American Identities

My Spring 2012 American Identities Schedule of Assignments

2012-01-25T10:45:00.000-05:00

The latest version of my syllabus for AMST/ENGL 296: American Identities can be found at http://www.fredonia.edu/department/english/simon/ai5/, but just in case the Fredonia site goes down, I'm posting the schedule of assignments here. For my students' reference, the teams listed in it are as follows:

1. Team Impartial
2. Team Manifest Destiny
3. Laissez Faire
4. Boss Sauce
5. Team Yuengling
6. Blue Barracudas
7. Team SAC
8. Team Ramrod

And the texts referred to by the authors' last names in what follows are:

Amy Chua, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother (Penguin, 2011)
James Der Derian, Virtuous War: Mapping the Military-Industrial-Entertainment Network (2nd ed., Routledge, 2009)
Cory Doctorow, Little Brother (Tor, 2010)
Matthew Frye Jacobson, Whiteness of a Different Color: European Immigrants and the Alchemy of Race (Harvard, 1999)
Jill Lepore, The Whites of Their Eyes: The Tea Party's Revolution and the Battle over American History (Princeton, 2010)
Barack Obama, Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance (Three Rivers Press, 2004)
Eric Rauchway, Blessed Among Nations: How the World Made America (Hill and Wang, 2007)
Margaret Regan, The Death of Josseline: Immigration Stories from the Arizona Borderlands (Beacon, 2010)
Peter Spiro, Beyond Citizenship: American Identity After Globalization (Oxford, 2008)
Karen Tei Yamashita, Tropic of Orange (Coffee House, 1997)

OK, here goes:

T 1/24 Introductions, Overview, Set-up.
Th 1/26 American? Identities?

American Revolutions

T 1/31 Lepore, Prologue-Ch. 2 (1-69); Prologue focus: Teams 1, 2; Ch. 1 focus: Teams 3, 4, 5; Ch. 2 focus: Teams 6, 7, 8
Th 2/2 Lepore, Ch. 3-Ch. 4 (70-125); Ch. 3 focus: Teams 1, 2, 3, 4; Ch. 4 focus: Teams 5, 6, 7, 8
F 2/3 IDENTITY PAPER due by 11:30 pm in IP Drop Box on course ANGEL site (attach as .rtf, .doc, .docx, or .pdf document, please).

T 2/7 Lepore, Ch. 5-Afterword (126-175); Ch. 5 focus: Teams 1, 2, 3, 4; Epilogue-Afterword focus: Teams 5, 6, 7, 8
Th 2/9 Regan, Prologue-Ch. 3 (ix-63); Prologue-Introduction focus: Teams 4, 5; Ch. 1 focus: Teams 3, 6; Ch. 2 focus: Teams 2, 7; Ch. 3 focus: Teams 1,8

T 2/14 Regan, Ch. 4-7 (64-147); Ch. 4 focus: Teams 3, 6; Ch. 5 focus: Teams 2, 7; Ch. 6 focus: Teams 1, 8; Ch. 7 focus: Teams 4,5
Th 2/16 Regan, Ch. 8-Afterword (148-224); Ch. 8 focus: Teams 2, 7; Ch. 9 focus: Teams 1, 8; Ch. 10 focus: Teams 4, 5; Epilogue-Afterword focus: Teams 3, 6

American Transformations

T 2/21 Jacobson, Introduction-Ch. 3 (1-136); Introduction-Section Introduction focus: Teams 2, 7; Ch. 1 focus: Teams 3, 6; Ch. 2 focus: Teams 4, 5; Ch. 3 focus: Teams 1, 8
Th 2/23 Jacobson, Ch. 4-5 (137-200); Ch. 4 focus: Teams 1, 3, 5, 7; Ch. 5 focus: Teams 2, 4, 6, 8

T 2/28 Jacobson, Ch. 6-Epilogue (201-282); Ch. 6 focus: Teams 3, 6; Ch. 7 focus; Teams 1, 8; Ch. 8 focus: Teams 2, 7; Epilogue focus: Teams 4, 5
Th 3/1 Obama, Preface-Part One (vii-130)

T 3/6 Obama, Part Two (131-296)
Th 3/8 Obama, Part Three-Epilogue (297-442)

M 3/12-F 3/16 SPRING BREAK: NO CLASSES.

American Competitiveness

T 3/20 Rauchway, Introduction-Ch. 3 (3-84); Introduction-Ch. 1 focus: Teams 1, 3, 5; Ch. 2 focus: Teams 2, 4, 6; Ch. 3 focus: Teams 7, 8
Th 3/22 Rauchway, Ch. 4-Conclusion (85-173); Ch. 4 focus: Teams 1, 2, 3; Ch. 5 focus: Teams 4, 5, 6; Ch. 6-Conclusion focus: Teams 7, 8

T 3/27 Chua, Part One-Part Two (1-154)
Th 3/29 Chua, Part Three (155-229)
F 3/30 FINAL PROJECT PROPOSAL due by 11:30 pm on discussion forum on course ANGEL site (attach as .rtf, .doc, .docx, or .pdf document, please).

American Citizenship

T 4/3 Spiro, Introduction-Ch. 3 (3-80); Introduction-Ch. 1 focus: Teams 4, 6, 7; Ch. 2 focus: Teams 1, 3, 5; Ch. 3 focus: Teams, 2, 8
Th 4/5 Spiro, Ch. 4-Conclusion (81-163); Ch. 4 focus: Teams 2, 4, 8; Ch. 5 focus: Teams 1, 3, 7; Ch. 6-Conclusion focus: Teams 5, 6

T 4/10 Yamashita, Ch. 1-14 (1-94)
Th 4/12 Yamashita, Ch. 15-28 (95-172)

T 4/17 Yamashita, Ch. 29-42 (173-240)
Th 4/19 Yamashita, Ch. 43-49 (241-268)
F 4/20 IDENTIFICATION PROJECT due by 11:30 pm in IP Drop Box on course ANGEL site (attach as .rtf, .doc, .docx, or .pdf document, please).

American Battlefields

T 4/24 Der Derian, Preface-Ch. 7 (xvii-176); Preface-Ch. 1 focus: Teams 5, 7; Ch. 2-3 focus: Teams 1, 3; Ch. 4-5 focus: Teams 2, 4; Ch. 6-7 focus: Teams 6, 8
Th 4/26 Der Derian, Ch. 8-12 (177-294); Ch. 8 focus: Teams 1, 2; Ch. 9-10 focus: Teams 3, 4; Ch. 11 focus: Teams 5, 6; Ch. 12 focus: Teams 7, 8

T 5/1 Doctorow, Ch. 1-13 (9-213)
Th 5/3 Doctorow, Ch. 14-Epilogue (214-365); course evaluations

TBA Final Project presentations
F 5/11 FINAL PROJECT due by 11:30 pm in FP Drop Box on course ANGEL site (attach as .rtf, .doc, .docx, or .pdf document, please).

American Identity: From the Philippines to Fredonia

2011-12-20T23:16:00.000-05:00

American Identity: From the Philippines to Fredonia

Mikiharu Holst

Long flights are never fun and thoseflights around 20 hours long are especially bad. I was living in thePhilippines before I came to Fredonia and my family had been travelling aroundthe world for a long time. My father and siblings have American citizenshiplike me, but my mom is a Japanese citizen and has a green card to live in theStates. Since we travel a lot on government orders for my father's work, shegets a somewhat free pass with issues of refreshing it and having to deal withsome problems with moving in and out of the country. If the government didn’tgive some leeway to families that had to travel, that would be terrible.

Anyway, at the immigration counter in Detroit where they check your passportsand what-not, the guy who was manning that desk was telling my mother shecouldn’t go on. He said her card was expired and she couldn’t go on. My mothertried to explain that because of her husband’s orders… And he cut her off. Hekept saying that it didn’t matter about him and his citizenship, because shewasn’t a citizen and needed to update her card. She knows how this works, Imean she’s been doing this for years, but the jerk wouldn’t listen and was justbeing rude. It was incredibly frustrating to say the least. We had a flight inabout an hour and a half, which is not much time in airports, and this was ahassle we really didn’t need to deal with. Eventually he sent us over toanother desk, I can’t remember what it was called, but they dealt with theseproblems more in-depth so the rest of the people could get through. The new guyunderstood what the problem was and knew that she didn’t have to jump throughhoops to travel in the US. So luckily we managed to go on without much hassleafter that. He talked a little bit about maybe refreshing it soon, but that itcost money that would be unnecessary to spend while she didn’t need to. We madeour flight and now I’m here in Fredonia attending college. This experience mademe really think about what it means to be American.

Justlooking at how the two different immigration workers in the airport treated mymother gave me a sharp contrast in how Americans can act. One was incrediblyrude and dismissive of someone who wasn’t American. The other helped as best hecould and offered advice on how to best deal with the situation we foundourselves in. Immigration is the first thing that people see when they enter acountry and as I’m effectively new to the US, this was my first glimpse atAmerica. It wasn’t a great introduction to American society, but the help ofthe other worker helped to make it better. In Beyond Citizenship, Peter Spiro talks about Americancitizenship and the devaluing of American citizenship. This probably applied inmy situation with immigration as the first man obviously feels strongly aboutAmerican citizenship and how my mother didn’t want to become an Americancitizen. This is because Japan only lets you have one citizenship; you can havedual citizenship if you're born with both, but you have to pick Japan orwhichever other country you’re tied to before you turn 22. Her parents, mygrandparents, are Japanese and live in Japan so she is not going to give up hercitizenship when she can just get a green card to live in the States. Spirosays the value of American citizenship has gone down, and while it may havegone down a bit, I believe that being American is still valuable.

My name is Mikiharu Holst and I’m half American andhalf Japanese. I’ve lived in many places around the world and have in turnexperienced a lot. I was born in the States but I’ve spent more time overseasthan I have in the US. In total I’ve only lived in the US for four years. Mytime in Japan and Israel has been more memorable than the few years I’ve had inthe states. Moving around so much has made it that I don’t, or can’t, say “backhome” in reference to the States. “Back home” happens to be wherever my familyhappens to be at the moment. The location of “home” shifts every few years andthat’s normal for me. As moving to a new country is a more drastic change thanmoving to a new house in the neighborhood or to the next state, I’d say that mylife has been different than many Americans. This has also lead me to lessAmerican interaction overall, as living in other countries has limited it topeople in similar circumstances to me. Japan is the place I’ve lived thelongest and could possibly be called home, but I don’t think there is anycountry I can really dub “home.”

While I don’t have a home, I’ve developed as aperson throughout my life. I can say what kind of person that I am. I’m a niceguy, not outgoing, attempt to be funny but often fail miserably (sometimes in away that ends up being amusing), pretty lazy, and a bunch of other descriptorsthat I could spout. Figuring out what kind of person I am isn’t something thatjust clicked one day. I’ve learned and relearned what kind of person I amthroughout the years. It’s a bit harder to define what I am in regards tonational identity, even after my 19 years on this planet.

