Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

The term identity is derived from the Latin root idem , implying sameness and continuity, and helps to provide a sense of who we are and of who other people are. It serves as a crucial bridge in social life between human beings and wider cultures; it implies a sense of meaning and a sense of categorization and differentiation; and it marks out differences — between ourselves and others. The idea of identity speaks of locating a person within a personal and social category. It suggests answer to the question “who am I?” placing one's self and life within a framework of past (what kind of person I was and how I became it), of present (of who I am now), and future (guiding the sense of who one will be and how one is different from others). Sexual and gendered identities help to locate people within sexual and gender cultural frameworks. In some (usually more traditional) societies, identities are often assumed (they may be ascribed) and there is little debate about the nature of identities. Gender and sexuality may be taken for granted as a given identity. In other societies (usually modern ones prone to individualism), just who one is becomes a greater problem, and there is much discussion on the nature, origins, and impact of different kinds of identities. Some suggest that identities are more or less fixed and given from within — they are essentialist. They serve as an inner core ... log in or subscribe to read full text