husbands how made do domestic roles and not have paid jobs. furthermore with women becoming economiclly independent they are seen to be now significant consumers. in addition to this it is suggested that because to the new global world and the interconnectivity of everything, women are now giving the same and equal stream of goods and productions as men
        Gender role has change over time because there was the introduction of the equal pay act which gave women fincail independence and also there is the introduction of the New Man.
  4. Natinality
  5. Historically homosexuality was considered a perversion and a mental illness thats needed to be cured. however attitudes to homosexuality has changed in British society over the last 50 years. weeks(1991) argues that sexual identity is very complex, this is because there are those who identify themselves as gay and are part of the gay community but they do not partake in same sex activities and the same goes for others they partake in same sex activities but do not identify themselves as gay
  6. AGE
    1. Age is always changing this means that the experiences you have with the age is always has a change in effect for example you can find out your age affects how people see you which will affect your identity
      1. It is shown that mostly young people and old people are most likely negatively impacted by the age this is often due to lack of Status and power some people argue that some aspects of age are socially constructed for example the stage of Childhood youth Adulthood and middle aged they can be seen as socially constructed this is the cause in olden day UK childhood did not exist ask children will be working and even fighting as I'm soldiers in some countries and Marriage may be considered at the age of 12 or 13 especially for girls this shows that the idea of Childhood and innocence is nothing but what people have been socialised to do postman 1982 argues that childhood emerged only when the spread of literacy enabled adults subeta shoe children from various aspects of adult life expecially certain aspects of sexuality and certain hours associated with death and disease so the 'innnocent child was created
        Featherstone MCB worth 2005 artist at the email of the media about aging is seen as a source of negative stereotype Andy stereotype can also create new identities they also suggest that as the population ages more positive images may emerge for example the popularity of retro fashion and come back tours from banned from the 1970s and 80s are also trends that help blur the boundaries of the life stages
    2. In terms of Age youth tend to break away from expectations by older generations, they are sometimes labelled as deviant if they do not follow the expectations self- fulfilling prophecy may be a result of this
      1. Young people according to impression management have different personalities depending on who they are with for example they act more respectful in front of their parents
    3. some may argue that some young people have older role models and look up to them meaning that the young people adopt the behaviour of their role model
  7. All these aspects of Identity can be labelled. for example in Ethnicity a person can be negatively labelled if they are not ENGLISH or British and this can cause self-fulfilling Prophecies. This label can also be positive which creates the Halo effect.
  8. Disability
    1. Disability means to be differently abled; this can be physically or mentally. it is socially stigmatised because of how it is still considered extraordinary and "freaky", such as by appearance and natural ability.
      1. marxist would claim that society treat disabled people pooer than the abled because society works for Capitalist and disabled people cannot work and bring income into society so they marginalised and passed off as deviant
      2. Functionalist say that society benefits from the abled and disabled because disabled people to be held below due to Ableism or Neurotypical
functionalism. claim that people are products of society this means that people are the products of all the social influences for example their family, friends, education, experiences at work , in leisure. and their exposure to the media.. all this influences according to functionalism is what make s an individuals identity. Also fucntionalist believe that people are born into society, paly their role and then die, but their death doesn't mean society dies
Marxist argue that the way a person might identify themselves if they are of working class status is a result of false class conscience
1. they also argue that national identity is bad because the sense of 'Britishness is influenced by social institutions such as the school, work and the media which are known as the super-structure in order for you to be passive to the ideology of the middle class and to aid in the development of capitalism
2. Marxist argue that Gender role socialisation only help capitalism because the way in which women are socialised only makes women capitalist workers as they are trained to give birth and have babies who will be the next generation of future worker
Culture is a way of life and it is looked at by structuralist it is made up of

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	Created by Opeyemi Akande over 8 years ago