Race is often used to guess roughly where someoneis from. You take that, compare it to their clothes and what they have and youstart forming opinions. Even if it’s not conscious, we all stereotype in oneway or another and we apply that to how we look at the person. This could leadto a guess to them being from Kenya, China, or England. It’s terriblyinefficient though. People from all races can be found all over the world. TheUS is also pretty diverse so that can throw a wrench into some guesswork.Drawing a conclusion of nationality from race doesn’t work. Matthew Frye Jacobson has a partin Whiteness of a Different Color where he quotes Smith and his students. One student was saying how anyone couldtell that he was Greek just by looking at him. The student he asked said shedidn’t know that the other student was Greek before he told the class he was.If you stand in front of a stranger and study them for a minute, will you beable to see what nationality theyare? No. I can’t look in a mirror and see what my nationality is and I can’tlook at someone else and instantly know theirs. So while we are legally bornwith a nationality, that doesn’t really mean anything. People aren’t bornpatriotic to a nation. You don’t even know what a nation is yet. Identity hasto be found.

Icould just look at my race and then turn to my passports and stop there. Ifsomeone asks me what my nationality is I can just whip out my passports. “Lookat these and it’ll tell you what I am. Ignore any preconceptions and doubts youmay have, reader of my passport; you can now see that I am American and Japanese.”But wait, this doesn’t always work for people. It doesn’t work for me. While Ido identify as American and Japanese, it’s not because my passports tell methat. There are people who don’t feel like they’re a part of the country theyare officially a part of. Other people feel like they have a certainnationality even when they don’t have it officially. Having that little book isvery useful if you want to travel and various other things requiringidentification. I get to visit my family after this semester ends because mypassport will let me fly over and visit them for winter break. People couldn’ttravel around the world and see new places and experience different things without passports, but they don’t make your identity.

Still, passportscan help you figure out your identity. Typically this would happen by lettingyou travel and the experience would help you out. I’ve travelled all over theworld because of it and I’ve dealt with many kinds of people. Europe, the MiddleEast, Japan, and the Philippines all act differently. Being in these placesgave me experience with the rest of the world and how it acts. Many things aredifferent overseas and many things can end up similar. Obvious things likelanguage matter little and a lot. People are people regardless of what languagethey speak, but not speaking the same language can cause barriers to appear. Inthe Philippines they speak English but Tagalog is mixed in liberally to make aunique blend of Tagalog and English. It can vary depending on who you speak toand where you are in how much languages are mixed or used. This fusion of twolanguages is vastly different than in the US where speaking multiple languagesis promoted, and bashed, at the same time.

Language also influencedmy views on my identity, albeit indirectly. I can only speak English, eventhough I learned Spanish as a young child and Japanese in school while I livedin Japan. I forgot basically all the Spanish I knew within a couple weeks ofleaving Mexico. Japanese went away slower, but I’d also not learned it as wellas I had Spanish as a young child. I probably forgot the bulk of my Japaneseknowledge more slowly than I did Spanish because we use a small amount ofJapanese around the house; we occasionally talked with our grandparents on thephone(who only speak Japanese) and watched anime. I know a few words and how tocount but I can’t really communicate with anyone in Japanese beyond rudimentarystatements. While I still love my Japanese side, my inability to understand andspeak Japanese effectively locks me out of truly identifying as Japanese. Ilike to say I’m half Japanese and its definitely a part of me, but my Americanside is more prominent because of this.

Cultures ofother nations can give a stark contrast, or eerie similarity, to the one you’reused to. While I didn’t really live in America long enough to really graspAmerican society, I’ve lived around Americans overseas and have been inAmerican International Schools. I think one of my most interesting experienceswith culture was my trip to Qatar. Qatar was only goingto take a few days as I was only there for an MUN (Model United Nations)conference. I flew in from Israel, so we had to do a somewhat roundabout flightto avoid problems with that. Right away my trip to Qatar made me think aboutwhat being an American meant. Just flying from Israel is enough to make it sothe flight has to be in a somewhat roundabout way that avoids nations thataren’t really on friendly terms with Israel. While not everyone loves America,we don’t have to deal with as many people outright hating our guts. Landingthen leads to customs and immigrations where having an Israeli passport lead tomore scrutiny. A couple people were pulled aside for a more thorough check, beinghassled for things on their passport, although overall the treatment was less severethan the year before. This is the main part where I saw what being Israelimeant to other people and I compared it to my treatment then and now. After theairport, most of my experiences and comparisons that I draw from Qatar stemsfrom comparing the culture there to American culture. In a way it was verysimilar, but again very different. Many women wore traditional garb yet fashionstores could be found in malls. The mall I went to is an incredible mall thatis fancy. It had a canal that ran through much of the mall, complete withgondolas. It had an ice rink, IMAX 3D, and of course McDonalds. A mall asmassive and filled as this is something that many people consider “American”with consumerism and burgers, also had strong Islamic ties. It was aunique experience to me and was very interesting to say the least. The US has,relative to some countries in the Middle East, pretty strong ties to Qatar soit might not be too much of a surprise to see “American” things, but thecontrast was still fascinating.

WhenI think of my identity in the sense of being American, I look at my life experiencesand who I am to try and determine that. I’ve only lived in the US for fouryears in total and this freshman year in college will be my fifth. I’ve livedin Bolivia, Mexico, Japan, Israel, and the Philippines. I’ve also visitedQatar, Rome, Vienna, Paris, and other airports around the world. Seeing theworld is a rare opportunity and I grew up with it. I’ve dealt with people inother nations having to deal with me, an American, which puts some moreperspective onto my life. When I compare how the people are in most of thesenations to how many Americans I’ve met and know, I start to think that I ampretty American. While it’s not a universal template, many Americans are prettynice and go out of their way to help a stranger. At least, this is an aspect ofAmericans that I think I have. And that is how it ended up becoming for me.Travel forces perspective onto you as you see the rest of the world. Japan is agood place for this to happen. At least for me. The American environmentthrough the housing and schools gave me a more grounded and familiar place tolive. But I’d step outside and be in a whole new world and could see thedifferences right away. Home wasn’t a copy of American life, but it had manyaspects and the bases were pretty similar. I could just look at the movietheaters and see differences between Japan and America. Simple things likemovie seats being something you just picked in the American theaters while youwere assigned them in Japanese ones. I could find food that is usually only readilyavailable in America and was “rare” in Japan. Caprisun was surprisingly popularamong my friends and I’d trade with them during lunches. The, in a way, easyaccess to America through the bases enabled me to stay grounded and explore thecountry easily.

Sumup everything that’s happened to me during my life and all the things I’ve doneand experienced and you build up my identity. I view myself as an American,with Japanese parts, a nice guy, atheist, person who’s seen much of the world,a gamer, and human. My life has seen a host of experiences in my travels,mistakes, and adventures. If I had to I might be able to narrow down how Iexactly define what my identity is, but I feel like my identity is malleableand can easily get modified. Some of the basics stay the same, which would bethe things I listed before this, but overall my identity is not something I canreally define yet. But the things I listed at the start of this paragraph aresome of the most important parts of my identity. Family influenced me butthey’re not my identity. Being American is an important part of me as I love mycountry. My Japanese side as well is something that I appreciate a lot andenjoy. Experience and having been in a good amount of the world has a lot ofsway for me. I’m human with all my mistakes and achievements. My gamer partisn’t just saying that playing games is an important part of who I am but it isalso how I can describe the kind of things I like among other things. Butsimply being a nice guy is the most important thing to me. I can be a dicksometimes and am not always cheerful or nice, but I try. Being nice issomething I want to be, so I try and be it.

America is a great country and I believe it’sthe best in the world, even with all of our faults and imperfections. We try tobe the best, not just in raw power, but in how we act and view the world. Somepoliticians and citizens might not follow that same train of thought, but thecountry as a whole tries. Aspiring to be what America stands for is what Ibelieve is a core feature of what being American really is. You have to reallywant to be and try to be American. That doesn’t mean you have to attend ralliesor do other crazy things to prove it. Simply wanting and trying to follow someof the ideals of the American dream or the principles that we stand for isenough in my book. Taking it too far still makes you an American, just a bad orstupid person. The ideals that America stands for probably differ person toperson, but I think some of my thoughts on it might ring true for others.Tolerance and acceptance towards others of all kinds is something that I thinkAmerica stands for. There of course is still racism and hatred towards certaingroups in the US, but it is not supported. As America was built to greatness bya large assortment of people and groups, none can claim to be the real Americanway. The best and brightest Americans have roots from all over the world. So with that in mind, I like to think Americais the melting pot, as its been called, and that we are open to all andaccepting of others.

Beyondsimply accepting others for their differences and looking at who they are as aperson, I think Americans’ acting when needed is another important attribute.America acts when we think we’re needed to help out. While we have hadmisguided acts and aren’t always doing things for the right reasons, we stillact where others don’t. If there is a problem we go out and try and fix it.This is something that should apply to smaller things than the acting of thecountry as a whole. I would hope that I would be able to follow my owndirections if it ever came up for me to try and help stop a robber or othercriminal. It’s a terrifying notion, but if people can’t even go out of theirway to help someone who is literally right there in front of them, then we haveno right to call ourselves a true American. Americans have pulled together intimes of crisis, but there are also people who loot in those times and ignorecrimes in front of them. Putting aside the examples of those who don’t follow thelaw or turn a blind eye to those who do, it is still an ideal that I think manypeople would like to follow. It’s difficult to judge how people would work withit, but it something that I could hope that more Americans would try and do.

Inaddition to stepping up when it’s called for and being open and accepting toothers, I think to be American you have to also try and achieve the AmericanDream. It’s something that has been a part of America for a long time. It comesin different phrases and can be described differently, symbolizing manyAmerican values and something we can aspire to no matter our social class. Itisn’t an absolute idea and it isn’t perfect, but it extols great ideals and canencourage people to rise high above what they normally would think possible.Dreaming for greatness isn’t what is required, but getting to happiness viahard work or through your own means. Promoting that you can achieve what youwant in life and the freedom of each person to do so. Pushing for individualfreedoms is something that America has been doing for a while and the AmericanDream promotes freedom to succeed.

BeingAmerican is important to many and it is important to me. It doesn’t rule mylife, but I’d like to hold onto it if I can. When I look at the rest of my lifeand look it over it helps me reaffirm my American side, while I still embracemy Japanese side. I’ve gone from seeing American-like things overseas to beingin America again. Returning to the States for college and reading non-fictionaland fictional stories on what being an American means to people and what itmeans to be American, I’ve supplemented my experiences with these points ofviews and ideas. While I think that overall my ideas of what it means to beAmerican hasn’t really changed too much over the course of the semester inAmerican Identities, I’ve gotten more perspectives and could develop it somemore. Being American is an important part of my identity, but to really reachthat point I had to experience other things to figure out what being Americanmeans.

