most with. The more I thought about it the more I realized that it’s impossible.
There isn't just one that fits me best. If forced to choose, however, I would say I
identify most with being a woman. That identity is broad and encompasses
many other identities that mean a lot to me, including a girlfriend, daughter,
sister, friend, and student.
As I begin a professional career I’m pumped about being a woman with a college
and hopefully even a higher education. At the same time, though, I don't want
to be excluded or looked down upon because of the silly old-fashioned viewssome people still hold about women. Am I going to have to work extra hard to
earn the respect of a professor, mentor, or colleague? I want to say no. I want to
say that my identity as a woman is no different than a man's. If that's not the
case I am prepared to outwork them, give more time, and give more energy soearn the respect of a professor, mentor, or colleague? I want to say no. I want to
say that my identity as a woman is no different than a man's. If that's not the
people will see me as an equal.
Does being a woman really conflict with my other identity as a student or aprofessional? Above I concluded that people would see me different as a women
and a professional than if I were a man and a professional. The more I think
about it, though, it doesn't mean the two identities conflict. There are plenty of
amazing women professionals out there. So although I don't think the twoand a professional than if I were a man and a professional. The more I think
about it, though, it doesn't mean the two identities conflict. There are plenty of
conflict, I am still pretty proud of both.
Two identities I have been worried about conflicting are girlfriend and student. I
currently live eight hours away from my boyfriend. If I continue my role as a
student and continue living far away from him, will I have to choose between
being a girlfriend and a student? Which identity will win out? I am hoping I won't
have to choose and that I can find a way to be both. When both are so important
to me, how can I decide?
I am hoping that people will see me as a relationships person. I love being with
my family and friends, but also as a hardworking and ethical person. Since most
of my blogging audience will be my peers I imagine they will receive me by
I have a feeling I will argue by asking questions and trying to answer them how I see fit. I feel that by asking the question first it gives the reader an opportunity to figure out how they think and find the commonalities and differences between us and be able to reply constructively.
Karin, I really appreciated your post and some of the more obvious identities that you brought to the table. For instance, I didn't think of putting "man" as an identity for my blog, not because I don't think that is a huge part of who I am, but because I don't think about it that often. I definitely think that although our culture continues to seek equality, the fact that you so readily think of being a woman as a major identity while "man" isn't the first identity to come to my mind says a lot about how there are still differences in the way men and women are seen by others, and how they see themselves in our society. Your post reminded me of my older coworkers, Connie, who is about to retire and constantly brings up the concept of gender inequality. I know that Connie stresses her identity as a woman because she feels that she has been treated often unfairly because of her gender in the past. Connie often tells me that people make negative comments to her just because she is a woman, and I often discredited this thought. I thought that since she grew up in a different generation that she was predisposed to seeing these comments as discrimination because of how gender inequality was more of an issue in the past. But, I wonder if maybe it's really just because I am blind to some of those discriminations just because I am a man. Anyway, I appreciated your post because it made me think more about the gender issue and see that there are younger women who think about that identity perhaps nearly as much as Connie does, and that the issue isn't as resolved as I felt it was.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I would like to comment that when I was a freshman, my identity as a student put a huge amount of stress on my identity as a boyfriend, but I personally don't think that is what brought demise to my relationship as much as it was underlying issues in the relationship. I'm sure if you have a healthy relationship, there is a good chance that although being a student may cause some obstacles to overcome in your personal life, the stresses of academia would just be one obstacle you can fairly easily overcome.
Heather! I'm so sorry I called you Karin! I read her post last and must have forgotten that I had moved on to a different post. Sorry again!
ReplyDeleteI think these questions of whether a woman can be a woman and fulfill some of the traditional gender roles of women (girlfriend, wife, mother, daughter, family-focused) are excellent ways to approach identity conflict. Do these ideas make you want to accent or bury your feminine nature. (You will see, for example, some professional women dress like men and others really play up the girliness of their clothes.) Is this a way of navigating identity or is this just an aspect of other identity traits (fashion interests, perhaps?). I'm struck, also, by James's admission that he doesn't think about being a man when you so quickly think about being a woman. Do you think this is the case with other types of identities? Do you suspect people think about being white? Middle class? Or do people only sense difference from whatever is represented? Or IS it represented? By whom? And where?
ReplyDeleteHeather! You're blog really struck me just because I take a lot of women's studies class and I'm empowered being a woman that will someday enter the work force. It's definitely one of the more defining identities of mine. I think in this day in age it's easier to be a professional and a woman. I know my mom is one of my role models. She work's in midtown manhattan and is the Vice President of her level of Citibank. She is also an active member of an organization called Asian Women In Business. I guess you could attribute my feminist flare to her, but she proved to me that you can have a family, a job and everything else. You can do it all, if you want it all.
ReplyDelete- Lauren