English 1100
Prof. Young
Identity
3 September 2015
Identifying Myself
In class we talked about how identity is broken down into race, gender, ethnicity, language, social class, and so on, while Gloria Anzaldúa classified identity mainly with language. Her language means everything to her, it showcases her homeland and culture; it makes unique. However, the traits we discussed in class do not fully define identity for me. To me identity, essentially, means how you categorize yourself. In class we discussed all the things people can physically see about you but what about all the inner traits? To me, all those inner thoughts and emotions make up a persons identity as well. For example, just by looking at me a person wouldn't be able to tell that I am really passionate about dancing, even if I'm wearing a shirt with a dancer on it. Just by looking at me, people even mistake my race; I'm constantly mistaken for Caucasian when I'm actually hispanic.
Looking at this man, how would you identify him? He looks like he makes a good amount of money; he may even live a lavish lifestyle. Just by looking at him, you could say the he most likely speaks some form of hindu. However, none of that truly describes who he is. We can't tell what he loves or what he hates. We can't tell what he thinks about life. These are things I like to know about people. Once I get comfortable enough to talk to someone, I like to know everything about them; all the way down to the number of kids they want to have. Anzaldúa says in her essay, "There are more subtle ways that we internalize identification, especially in the forms of images and emotions. For me food and certain smells are tied my identity, to my homeland." That goes along with what I said before about how physical appearance doesn't show all of a persons identity. By just looking at Anzaldúa you would not be able to tell what ethnic foods she eats or anything about her homeland, yet all of that is part of her identity. In the picture of me all you can physically see is my gender and possibly my race.
Each persons identity is unique, however certain identities group people together and form cliques. This even works with Anzaldúa language chicano. She states in her article that, "Chicano Spanish sprang out of the chicanos' need to identify ourselves as a distinct people." They act uniquely together. To me identity can be defined as the unique characteristics that make up a person wether they're physical or emotional traits.
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