Questioning American Identity

2011-12-20T22:54:00.000-05:00

Questioning American Identity

Anonymous

When I am asked to consider who I am and my personalidentity many things pop in my head. But to be completely honest I’m stillfinding myself. I think twenty-one is a reasonable age to be learning anddiscovering who I am and who I will be. There are many factors that play into any one person’s identity. Thefactors that have affected and shaped my identity thus far would have to be myupbringing and family life, as well as my interests and even somewhat where myfamily has come from. Obviously thereare many more factors that play into an identity such as religious beliefs,political views, and privileges you may or may not have had throughout yourlife.

I grew upbeing the oldest of three children in a middle-class working family. My parentsare still married, and getting to the end of raising their children. I am theoldest; however, I am also the only girl. Being the oldest meant I always gotthe harshest punishments, strictest rules, and was simply expected to doeverything well, yet was never really rewarded for it. Now that my brothers arein high school, I see my parents easing up, and the rules are much less strict,though my brothers would beg to differ. However, being the only girl had itsadvantages, so for most things I was “deprived” of, being oldest, I gained inbeing the only daughter.

My rules were something like this: if you get anygrades less than an eighty-five you got a stern talking to, if they were anyless than eighty I was grounded. Being grounded for me meant no T.V. orcomputer time, no going out with friends, no friends could come over, and as Igot older it meant the cell phone was taken away for a month, I was not allowedto see or call boyfriends, and it seemed like a new punishment was added eachtime. Now seeing my brothers put up afight against my parents baffles me; their punishment consists of maybe a fewdays of being grounded which adds up to no PlayStation, or going out withfriends, the end. My one brother is not a strong student, so as long as he getsa seventy-five or above it’s a good job, kid, maybe next time you can get aneighty.

Other things that my parents did that played into how I am now were my dad’sinterrogation questions. By that I mean if I had any desire to go somewhere ordo something I got, in rapid fire, Where are you going? What time are you going?Who is going to be there? When are you going to be home? How are you gettinghome? What are you going to be doing there? Are parents going to be home there?Are you sure you don’t just want your friends to come here? And then finally ifI were lucky he would surrender his tight grip and say “fine, be safe, don’t dostupid things, and be home on time.”

While my dad was the interrogator who scaredoff boyfriends, and even girlfriends who he questioned, my mother was the onewho forced us to be involved. Her rule was you must be involved in at least onesport, and when your sports season is over you have to pick up another or joinclubs at school. Now she did not go as far as the Tiger Mother, Amy Chua, whowrote Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother and who chose her children’sactivities for them, but she strictly enforced this rule for quite awhile. For me this was never a big dealbecause oddly enough I am the most competitive out of my brothers and I, so Iwas always interested in sports, and I loved being a part of teams. I swam for the varsity swim team from seventhgrade all the way through senior year of high school when I was the captain ofthe team. It was something I loved, something I was at least semi-good at, andI loved the competition. When I wasn’t on swim team, I was either practicingwith the boy’s swim team for the hell of it, in a leadership club, or runningmeetings for art club.

I have always been in love with arteven when I was younger. I was the kid who loved coloring and crafts, then Iwas one of very few kids in middle and high school who loved and took art classseriously, I never got bored when we went on field trips to the Albright-KnoxArt Gallery in Buffalo, then I took AP Art in high school, and here I am, aVisual Arts and New Media major at SUNY Fredonia. So in a way I’ve always kept art and creativityclose to me, and hopefully that pays off when I graduate in the spring thisyear. Although I make my parents sound somewhat like hard-asses, they are notin all respects. Yes, they were tough on me, and while I hated that growing up,I’m starting to realize that it only helped me grow up, realize what wasimportant, and it made me a tougher, stronger person in the end. But my parentshave always been encouraging and strong believers in the notion of doingwhatever is going to make us happy, of course within reason. While I know manyparents would be extremely disappointed in their child going to school forVisual Arts, or as some of my friends tease me, being a “coloring major,” myparents have always supported me, my dad even helps me since he has an artisticeye, my mom does not always understand some of the art, but she too encourages,and she is very crafty so she is a help and inspiration as well. Not only didthey get stuck with a daughter going to school to be a “coloring major,” now mybrother is considering going to school for auto mechanics, as well--another field lookeddown upon by many hard-ass parents. Isuppose that’s why they had three kids; maybe my youngest brother will dosomething over-the-top impressive with his future. But with that, all I’m saying is I have neverfelt low, or like what I’m doing is a disappointment or not good enough becausemy parents have always supported it; if I have felt low about my major incollege it’s because of my school, and recent events taking place on campuswhich is a whole other story. So, as a senior in college I think most of whatmakes up my identity is my upbringing, my parents and family, as well as myinterests and what I am pursuing in my life right now.

However, it's not just my parentswho been strong supporter of me; my whole family has. I have a very large family,and most people would think it to be strange how close I am to such extendedmembers of my family. I still see my grandparents and a lot of my aunts, unclesand cousins every month. They all get excited when I bring new art pieces homethat I’ve done, so overall I have a lot of fans. I love having a big,close-knit family because there is never a dull moment; it can be crazy, but Ithink having that has taught me to deal with chaos. The only downfall of beingso close to your whole huge family is you have more to lose. And some of thelosses my family have gone through recently have also changed who I am. Now in some ways we like to compare ourselvesto that crazy family in the movie My BigFat Greek Wedding because there’s a ton of us, we can be loud and quite chaotic,and there is always hands down an argument somewhere because my family isextremely stubborn. But instead our movie would be called My Big Fat GermanWedding, or My Big Fat Czechoslovakian Wedding. While most people my age do not reallyidentify with their family’s nationality, I do somewhat. Like Jacobson talks about in his book Whitenessof a Different Color: European Immigrants and the Alchemy of Race almostall of us are not true Americans, meaning most of our families immigrated toAmerican a handful of generations ago, from various parts of the world.

On mymother’s side of the family we are predominantly German, making me more than aquarter German. On my father's side we are primarily Czechoslovakian. When I wasyounger we had to do several family trees, and family heritage projects, and Ialways found it awesome that I was Czechoslovakian for several reasons. One, itwas a tricky word that most kids couldn’t say at the time and sure as hellcouldn’t spell. Two, I could say it and spell it because my parents taught me.Three, I did not come across any other kids in any of those classes who werealso Czechoslovakian. So when it comesto that side of the family I suppose it is not so much that I identify withbeing Czechoslovakian since I do not know a whole lot about the culture orhistory other than the whole dispute where it was broken into The CzechRepublic and Slovakia, but it's more something I thought was interesting aboutme. Now my mom’s side of the family is extremely German, and my grandpa is onehundred percent German and proud of it. He is someone who is proud to beAmerican, mainly because he worked for Chevy, so he forces us to only buy American-made cars and all that, but you could also say that my grandfather is thestereotypical German man. He is as stubborn as they come, he is always right,and will argue and yell until that becomes known. He flies his German flag nextto his American one. Now some of my family say this next trait is because he isGerman and others just say it's him being an old man, but he is a complete packrat; he keeps everything. Last year I found this skateboard in the garage thatwas his when he was a little kid. Nowdespite all the grief we give him he is also quite a good cook--of course ofyour German staples such as bratwurst. And if you didn’t think it could getmore cliché he constantly buys this German beer, that I do admit is quite good,but also like triple the alcohol content of a normal beer. So overall I think Iam a bit more in touch with my German side, because it is brought to myattention, and I am surrounded by it frequently. So far, this is how I view my own identity,but I’m sure with age and experience I will discover more about who I am andwhere I am supposed to go in life.

As anyAmerican citizen would know our government is capable of providing us with manyprivileges as well as it having many flaws. Many of which directly affect us,the people. Personally, one of my biggest problems withour government that has and is going to further affect me negatively is ourhealth care system. Currently this is one thing that has been a large topic ofdebate but one of the most difficult things to change. Currently our health care is left in thehands of those who decide who is accepted and denied to be covered with healthinsurance. These individuals are cut-throat, and do not give a damn about us as the people. If you have a preexisting condition, forgetit you won’t be covered as an individual; if you withhold, or forget even thetiniest bit of information such as a small case of bronchitis on theirinterrogation-style paperwork, they will come up with an excuse to not coveryou. These companies are professional excuse makers so that they do not have tospend money on you. On my seventeenth birthday I had to do a three-day sleepstudy. I was tested and diagnosed with epilepsy. At the time medication costand health care coverage had not crossed my mind a whole lot seeing as I wascovered under my parents still. About aweek later my dad opened my hospital bill, which was completely outrageous andsky-high. This puzzled me because both my parents work two or more jobs, andthey both work within the medical field. I did not quite understand thejustification to why my father, a family nurse practitioner, and my mother asurgical technician, could be stuck with such god-awful health insurance.

I investigated some more about healthcare inthe United States, and learned a lot about it in my high school governmentclass, and the end result was my complete disgust and fear. Why is it that if I had been born an hour northin Canada I would be covered for free no matter my illness? Or in othercountries such as China or Japan, they pay small copays but the government actsas a cushion for the rest of the money. Or other solutions such as being adoctor is not an all-mighty profession like it is here; in Britain the doctorsdo not get paid nearly as well, but due to their lower pay rates, and some helpfrom government funding they are able to treat their patients without makingthem go bankrupt. I have experience witha family friend who has bone and skin cancer. He has been in and out ofhospitals fighting pneumonia in addition to his cancers; when he is well enoughto leave the hospital he gets put in aftercare facilities. Recently, his healthinsurance said he is only covered at his aftercare place for a total of threemore days. The hospital told him he was not sick enough to stay at the hospitalfor any longer, and he had no more time left covered at the aftercare place. Hewas stuck with no place to go. His family couldn’t afford to keep him in anaftercare place so now they rotate taking care of him the best they can, whichis completely altering their lives because they all have jobs, families, schooland lives. Is this what we should really be reduced down to? Is this really howthe land of opportunity treats you? Lucky for me Obama recently passed a new lawsaying that kids can be covered under their parents' health insurance upto age twenty-six. It was previously age twenty-three, which would mean that asI am getting out of school, if I did not find a job that could cover me withhealth insurance, I would be paying insane amounts of money to keep myselfhealthy and safe. No college graduate has extra money to shell out. If that were to happen I would be paying acouple hundred dollars for my medication every month, this is a medication Icannot skip out on if I do not want to risk my health and safety.

