February Blog Post

Identity

By Corey Youngblood



Lately I have been fascinated the concept of identity. Before I began studying communication it was not something I gave much thought to. I did always have a strong sense of identity growing up in the way that I dressed, the music I listened to, the sports I participated in etc. Now, studying communication and specifically reading this chapter have really helped me gain a deeper understanding of what an identity really consists of and all the factors that play into that, personally, socially and culturally.
In chapter 6 of our book on pg. 99 Identity is described as, "A compilation of one's experiences, as influenced by the social, political, and cultural factors that form and mark those experiences." This definition really helped me understand Identity in a broad and general sense. I realized my identity was not only defined by the clothes I wore, and the music I listened to, it was in fact much more complex than that. Every experience I have ever had, every person I have met, what I had seen in movies and on TV all had in some way worn off one me and inherently effected who I was. Removing individual pieces from my life experience would result in a slight shift in my identity. If I would have had different friends in high school, or never listened to my favorite album, that lack of influence would result in a slight alteration of the identity I claim today.
On the next page, pg. 100 there is a quote that I believe perfectly captures this idea by Chick Palahniuk. He says, "Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everyone I've ever known." With this in mind we can also internalize the idea that our identities are fluid and always changing. The more people we meet, the more experiences we have, the more it influences us and our identities.