As originally presumed from the title itself, “The Complexity of Identity: ‘Who Am I?’” immediately came off as a very original and analyzed piece of work. Beverly Daniel Tatum does a good job in expressing her opinions and stating the facts, emphasizing on the point that we do not necessarily make who we are, but the perceptions of others do; it’s almost as if the perceptions take the form of some enigma and inhabit the seat of your own perception, thus throwing the original off on a tangent. This is the sole envelopment surrounding the question “Who am I” posed in this essay. Simply put, we are who we are, but we are truly what others make us to be. Many people that I know, including myself, would fall into this subordinate group mentioned which includes many minor groups and ethnicities such as homosexuals and Jews. Because they fall into this subordinate category, the category itself makes them who they are because that is what everyone else sees them as. It is not easy to change a labeled image, such as those mentioned, which is why many people find discomfort with falling into some category they were never asked to be placed in. I myself fall into one of these subordinate groups and I am only looked at for what the norm is pertaining to that specific group. No matter how hard I try, unless everyone magically becomes my good friend, I will never truly change how people view me and therefore that perception is labeled on me and stuck there, but the real me is just stuck inside, waiting to come out.
In addition, this closely ties in with something mentioned in Tatum’s essay called the ‘looking glass self.’ She mentions that “people are the mirror in which we see ourselves” and that is very true (Tatum 9). Through the eyes of others we get a clear, vivid image of what exactly we are portraying ourselves as. I could be wearing a shirt that is just above my belly button, has no sleeves, and says “drop it like it’s hot” and think it’s pretty cool, but of course, many others may not. Once I know that no one has the same perception of this shirt that I originally had, my own perception of it changes because I now see it as a shirt labeled “outcast.” From this example we can see that we see ourselves truly for who we are through others because although many people may say they don’t care what other people think, somewhere deep down they do, which is why many people follow specific trends and styles. We cannot see who we truly are through ourselves because we perceive everything that we do to be normal, until of course someone else has a contradicting perception that makes us want to feel normal—a very subjective word in itself.
In continuation, something called social context has a lot to do with how we view ourselves. This “social context” refers to things such as circumstances of living conditions, surrounding languages, such as Spanish, and the people with whom you live around. Although we may not exactly be able to change how others perceive us, we still have our own special identity that we believe in. This special identity allows us to make up our own special answer to “Who am I?” Let’s say a dominate group, such as whites, were to answer the question “Who am I?” for a subordinate group such as homosexuals. As opposed to trying to be insightful to their struggles and feelings, the dominate group would most likely talk about their flamboyant gestures and feminine accents. To stray away from perceiving yourself with the norm of your specific subordinate group, it is vital to understand your social context. The way you were raised, how you may have dealt with only knowing spanish, and what type of area you grew up in are all prime examples that set you apart from the rest. Not everyone’s social context is the same and we can use this to identify ourselves specifically—as opposed to the broad generalizations that the subordinate groups are subjected to. Tatum is basically referring to the experiences that makes us perceive things the way we do instead of perceiving things exactly how others do. If everyone experienced their own life exactly the same, their perceptions would be exactly the same, but because everyone has different experiences, everyone has different perceptions.
In addition, this closely ties in with something mentioned in Tatum’s essay called the ‘looking glass self.’ She mentions that “people are the mirror in which we see ourselves” and that is very true (Tatum 9). Through the eyes of others we get a clear, vivid image of what exactly we are portraying ourselves as. I could be wearing a shirt that is just above my belly button, has no sleeves, and says “drop it like it’s hot” and think it’s pretty cool, but of course, many others may not. Once I know that no one has the same perception of this shirt that I originally had, my own perception of it changes because I now see it as a shirt labeled “outcast.” From this example we can see that we see ourselves truly for who we are through others because although many people may say they don’t care what other people think, somewhere deep down they do, which is why many people follow specific trends and styles. We cannot see who we truly are through ourselves because we perceive everything that we do to be normal, until of course someone else has a contradicting perception that makes us want to feel normal—a very subjective word in itself.
In continuation, something called social context has a lot to do with how we view ourselves. This “social context” refers to things such as circumstances of living conditions, surrounding languages, such as Spanish, and the people with whom you live around. Although we may not exactly be able to change how others perceive us, we still have our own special identity that we believe in. This special identity allows us to make up our own special answer to “Who am I?” Let’s say a dominate group, such as whites, were to answer the question “Who am I?” for a subordinate group such as homosexuals. As opposed to trying to be insightful to their struggles and feelings, the dominate group would most likely talk about their flamboyant gestures and feminine accents. To stray away from perceiving yourself with the norm of your specific subordinate group, it is vital to understand your social context. The way you were raised, how you may have dealt with only knowing spanish, and what type of area you grew up in are all prime examples that set you apart from the rest. Not everyone’s social context is the same and we can use this to identify ourselves specifically—as opposed to the broad generalizations that the subordinate groups are subjected to. Tatum is basically referring to the experiences that makes us perceive things the way we do instead of perceiving things exactly how others do. If everyone experienced their own life exactly the same, their perceptions would be exactly the same, but because everyone has different experiences, everyone has different perceptions.