Another thing that crossed my mindis that in the future I had considered the option of opening my own company fordesign, and if I were to do that I would not be covered by an employer, so thatis another situation where I could be left hanging. In the news there werestories about the Buffalo Public School system, and how the teachers haveextremely good health coverage, meaning their coverage is so good that they canget breast implants and that would be covered in their insurance. How is this justifiable by anyone? How canone person get an essentially free boob job while other people are out theredying because they cannot afford the cost of medication or treatment--theyapparently cannot afford the cost of life?My question is, who has the right to decide this person can get somehealth insurance, and this person can’t, which, when boiled down is this personlives and this person dies? These companies are out for money and money only,whether it means costing people their lives or not.

Another thing related to this that is on therise is new drugs. While on one hand it is great that with new technology areable to come up with all these new drugs to help with various health problems,it is having an extremely negative impact on our society. Firstly, these drugsare not cures, they are merely temporary aids. Secondly, most of these newdrugs have more side effects than it’s worth. (For example, I still questionit, my epilepsy medication has a side effect of twitching…. Explain that one tome, I twitch, which ends up being diagnosed as epilepsy, they give me medicationfor it and it is one of the side effects. The only reason I do not question itis because for now it works, and if I do not take it then there would be someserious issues.) Finally, because so many new drugs are coming out, they areall advertised in every way possible, being we live in a technology-basedsociety now. And because all these advertisements are directed towards us thepeople, we automatically think, Oh, maybe that’s what is wrong with me, and thenthese people go tell their doctors I need to be put on this medication. Ithought it was the doctor’s job to be diagnosing the patient? Not the patientcoming in saying I need this drug. Not only is it the patients, though, becausethere are pharmaceutical representatives they come into doctor’s officesto promote all these new drugs, and the office agrees to promote certain drugs,which somewhat influences the doctor to prescribe those prescriptions. This isset up all wrong. What happened to patients seeing doctors, and if somethingwas seriously wrong the doctor would prescribe what he or she thought wouldbest help that individual patient? I also think that in this world of drug repsand advertising, they are forgetting that yes we are all people, but all peopleare different, especially when it comes to the body and health. Everyone reacts to different drugsdifferently, and every person has different conditions or problems that can changehow things work.

I think that a lot of the negative thingsgoing on in health care are dominantly because of the insurance companies, butalso the rise of technology and advertising. As a graphic design major Ishould not be saying this or thinking this way but in the sense of medication,it needs to be publicized to healthcare providers not the general population,because as a whole many of us are hypochondriacs. Also with new technology advancements we aremaking all of these drug advancements, which could be looked at as positive ornegative. But what I really question is if we have all these drug breakthroughsand all these technology advancements are aiding us at getting further inmedical technology why have we not gotten around to actual cures for diseasesor cancers? Or is it that we have and our government or drug companies arekeeping it from us, because they as a whole will be falling if people do notneed to keep coming back for their short-term relief drugs?

I do notthink I am the best source to discuss and analyze what the American Identityis. Honestly, I am not someone who always keeps up with current events in thenews, or keeps up and fully understands politics and how our government works.I have some opinions here and there but am not completely sure of the trueAmerican identity. Based on my further knowledge from this course I havelearned a few things, one of them being there is no one good way to identifythe United States and its people. Like Jacobson talks about in his book, Whitenessof a Different Color, almostall of us today are not truly “American” or truly “white” because our familiesimmigrated from all over the world, especially Europe. And even today you can goto different cities and notice the higher populations of certain ethnicities,because many Irish people immigrated and lived in the same place, and so didthe Germans and Italians. For example,I am from around Buffalo, and it is widely known that there are tons of Polishpeople around here. In Buffalo many Polish holidays are celebrated such asDyngus Day where we even have a parade. Just like Saint Patrick’s Day is widelycelebrated throughout the United States, because there were so many Irishimmigrants. So America is a mix of awhole mess of different people, which is unlike really anywhere else in theworld.

However, when you get on thetopic of immigration you have to consider all the controversy of the Mexicanborder and those immigrants still trying to come here. We are trying to do somuch to keep Mexican immigrants out of our country because they are living hereillegally and taking jobs that American’s could be filling. So the question is, do we loosen our grip onthe border because they are immigrants much like all the European immigrants,and this is supposed to be a melting pot and the land of opportunity, but canour country afford to keep letting them be here? I think other factors thatplay into our identity is our freedom, our education that we can provide forchildren, and the fact that we are a society that now revolves aroundtechnology. But we are human--are we able to keep up with the rate thattechnology is advancing? So far it seems America is doing a relatively good jobat keeping up with technology but will we fall behind, just like we are fallingbehind as a world superpower? I also question things like, now that India andChina are creeping up behind us, and most likely going to surpass us will thatchange our identity? Will our country and citizenship become less desirable? Ordo we think that because our country is built on a foundation ofcompetitiveness we will fight to stay on top? These are things that this class,American Identities has made me consider about our country, how others view it,and what our identity is.

Works Cited

Chua, Amy. Battle Hymn of the TigerMother. New York: Penguin, 2011. Print.

Jacobson, Matthew Frye. Whiteness ofa Different Color: European Immigrants and the Alchemy of Race. Cambridge,MA: Harvard UP, 1998. Print.

Sushi, Hair Metal, and My American Identity

2011-12-20T17:47:00.003-05:00

Sushi, Hair Metal,and My American Identity

Anonymous

I. How I Identify Myself

No one isever raised the exact same way as their friends, cousins, co-workers,classmates, etc., and I’ve always tried remembering that when certain thingsabout others seem weird to me or don’t make sense. Even in the apartment I live in now duringschool, the two other girls I live with have been raised very differently andhave very different family backgrounds than me. I sometimes forget now, since I’m not living with or close with some ofmy family, that there is more to me than being just an “American.” There’s more to all of us than just being“American” and America really is a big melting pot of different cultures,beliefs, and traditions.

I grew upin a Japanese household with my grandmother, brother, and father. My grandmother and father are from Okinawa,Japan, and came here in the late 1950s or early 1960s. She was the main person who took care of mebecause of my father’s work schedule and a lot of her traditions and customs,which she raised my father on, were also taught to my brother and I. We were only allowed to speak Japanese at homeand if we asked for something in English or said something in English, shewouldn’t acknowledge it because it was important to her for us to learn thelanguage. She also made a lot ofJapanese food, which I still like to this day. A lot of the cartoons, toys, etc., that I liked and remember playing with,too, were also originally Japanese and I think that’s because, besides herraising us that way, it’s what I knew and what interested me at the time. I even met my family from Japan and reallyenjoyed meeting them and learning from them.

When Istarted getting older, I started being interested in my own things, like mostteenagers, and was allowed to hang out with friends more. My grandmother moved into assisted livingeventually and I stopped really paying attention to a lot of her and myfather’s stories, somewhat ignoring that part of me more because I didn’treally care at the time. I even lost thelanguage once she moved out because I was barely using it. Once I moved out of that house and into mymother’s house, I wasn’t surrounded by those things at all and pretty much letgo of all of what I grew up on altogether.

Now, being20 years old and a senior in college, I’ve realized what is important to me andthat a lot of my personality traits, what I like to do, and what I know havecome from my childhood. I’m reallydisappointed I can’t speak the language anymore and have wanted to beginlearning again because it is important for me to hold onto some of those thingsfor the future, to carry down when I have a family of my own. My grandmother has even began losing thelanguage because she doesn’t get to use it a lot, except on the phone withrelatives, and it really upsets her because even though, at this point, she’saccepted the American culture, she still wants to hold onto part of where shecame from. I still know how to makesushi and cook some of the food, which I am proud of knowing, but that’s theonly thing I can truly say I’ve still totally held onto and know.

Besideswhere my grandmother and father came from, there’s a lot about me that makes me“me.” My father rode a Harley andlistened to Ozzy Osbourne, Alice Cooper, Motley Crue, Poison, Kiss, etc., andthose things have definitely been passed down on me. Motley Crue is still one of my favoritebands, and I have to see them live at least a couple times a year, and that’sprobably one of the first things people that know me would think of when sayingwhat I’m interested in.

At first, Ididn’t know what I wanted to do with my journalism major because I know I couldnever come right out of college being a clean-cut news anchor or somethingalong those lines, but this far into it, I’ve found that it actually fits mevery well. My biggest interests to writeabout and explore are music, body art, and motocross and it’s possible to be asuccessful, professional, journalist in those areas while still beingmyself. I’ve never cared about goinginto a field where I’m guaranteed to make a lot of money in the future, likesome other students I’ve met. It’s moreimportant to me to hold onto who I am and enjoy the rest of my life than hategoing to work everyday, as long as I make enough to get by and provide for myown family in the future.

II. A Significant Experience With AmericanIdentities

My fatherfought in the Vietnam War and has told me small stories of his time there, butfor the most part doesn’t really want to explain them to me or explain howscary it really was being there. As alittle girl, I never knew exactly what the war was or how bad of a war itreally was, but once I got older and started learning about it in school, Istarted realizing a lot more of what my father went through and why it affectedhim so much to this day.

I can’timagine what he saw with his own eyes and it took me up until recently to startfully understanding his PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and how to not bebothered by it. It used to embarrass mesometimes how awkwardly social he was and how a lot of the time, he keeps tohimself and doesn’t know how to act in certain situations, but I’ve reallylearned, especially this past summer, how to not let other people’s reactionsto the “weird” things he does affect me.

This storyabout America, to me, is the one I feel has most affected me because a part ofit is still with my father to this day, and throughout my life, I’ve had toexperience and live with that part he carries with him. I don’t think many people truly understandthe effects war has on people until they see it first hand and while we learnabout the different wars throughout our school years, and while we live throughone now, it’s hard for me to imagine all of the people going through similarthings my father, as well as my grandfather in WWII, went through and are goingthrough. The number of soldiers writtenout in textbooks is more than just a number and many people forget to think ofit as an actual group of people like us.

All thestudents my age and older can probably recall where they were when the WorldTrade Centers were hit and right now we’re all living through something, somemore than others, that will be a few chapters in a high school history textbookin the future. I was getting ready forschool when I walked in my living room and saw my father watching it onTV. I had no idea what was actuallygoing on because I was only ten at the time, but I started graduallyunderstanding what was going on as people explained it to me. I didn’t think or understand at the time,though, that the after-effects would still be going on now.

Now, at thispoint, I’ve met many people my age back home in Buffalo that have been in thewar, as well as students and friends in Fredonia. My roommate’s boyfriend was in Iraq for 8months and came to Fredonia for school afterwards. It’s strange to think of how much he wentthrough there and now he’s here just doing everyday things with us, once again,but still carries that with him. Manypeople I went to high school with have also gone over there and it’s changed myperspective a lot on my dad’s experience because I’m living through seeing themleave, not just hearing about it after it’s all over, and what they’re goingthrough is somewhat similar to what my dad had to do.

III. My Beliefs/Principles On How We Ought ToDefine And Understand American Identities

America isfull of many different people and I’ve met people from many different placesand backgrounds, as I’m sure many others have also. Coming to Fredonia, some of my best friendshere are from Africa and Jamaica. Theystill fit right in being here and I don’t see them as being any more differentthan anyone else, they’re just used to some different things than us. The “melting-pot” idea of our country is verytrue. We’re all a mixture of differentethnicities, religions, etc., mixing together and living together.

