Identity

My first thoughts of 'Identity' was to question who I am. It is something everyone has and can affect you day to day life. Identity could be your personality, your company, where you live etc. These are something you can be in control of and can be changed. However, identity is not always up to the individual. The world around us can affect our identity and one example of this is stereotypes. Stereotypes are something that the individual has no control over. This brings me to the question 'Is identity who I think I am? Or others perceptions of me?'

In the film 'Fearless' starring Jet Li, a man was portrayed to be a powerful and fearless fighter who was very arrogant. But further into the story he came to see life from another point of view.

Could identity be an ongoing cycle which we all go through in life. Maybe it could be a learning curve, if we wanted it to be.

Woodward (1997, p. 7) said 'identities are necessarily the product of the society in which we live and our relationships with others.'

Reading a chapter from this book I have come to the conclusion that identity has two sides. It is partially controlled by the individual but the subconscious mind can also be very easily influenced by society and relationships. It could most probably be controlled, but would an individual want to control their identity, or live their life without thinking about it. The individual here is key to their identity.