I feel likethere’s a place in America for people of every color, race, religion, belief,sexual orientation, etc., and think the first thing any American should be isaccepting or open-minded. We all knowthat this isn’t really a trait everyone in our country possesses, but to me,it’s what every American should aim for. I couldn’t imagine living in places like Jamaica, where my friend isfrom, where being a gay male is wrong and having a relationship with anotherman is against the law. Cops there eventurn the other way when it comes to hate crimes against homosexuals, while herethere are parades all over the country here and gay marriage is being legalizedin many states, giving some of my friends the right to be who they are and havethat equal opportunity.

I also feellike living here gives us the opportunity to make a lot out of ourselves. We can pretty much dream of doing anythingwith our lives and there’s a way to achieve it. There are so many different majors to choose from when going into techschool or college and we have the ability to change our minds at any time aslong as we can finance it in some way. Everything in our country doesn’t always run smoothly and isn’t alwaysthe fairest, and many people don’t always agree with the governments policiesor ways and some abuse government assistance, but we have a lot a moreopportunities and rights than other places.

In MargaretRegan’s The Death of Josseline, theMexican immigrants see America as an opportunity to make more money than theycan back home so they can support their families, and it’s true that we areable to make more money than them, but being an American citizen, we have topay taxes/pay our dues for being a citizen. Living here and making a life for ourselves here is expensive, so it’snot like everything here is just given to all of us and our country has itsproblems. While we are lucky to live inthis country, the stereotypes others have about the “American dream” and usaren’t true altogether to that degree.

IV. What Makes My American Identity

After taking this AmericanIdentities class, it’s led me to really think about what all of those factorssay about my American identity. They allseem to just work together and fit into being “American.” Growing up listening to hair metal and musicalong those lines and also facing a Japanese upbringing has made me the personI am today.

I believethe Japanese upbringing has made me more of the person I am today than I everrealized before this class. Like Imentioned in section I, I went through a rebelling stage of my upbringing, butI still hold onto some of it today and part of my personality comes fromit. Even when I was trying to let it goand be my teenage self, I never realized that my self included some of theJapanese traits that my grandmother passed down to me and I can’t erasesomething that makes me.

I relatedto Amy Chua’s Battle Hymn of the TigerMother because of her daughter’s struggles with her unusual, strictparenting. In the memoir, Chua doesn’tsee that her way of parenting is too strict, which in my opinion it is, and Ithink my grandmother was a lot like her, just not as extreme. I couldn’t hang out with friends a lotbecause she felt like homework was more important and I always had the pressureon me to not disappoint them. I playedthe flute and only practiced because it pleased her and my father. I felt like an outcast in school because Ididn’t wear the cool clothes or do the cool things my other classmates didbecause she didn’t feel like that was important. I also studied a lot in school and did verywell, and to add onto my embarrassment at the time, I was the biggest teacher’spet. I eventually applied for CityHonors School (CHS), which is one of the best schools in the Buffalo area, andbegan going there in 7^th grade. They were so happy for me to go to that school because it kept me out ofthe rest of the Buffalo Public Schools that weren’t good.

Once I gotinto CHS, that’s when I began to rebel against my grandmother and father andmet friends that were in similar situations. As much as I tried to ignore my home life, I look back at it now andrealize how I really never did. Themusic I was listening to still related to the heavy-metal, hard-rock past myfather passed onto me. The rebellingstage fit into exactly that image, as well. I may have worn more black, gotten more piercings, and acted lessreserved than I used to, but it was nothing new. It’s the same sort of rebelling we see inmany American movies and hear countless teenage stories about. I was still doing well in school, but didn’t caremuch and skipped a lot of classes. I thinkthat might have been the biggest way I know how of firing back at my father andbeing an angry teenager.

I’ve gonethrough some other stages since then, but that was my most relevant one becauseit was at such a crucial time in life transitioning from middle school up tohigh school. Now in college, I’verealized how reserved, or shy, I am compared to a lot of people, including myroommate, and this may be because my grandmother was always raised to be this wayas well. I’m very soft spoken, unlike myroommate, who is Italian and is loud and vocal with everything she’s thinking orfeels.

As far asthe metal music goes, I can pretty much say that it is something I will neverget over and in a way, I feel like some of it makes America. When I think of the perfect Americanspokesperson, I think of Bret Michaels running around on stage wearing a cowboyhat, cowboy boots, blue jeans, and a ripped up t-shirt and singing to thetroops, then riding his Harley around. Myfather’s love for Ozzy Osbourne could have been his rebelling stage that hewent through against my grandmother’s upbringing, so I think we have that incommon. He held onto that and somewhatAmericanized himself, while growing up and realizing that he couldn’t let go ofthe Japanese part of himself either. Mychildren will probably grow up getting rocked to sleep by me with Motley Crue,Black Sabbath, Poison, and Kiss on in the background and maybe they’ll hangonto it the way I do.

Thinkingback to friends’ stories about growing up and their identity, as well as otherclassmates’, I don’t think there is one certain trait that everybody in Americapossesses that makes us who we are as a country. What we all do have in common is that ourancestors and/or ourselves have all come from different places and have faceddifferent cultural issues. America isjust a big melting pot of every culture, religion, race, and issue.

V. American Stereotypes

Myboyfriend is from Nigeria and he considers himself very American. He’s interested in arts and music, whichdisappoints his parents because they came to America to make a better life forthemselves and their children and they feel like he’s setting himself up forfailure. His family back in Nigeriadoesn’t have all that they do here and they feel like he doesn’t take advantageof that or appreciate it. He alwaysmentions to me how proud they are of his sister for going through medicalschool and becoming a doctor. I’venoticed many doctors I meet are from other countries and maybe part of the lazystereotype of Americans is because we all don’t take advantage of education theway they do, or we don’t have the same goals that they do. As I mentioned earlier, money isn’t a hugedeal to me and I’m happy pursuing a job in writing. I’ve never wanted to be a doctor or alawyer. My parents are a little worriedabout my future because journalism is a tough field to find a job in, but comparedto his parents, it’s nothing and they’re still supportive. His parents are constantly on him aboutfinding a good job or going back to school for something other than marketingand music business, but that’s all he wants to do and feels like he disappointsthem sometimes.

When itcomes to religion, I’m far from religious and am technically Jewish, but I’venever followed it. My boyfriend’s familyis very Christian and they think it’s a shame that our country is more lenienton religion. We’re free to believewhatever we want and in my opinion that’s the way it should be, but I can seewhere they’re coming from because religion has caused many issues betweendifferent regions in Africa and their culture is based on religion. America is more accepting of differentpeople’s beliefs, including theirs so, I feel like we’re fortunate in the waythat we can all live side by side with far less conflict. No country is perfect when it comes todifferent forms of hate, but at least here it’s not extreme.

Some of theAmerican stereotypes we talked about in class may apply to myself and/orothers, but I’m not sure if they’re only American traits. I’m going to London next semester to studyabroad and I’m excited to be exposed to life there and want to see the waypeople act in their everyday lives compared to Americans. I’m wondering if I’m just ignorant to someAmerican stereotypes being true because I haven’t been exposed enough to othercultures, or if they really are just false stereotypes that could applyelsewhere. I’ve taken vacations to otherplaces and have met people from other countries that live in America, but Idon’t think that has opened my eyes as much as that experience will.

Works Cited

Chua, Amy. Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. New York: The Penguin Press, 2011.

Regan, Margaret. The Death of Josseline. Boston: Beacon Press Books, 2010.

American Diversity

2011-12-19T16:39:00.000-05:00

American Diversity

Tracy

PART ONE: A Reflectionon Self-Identification

“A man travels the world over insearch of what he needs and returns home to find it.”

~George Moore

I’ve never considered myself a family-oriented person. Infact, my immediate family barely communicates simply due to lack of commoninterest. We all live separately at this point, talk on the phone occasionally,and indulge on holidays. Even as a child I was very introverted and preferredsolitude. When reflecting upon how I’ve come to be the person I am, I wassurprised to notice the amount of influence my family, and especially myMother, had on me. My story perfectly exemplifies the significant impact that apositive family and home environment can have on a person, even if some factorsin the situation were less than perfect.

I always thought I was growing up and being raised in anaverage American family; even despite seeing nuclear families grace my television,I never considered my circumstances abnormal. Oblivious to social norms, I’dbet most American children don’t understand what the “typical American family”is supposed to be like if they didn’t grow up in the suburbs with a Mother anda Father, a sibling and a dog. In my case, Grandma woke me up because Mom wasbusy at work and Dad was somewhere else, magically appearing in the driveway onweekends, half-heartedly taking me to some museum or buying me a new doll.

While growing up myfriends used to say that it “must be really hard” to live with divorcedparents, but I hadn’t ever considered my position to be difficult; it was my life and I didn’t know how I was“supposed” to feel. Hearing these comments at a young age made me really thinkabout how I was supposed to feel and who I was supposed to be, but by age ten Idecided that it probably wasn’t worth making myself upset over. As I was growing older, I realized that mostof my friends’ parents were getting divorced as well, and that this stereotypicalfamily dynamic was simply a fallacy.

Scientists can debate arguments about nature versus nurtureuntil the apocalypse comes, but I am absolutely certain the experiences in mylife have no doubt had an impact on my personality. I am collectively, and notexclusively, introverted, ambitious, honest, and loyal. I am a feminist, aconnoisseur of all things rock-and-roll, an atheist, and a person who wants todo good things for the sake of being good. I am an extremely hardworking-individualthat, if not completely self-driven, seeks motivation from strong femalefigures that I look up to.

I never had an extremely close relationship with my Mother,and that’s something I’m currently still struggling with, yet she has had themost significant impact on me out of anyone in my family or friend groups.Throughout my life I have watched my Mother struggle through many difficulties,often facing them alone, and never faltering. We do not always get along; infact, most times we don’t even talk, but I never fail to let her know howadmirable she is, and how much courage she has. She is strong, rebellious,self-reliant and kind-hearted; she has demonstrated to me the kind of womanthat girls need to aspire to be, not the women who are broadcast on television.

I believe that in America, everyoneis given a chance to succeed. Some people may have more opportunity thanothers, but I believe that the chances of success are largely determined by aperson’s ambition and their drive to succeed. My work ethic and ambitiousattitude are something that I’ve become very proud of, and are a defining partof who I am. From the time I was little, I always admired my mother, who wasworking diligently and, without ever saying it, showing me what a woman could beand do despite what I saw on television. I learned that ambition is the traitthat differentiates great from mediocre, intelligent from dull, professionalfrom domestic: not man from woman. My drive to succeed, to meet my ambitiousgoals, has gotten me through the hardest moments in my life and helped meimprove myself immensely.

My whole life I have struggled withdepression and anxiety. Looking up to my mother and other women has helped megrow, and helped me realize there is no challenge too difficult to overcome.These experiences have largely contributed to the development of my convictionsand my general approach to life, truly shaping who I am. I believe that eachperson has something in their life that gives them inspiration and strength,and communicating with other people who have overcome difficulties in the faceof sexism, abuse, or misfortune gives me faith in humanity and the motivationto succeed. Identifying with these ideals has given me strength as a person andgiven me the support I have needed to grow into the person I’ve become.

PART TWO:Diversity Among Youth

“I think whatyou're seeing is a profound recognition on the part of the American people thatgays and lesbians and transgender persons are our brothers, our sisters, ourchildren, our cousins, our friends, our co-workers, and that they've got to betreated like every other American. And I think that principle will win out.”

~Barack Obama

For the first eighteen years of my life I resided in asuburban town right outside of Buffalo, New York, which was inhabited by nuclearfamilies who worked unfulfilling nine-to-five jobs. Most of the kids my agewere struggling with average issues and experiencing the expected angst andmelodrama of any high school. Everything was relatively average. Just like anAmerican TV drama, some minor mishaps would occur but over the course of a fewdays everything would go back to normal.

Everything changed when I met Chad. I was in the tenthgrade, he was a freshman, and my friend Vicky was our mutual friend. Onemorning as we were walking to our first classes, she invited Chad to walk withus. We made casual small talk and discussed our plans for the day. I was underthe impression that everything was normal, Chad seemed like a nice guy and thatif he was Vicky’s friend then he must be a decent person. When I got to class acouple people approached me, asking if I knew Chad. I didn’t understand at themoment why everyone was making such a big deal out of such an ordinary person.By looking at Chad there was nothing remarkable about him; he looked like anaverage high school freshman, squirrelly and awkward. After some investigationI discovered that the general confusion was that nobody could decipher if Chadwas a boy or a girl; he seemed in-between, ambiguous, and in the year book hewas listed as “Kristy.”

My initial reaction was to be shockedand confused as well; I was angry at myself for reacting in such a way, but Ihad never seen anything like this happen in my hometown before. When I talkedto Chad I was unsure of what to say: should I ask him about it? How should Iaddress him? I was scared and uncomfortable. Not being the most popular student in theschool myself, I realized it would be hypocritical to outcast Chad, and I wastrying to always be open-minded. After giving the matter much thought, Iconvinced myself that it would be idiotic not to accept Chad as he was. He wasjust a person like anyone else--what was there to be scared of?

Chad was really kind, and I was secretly very interested inhis decision to change his gender, but I knew that if he was comfortabletalking about it he would tell me his story. I knew I would have to wait andgain Chad’s trust in order for him to learn more about his decision, but otherpeople at our school were not as understanding.

People would tease him, spread nastyrumors, call him an “it”: they would do anything they could to rationalize himand his situation and what it meant to their lives. I was alarmed when Chadtold me he had decided to address all of two thousand students at once, andthat there was going to be an entire school assembly all about him and hisstory. He gave a short speech, vaguely detailing his story in hopes that itwould feed people’s curiosity enough for them to leave him alone. In anutshell, Chad told us all that he was born in the wrong body. He had undergonerigorous neurological and psychological testing as a child, and all theprofessionals agreed with him: Kristy was really, mentally and psychologically,a male. He also touched on his emotional journey through his life, explaininghow he had once been suicidal, but now felt strong. Chad also showed us photosof him as a child, a little girl who always looked uncomfortable and out of herelement in a pink dress.

At this point, I wasalmost certain that people would leave Chad alone, and maybe even reach out tohim. I even thought that he may make several friends from the whole experience,but I was simply being naïve. I thought people would admire his courage, understandhim, but they didn’t and the teasing and bullying only grew worse. Everythinggot so bad that Chad’s family decided to move to a different school district sothat he could have a fresh start, and I never saw him again.

I stayed in contact with Chad for several years after hemoved. He told me that things were a lot better at his new school and that hehad joined some online support groups where he could reach out to other teensgoing through the same issues. Looking at photos of Chad now, he looks like anyother twenty-one year old male. He has facial hair, a strong jaw-line, a smileand even a beautiful girlfriend. By looking at his photographs you can tell hetruly is happy to be alive and even happier because he went through with whathe believed to be right for himself.

This whole experience helped merealize that gender is a huge part of personal identity and helps us, both ashumans and Americans, define who we are and how people see us. Meeting andknowing Chad opened my eyes to a whole other world of people, people who struggledwith gender, or whose gender didn’t fit into the binary gender roles andassignments. I’ve learned that many people feel threatened by experiences likethese, and become defensive. As with most things, if people are madeuncomfortable and are forced to evaluate their own identity then they dismisssomething as “weird” or “bad.” These stigmas can be devastating to theindividuals and cause high rates of depression and suicide.

The amount of hate crimes committedagainst homosexual or transgendered people in America is quite outstanding.According to the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs the amount ofhate-crimes against the LGBT community has increased by 13% from 2009 to 2010alone. The hatred geared towards this community is deeply rooted into oursociety and is prevalent in our television shows, video games, movies, andevery other sort of media imaginable.

Chad is just one of many othertransgendered individuals whom are free to choose their gender as American citizens,because in some scenarios people do not identify with the genders they wereascribed. America was once looked at as the “melting pot” of cultures, but itseems as though we’ve come to a standstill and that we’d rather everyoneassimilate into some American ideal that is neither realistic nor practical.Change and growth are necessary to make a culture progress and if we as asociety attempt to inhibit cultural progress, we will be divided as a nation.

“He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The onlyhuman institution which rejects progress is the cemetery.”

~Harold Wilson

PARTTHREE: American Change

“Sitting at the table doesn't make you a dinner, unless youeat some of what's on that plate. Being here in America doesn't make you anAmerican. Being born here in America doesn't make you an American.”

~Malcolm X

Throughout the course of my life I have only passively recognizedthat I am an American citizen but I had never truly thought about what it meantin terms of my own identity. As children we are raised to always be proud to bean American, but as we grow older it is our responsibility to put some thoughtinto why we should feel prideful of our nationality and conversely, why weshouldn’t.

I have had the privilege of being exposed to many differentlifestyles throughout my upbringing and, given these experiences; it’s hard forme to say what I believe being an American entails. I believe that some foreignstereotypes of American culture are accurate at times, but I also feel thatAmerica’s culture has so much depth that is not apparent to foreigners, andperhaps is not even apparent to most Americans. The density of American cultureis profound, and the ability for it to be overlooked is quite easy. The puresize and diversity of our nation causes us to form separate cultures andidentities throughout the country. The formulation of sub-cultures andarea-based culture distorts any pre-conceived notion of a common nationalidentity, making us unsure of whom we are and what we’re supposed to be. Themedia seems to be absolutely certain of what they want us to be, taking theextreme examples of our culture and representing our entire national identityas such. This issue is directly correlated to the amount of inadequacies peoplethink they have in our nation, which may be why we are so eager to seekmedication for even the smallest of problems.

Americans are known for being fat, for teenage pregnancies,for eating disorders, and in general being gluttonous and greedy individuals.We are known for our desire to mask our problems with a façade and carry on,self-medicating and self-diagnosing. We are known for being lazy, for beingstupid, for being ignorant. We are constantly questioning ourselves and seekingsome sort of societal approval; as American citizens we don’t trust ourselvesto know what’s in our best interest. The American media controls most of what oursociety thinks about health-issues, the way men and women’s bodies should look,and the appropriate way in which to act or dress.

Even in popular culture the American identity is constantlychanging and shifting as technology and the general global culture shifts, andit seems as though we have become resistant to the change. I’m not speaking oftechnological change, but of change within our personal convictions. We arenostalgic for the past and still want to be the milk-and-butter eating, whiteAmericans we were in the 1950s, an ideal that probably never was a reality, andcan definitely no longer exist. Yet, even though our culture is shiftingtowards a modern age, older generations resist, and remain conservative intheir values, while the youth seems to be getting increasingly more extremewith time.

American ideals have changed and women and minorities havegained more power and more a voice in our society and government. It seems asthough through the shifts in our culture people are confused about their rolesin society. People appear to be unsure of how they should behave and interactwith others. This may have to do with the considerable difference betweenvalues among the different generations, but can also be attributed to the vastamount of sub-cultural activity in America.

Being such a large nation, we have so many subcultures andlifestyles that vary throughout our country, it seems as though there is no wayto act “truly American” other than as a technicality. Despite this, I thinkAmericans have a certain air about themselves that differentiates them frompeople of other countries; our pride unites us as a country.

My advice for American citizens is to approach the Americanidentity, and all of life, with more of an open mind. All of Americans aren’trevolutionaries or cowboys or ignorant and fat. I would say that most Americansdon’t know who they are, or don’t fit into a stereotypical category, and theyare just trying to live their lives. Most Americans, from my experience, valuetheir freedom more than anything, and we should be free to pursue the lifestyleswe choose.

In the modern world people are much more exposed to otherways of life and other cultures and are more apt to practice differentlifestyles than the way in which they were brought up. This can lead to hatred amongfamily members and friends, which is completely unnecessary and unfortunate. Ifpeople were open-minded to other ways of life, Americans would be happierpeople and there would be less division between races and subcultures of modernsociety.

Identity of an Atypical College Student

2011-12-19T07:27:00.002-05:00

Identity of an Atypical College Student

Tylor

WhatIs an Identity?

It is defined as the distinguishing character or personality of an individual. Thisis an identity in its simplest form. So, I set out on a quest to find myidentity and in turn find out what it means to be me. An identity should beimportant for every person to realize about themselves because self-realizationis crucial to being a good person.

MyFirst Identifying Factor

I would identify myself as an American. I wasborn here, my parents were born here, and my grandparents were born here. Thatmakes me American. My ancestors are Irish and Italian, but that doesn’t make meIrish or Italian. It is unfair to the people who are those ethnicities to saythat I am one of them. It is comparable to saying that I was on a championshipwinning team when in reality I was on that team years after they won thechampionship and did not actually earn it myself. Sometimes people forget thatthey have never actually been to the country that they associate themselveswith. If you were to ask them anything about the country that they are fromthey are likely not to know the answer. If you ask them something aboutAmerica, they have a greater chance of getting the answer right, but they stillwould not consider themselves American if asked the question.

After realizing that Iam indeed American I must ask myself what it means to be American. BeingAmerican brings on great responsibility. You have to act perfect all the timewhen interacting with people from different countries because Americans arescrutinized the most out of all. America is the number one leader on the worldstage and that means that a lot of eyes are on what America does. It also meansthat many aspects of globalization are strongly linked to Americanization. Americais seen as too big to fail because if America does poorly, then the rest of theworld might do poorly. America has used this philosophy on their own banksrecently knowing that they needed to be bailed out in order for America to keepfunctioning properly. The fact that America is too big to fail means that a lotof people are relying on America to do well and therefore are looking at withmore scrutiny. I know that when I visit other countries that I must be on mybest behavior because people are always trying to make Americans out to be thebad guys. It comes with the territory and I realize this.

This isn’t the onlything that being American entails; it also includes a higher standard of livingand with this higher standard comes more opportunity to help others. There areplenty of opportunities to help other people in other countries who were notfortunate enough to be able to help themselves. This is something that I knowis included with my identity and I try to embrace it in any way possible. It ishard to do work for people in other countries, but I try my best to help peoplein need. I love being American and I would choose no other fate for myself. Itis a blessing to be born in the greatest country in the world and that is why Ifind it unfathomable that people choose to say they are other ethnicities.

MySecond Identifying Factor

I am a white male. I group these two together because throughouthistory they have been considered one identifying factor. This is an obviouscharacteristic of mine that is clearly visible by all. Race can be an importantthing is someone’s life and is different from an ethnicity. Ethnicity refers tocultural characteristics, location, and beliefs. Race refers to a person'sappearance and has biological underpinnings. They are commonly mistaken to meanthe same thing, but in reality they are vastly different.

Raceis something that I have dealt with a lot in my years. My uncle was adoptedfrom the Philippines, but he looks black. When I was younger and I walkedaround with him, people would think he was my dad and it was looked down upon.I was clearly white and the fact that I was with him implied interracialrelations. It didn’t really occur to me then, but people really do not like theidea that a black man could be with anyone except a black woman. I have no negativeconnotations of African American people, but that is because I was raised toknow better. I do understand how people can grow up with the negative feelingstowards black people because of how they were raised. If someone is told theirwhole life that African American people are the enemy and that they are peopleof lesser importance than they are obviously going to have bad feelings towardsthem. I was fortunate enough to be raised correctly and not to discriminate,but many people in this country are not as fortunate as I.

MyThird Identifying Factor

I would identify myselfas someone who is “settled down.” I have a fiancé and have been with her forover 5 years. We are extremely happy, but it is rare that someone at my agesettles down with one individual, especially in a college setting. Thisaspect of my identity is crucial because it makes me change things aboutmyself. I realize that I need to be more conscientious about my money because Ineed to save enough to support both of us in the future. Also I realize that arelationship is give and take, and I need to compromise with her on some views.

Beingin college itself is an identifying factor. The American College Kid has acertain stereotype that is mostly negative. A college male in America issupposed to follow one of two paths. A person can join a frat and live throughcollege getting drunk regularly, have multiple women in his life, and own fancythings. This person is not prepared for life in the slightest. They never doany work, they don’t worry about what alcohol is doing to their system and theythink that a tough day is one that they actually go to every class. This isn’ttypical, but it is one of the college male stereotypes. The other version of acollege student is the typical stoner. This is the one that never does any workand is too “baked” to think coherently. They do not care what others think andthey are the ones that go to rallies and parties during class just because theyhave those set for their priorities. Neither of these two stereotypes arepositive ones, but they are the typical ones portrayed in the mainstream moviesand shows that are seen globally.

Myspecific experience with the American identity of the college male has to dowith the fact that I am engaged. Not many people my age get engaged, and whenthey do it is often frowned upon at this stage in life. People always say thatI am throwing my life away. To those people I say that I am just starting itearlier than most. It is much better to start living at a young age and beingwith her makes me feel good. Sometimes people wonder why I would commit at myage and ask me how I know she is the one. I really dislike hearing thesequestions all the time. The people that know us do support us and that isreally all that matters, but it goes against the mold. It goes against thestereotype of the typical college male, and most people do not like change.

Anotherthing that goes against most college stereotypes is the fact that I do notdrink. I have never been drunk or gone to a bar with the goal of getting drunk.This is weird to my friends because, like many college students, they get drunk2 nights a week. I prefer to stay inside and watch a movie or play a game andremember what I did that night. This isn’t typical, but it is preferable. It isoften looked down upon by the people that I am closest to.

Yet another collegemale stereotype that I do not fit is the all-nighter. I have never had to putmyself through an all-night study or work session like it is portrayed in manymovies. I believe it is more important to sleep than it is to study and therehave been many studies that would back that idea up. There are many people thatI have seen that do these study sessions but it really is not beneficial. I doprocrastinate, but I try not to procrastinate to the point where I have to cramfor an entire night, which leads to the next topic, coffee!

Iabsolutely hate coffee. The smell of it is bad, the taste of it is bad, and theeffects are bad. It is not great for your body but there really aren’t manythings that can wake you up without a large amount of caffeine. I am a sodadrinker which isn’t much better, but the stereotype says that I should cram fortests all night with a large cup of java in hand. My fiancé does live on coffeeso we often feud about the effects and the usage purposes of it. She usuallywins.

FourthIdentifying Factor

Iwould identify myself as a geek. The term geek is very specific. It refers tosomeone who is interested in things that others are not commonly interested in.A geek is smart, but unlike a nerd or a dork they are also socially adept. Acommon misconception is that they are not good at working with people, but inreality they are. I classify myself as such because I am into sports andhanging out with people, but I also love working on computers. That is my hobbyand it is the thing that interests me, but does not interest many others.

Ilove being a geek. I enjoy video games across multiple platforms and I enjoyworking with technology. Being a geek also comes with some negatives. In myexperience, geeks are usually a bit more unkempt and have a hard time caringabout physical appearance. When people find out that I am a computer technicianthey often put these images into the back of their head. It isn’t trulyaccurate or a fair representation of being a geek, but it is a misconceptionthat is prominent in today’s society.

GeneralAmerican Stereotypes

(1) There are many misconceptions aboutAmerica that are portrayed in stereotype from, but many of the stereotypesabout America are actually pretty accurate. Americans are known as beinggreatly obese. This obesity epidemic is fairly recent, and is actually prettytrue. Americans seem to be a bit larger than their English counterparts. Theyhave greater access to fatty foods and food in general than most othercountries. In America fatty food is rather inexpensive whereas the fruits andveggies can cost quite a bit more. This may be the reason that Americans areseen as larger than other people globally. This is seen throughout my ownexperiences because I too am a bit larger than most. I eat these fatty foodsbecause I can afford them, and I eat food on campus which is generally lesshealthy than food found elsewhere.

(2) Another stereotype about America isthat we do not care about other countries. In general this seems to be true also.I personally know quite a bit about other countries because I am a historymajor and other countries intrigue me, but my peers seem to know very littleabout the world outside of America. This, like most things, has an explanation.People in America do not converse with many people in other countries becausewe do not border very many unlike European countries. We also cannot movefreely between countries like they can in Europe. There is a passport and along wait in order to get to Canada or Mexico and honestly many people wouldrather stay in America than venture forth into sometimes hazardous Mexico. Somepeople do go to Canada, but it isn’t a trip that can be made often and usuallypeople do not go there for an extended period of time. If people want to visitother countries in Europe they can do so rather inexpensively and without muchhassle.

Another example of theblindness of America is that people who live in the United States often forgetthat they are not the only country in America. They forget that there is aNorth and South America and as you can see in my paper I am a perpetrator ofthis. I usually just say America because it is simpler and easier, but reallyit is because I do honestly forget to acknowledge the other American countries.

(3) One of the only Americanstereotypes that actually irks me is the one about Rednecks. It isn’t fair torefer to everyone in the South as a redneck. I was born in Louisiana and livedthere for a while and the people down there are just as sophisticated as theones in the North. Most people do not even know what it means to be a redneck.It really isn’t a bad thing to be a redneck and in some parts of the country itis the highest form of flattery. Some people love hunting, fishing, drinking,and being ignorant to all other issues. Ignorance is bliss and it makes themhappy not to worry about many problems that they usually have no control over. Americansoften are too stressed about things that they cannot change and therefore havestress that isn’t warranted. I am one of those people. I always worry aboutthings that I cannot change. I realize it isn’t something that I should do, butunfortunately I am not ignorant to the issues of the world and therefore Ifocus on them.

(4) One ofthe stereotypes that I am unfortunately adding to is that Americans need thingsbigger and better. When a new technology comes out I must have it. When I lookfor a car or a house I must have the best, but why? Why does it really matterif I have a car that looks nicer than you? Is it to make you jealous? Ihonestly have no answer to these questions, but it might be because I amignoring them so that I do not feel bad for taking part in it. If I have a car that runs and a house that isgood for shelter, then I should be happy. Unfortunately this is not how manyAmericans think. They always want better things than the person next to them.Americans were actually upset when the new iPhone came out because it lookedlike the old one and nobody would know that they had upgraded. This idea isridiculous. If it works better, then you should get it, but do not get it justso that other people know that you upgraded.

(5) One stereotype that is similar to one mentioned earlier is thatAmericans are lazy. This is similar to obese Americans, but is different on somany levels mostly because of technology. Before computers and machines, peoplehad to do physical labor to get by, but now people can sit at a machine andpush buttons. This means they can be obese and it won’t really affect theirwork ethic. The thing that I would say I would identify with the most is a hardworker. I move up fast in any job that I have and I achieve high accolades nomatter what the job is. It’s not that I can do my job better than anyone else,it’s just that I try harder to do better. If I do not know something I try tolearn it and I typically learn what I need to do fairly quickly. I am a Resnettechnician and when I went into the job I honestly did not know all that muchabout computers. Within one year I became student manager and had learnedeverything that there was to know at the position. It was a great experience,but I feel as if it is time to move on because there is no more challenge,which leads me to my next point.

FinalThoughts

Isthere anything more annoying and diverse as an American? I would have to sayno. Americans are so diverse that they can annoy people on different levels.They can be too loud and pushy like a “New Yorker.” They can be too stupid and sluttylike the “Dumb Blonde” girl that we all knew in high school. They canconstantly be talking about killing deer and driving around in their pickuptruck with a shotgun like the “Redneck.” Or they can be getting drunk andsaying “bro” all the time like the “typical college kid.” Of course thesearen’t accurate representations of America, but it’s what makes America what itis today. It is diverse, it is constantly changing, it is sometimes obliviousto actual problems, and it is constantly using force to prove points.

All of thesestereotypes are obviously a bit exaggerated, but they all serve to show whatAmerica is. It isn’t all of what America is, but it is a part of America andthey show the culture of America. Other countries have stereotypes that theyaren’t proud of but it shows what they are made of. One example is that Swedishgirls are among the most promiscuous. This isn’t a positive stereotype but itdoes tell us something about Swedish culture. The people in Sweden actually seepromiscuity different than in America and the people in Sweden simply do notcare if the girls dress in “skimpy” clothing. I found this out working as anintern for schools in Sweden.

The term Americanidentity is rooted in enlightenment ideals. Out of the enlightenment came manyideas and a new way of thinking. The main thing was a belief in the individual,and this led to romanticism and consequently romantic nationalism. Jean-JacquesRousseau was a leader in this area of thinking and one of the main ideas thathe had was that people should identify with their country rather thenthemselves and that their country is the individual which should be foughtfor. The idea of a national identity comes from beliefs rooted in the early1700s and it still exists today.

I think that the ideaof American Identities is a horrible one because it creates strife andstereotypes that may not exist otherwise. Without creating specific identitiesfor people there might be more unity. If there were less ways to single peopleout from others then there might be less discrimination, which would be good forall. Obviously the idea of an identity is inescapable, but it's always good tothink “what if?”

Breaking the Curse

2011-12-18T19:00:00.001-05:00

Breaking the Curse

Daniela Rodriguez

As I came out from beneath the protectiveshadows that shielded me for so long, I stood alone in the light, naked as Idid from my mother’s womb. At that moment came my departure from the childhoodI merely remembered, the mystery behind whom I was and the emergence on whom Iwas to become. It was then that I understood where I was going and where Itruly identified myself. I was a young Latin American woman going after aneducation. However, it wasn’t my ethnicity that was important but the person Icreated from every circumstance and label. It was something I didn’t stress andwhat it meant to me, I would soon uncover.

As a Latina in my hometown, people always putme in the category of the stereotypical Hispanic household: plays soccer andhandball, there are 20 people living in the house, every day they eat eggs,beans, rice and tortillas, they’re loud and short tempered and, lastly, they have a stay-at-home mom who does everything for them. Of all those stereotypes we onlylived up to three. My mom was a house mom, we did eat tortillas often, well atleast my father did, and my father loved soccer. However, these weren’tdetermining factors to who we wanted to be and where we wanted to go. Myparents worked hard for my sister and I to get us out of that category, stillmaintaining the culture. In a way, we began to Americanize ourselves, adjustingto the lifestyle we wanted, all at the same time creating our own dream andidentity. But I always knew the importance of my background and how I wouldkeep it alive without allowing it to consume my identity, while having the confidencethat it would never fade through my actions.

To me, being an American meant that you hadprivileges amongst the nation, simply by being physically born in the UnitedStates of America. Some people had to earn that right of being called a citizenwith a test that was far from easy. It didn't seem fair to just be deemed acitizen without proving it. This influenced me to look deeper into what itmeant to be identified as an American. The interest and importance was there,but it wasn’t something that I was going to praise. Often times when I fill outapplications, if not all, they ask if you are Hispanic. It's separated from allthe other categories as if it's in its own section. Why? Becauseof the one epidemic most Hispanics suffer with: immigration. It was an epidemicfrom which the majority of my entire family came from, which brought me to theland of opportunity.

Being a Latin American to me means more thanjust speaking Spanish and having ancestors of Hispanic descent. It is a culturethat I will always appreciate and it’s a part of me that I can never and don'tever want to change. It is where my outlook in life came from, the roots thatgrew deeper and deeper into my being. But I didn’t allow that to stop me frombecoming versatile and diverse, because I knew I would have to do so eventuallyin order to get where I wanted. Plus, I liked it better that way. Life felt andlooked so much better in that perspective. I always disliked the idea oflabeling things and categorizing people into a “race” or “stereotype,” eventhough it’s inevitable and often true. But my “race” didn’t determine who Iwas, rather where I came from and only that. I wanted to break the curse thatbeing a Latina brought upon me. That is the question this brings: what was thisterrible curse that I couldn’t live with? It was being forced to live in thenever-ending cycle of an isolated culture. It was living up to the expectationof getting pregnant at a young age and becoming a housewife. It was allowing mycultural background and ethnicity to grow so strong and scream so loud into mymind, forcing me to believe there was no other way but that way. It wasallowing me to be so cultured that I wouldn’t want to accept anything else.Nonetheless I was the complete opposite who was determined to break that curse andrebel into my own beliefs.

My parents came to this country looking forsomething better, and luckily they found it. With more than two decades herenow, they have been successful in fulfilling what is the “American Dream” asfar as they can. Seeing where they came from, poverty and empty dreams, itfeels good to know that from nothing came something great. It is what continuesto add to the identity I have decided to create for myself. Itis not just as an American but a Latin American that I will always name myself.However, I do not define myself solely by that.

The personal experiences that I have encountered are plenty;however there are two that stand out like sore thumbs: traveling to Italy andPrague for a week 's period of time. When I traveled to Italy for a choralcompetition I experienced living in a completely different environment whichhad a range of diversity and a predominant liberal spirit amongst the wholecountry. The televisions did not censor nudity nor did they take shame in it.Prague on the other hand, was more hostile. It felt like the environment wasn'tat all accepting of Americans and their identity. Just by walking the streetsand being tourists, citizens acted as if we were some sort of commodity theyhad never seen before. There was even a bit of racism when we became customers.At a grocery store the cashiers didn't bag our groceries and left them there asif we were animals. That just showed the big contrast between America and othercountries. The American identity is so strong that a lot of other countries,cultures and individuals do not appreciate nor respect it one bit. Either theypursue it or they hate it. Even though these nations are more mature or openabout certain things, they still have a closed mentality and attitude towardsAmerica. America can be immature in some aspects of explicitly open things ornudity, but there is openness to ethnicity and race, which is where we get thewhole “Melting Pot” concept. There is an opportunity to open up the mind to thebroad choices that can be endless in this nation.

But of course in this kind of environment there is no suchthing as perfection. Even with the freedom that is given in America, especiallywhen compared to other nations, it isn’t always freedom. There can becontroversies and other matters within the government that make it just thatmuch easier to dislike, especially in other countries and regions. The UnitedStates of America is known stereotypically for interfering in problems thatpertain in no way to them, which causes the conflict of interest to growdeeper. For example, cases such as the wars we have had to deal with oftentimes have nothing to do with us; simply our interest to help is what broughtit upon us. It is a great trait to want to help; however, it can also lead totragedy and baggage often times difficult to handle. A perfect example of thatis the war in Afghanistan that led to the tragedy America has experience tochange us forever: September 11^th, 2001.

In the times of tragedy for America, it was that one day thatchanged the way things would function, both positively and negatively. Homelandsecurity became the main priority in what Americans wanted to strengthen. Ayoung, naïve and open nation was transformed into an informed and cautiousnation all at the crashing of a plane, destroying the lives of many innocents.Negatively, America took no mercy upon any citizens who had a threat ofterrorism in any way about them, which sort of brought into question theConstitution and Bill of Rights and how they were being violated. At the sametime, since it was a matter of national security, it would be deemed acceptable.But if everything we stand for is suddenly contradicted, where does Americastand liable?

Those questions rarely have an answer; however, one thing thatcan be said is the idea of America being one of the greatest places to be isone that is hard to deny. Regardless of the issues we have faced, the positivesthat America can offer outweigh all the other circumstances. It is no wonder somany people want to come here and find a life and a way better than what theyoriginally had. It is a place of opportunity, and thankfully through thenegativity, there is still the acceptance of those coming to join thecitizenship so many of us Americans benefit from greatly.

But how can I apply this to myself? Am I still just a LatinAmerican finding a way? Or have I found it yet? I can say that I have found away here and I can be proud to say I am an American. Not only am I a Latina,but I am an American because I have found myself and allowed all of thecultures encountered to become my own person. I cannot say I live up to the stereotypeof either an American or a Latin American as people expect; rather, I make myown type of person. The person I am proud to be, who doesn’t identifythemselves through race, nor color, nor language, region or advancement. Iidentify myself through my experiences and what I have learned from them. Thatis where I can say that I truly know who I am. The only way to describe myselfin race is Latin America, but the way I identify myself is through myexperiences. I have broken the curse of generational curses both Latin American andAmerican.

Identity is so important to people simply because it is theonly way to truly say one is an individual. These experiences have taught me tounderstand the difference between culture and choice. America gives us thechoice to be who we want: no matter what race or background, we can become whowe want. It is in our right to do so, our birth-given rights. Being forced intoa category of some kind just sounds so ridiculous and even outrageous. Althoughin the end it is up to the individual to allow that to happen or to change it.

The Fluidity of Identity

2011-12-18T17:30:00.001-05:00

Here's Rice Nelson's Identification Project!

The Fluidity of Identity

If someone asked you to explain your identity to them,how would you begin? You would probably,naturally, start by giving your name. What would you tell them next? The type of ethnic blood that runs through your veins? Do you tell them that you have nothing butItalian blood in your veins and you are proud of it? But blood does not matter much, at least itshouldn’t, because your blood is the same as the person asking you about your identity. Maybe you would then say, well, I have skinthat is this or that color. They wouldprobably blink at you, because unless they are blind, they already know whatcolor your skin is. That does not mattereither, though. Defining your identity bythe color of your skin is like pointing out the living room wall to the northis green, while the one to the south is blue; they are both walls, so itdoesn’t do much to differentiate. At thesame time, though, these are some aspects that are used to categorize people sothat they are easily identified. Anunfortunate side effect of naturally categorizing--it’s human nature to dothis--as well as socially categorizing people is that in the processstereotypes tend to formulate. Theproblem with generalized stereotypes is that on an individual-by-individualbasis there are a lot of fallacies; everyone is different in some way.

This is a reason why I find identity to be a funnysubject. Now, I don’t mean funny as in“let’s make a joke about this or that group of people” because they aredifferent from what we know and consider to be normal; this attitude onlycreates negativity that, if left to flourish, can create some pretty nastysituations of discrimination. No, thereason I find it funny is because of my own personal identity. When looking back on my life I have realizedthat over the years my identity has not been one that is constant, and I thinkif you stop and look at your own past you would realize that yours hasn’t beeneither. Nonetheless, when identity isdiscussed it seems to me that it often is spoken about as some concrete idea,some thing that is a permanent marker of who or what a person is. That’s not the case, though. So there is something amusing, for me atleast, in the realization that, when looking back over my life, whenever Ifound myself identifying my person as this or that, at various points in myhistory on this planet, I never had conceived of being anything different thanwhat I was at that moment in time.

What I’m trying to get at is that identity is not soeasily defined, but that doesn’t stop us from creating categories as a means ofidentifying people so that we can quickly come to a conclusion about who theyare and how we should interact with them. But despite the fluidity that I find being involved with the concept ofidentity, there have always been two categories that I place myself in: areader and a gamer. Some of you may findthis as a strange way to begin identifying who I am as a person; others of youwill completely understand why I use these two qualities to start with. The ones that find this strange might be thepeople who would typically start off with what race or nationality or ethnicitythey are or religion they follow; this isn’t uncommon. For a long time now, probably since the firstsemblance of civilization, those qualities were the ones that people mostreadily acknowledged--on a primal nature, recognizing these descriptors couldbe used to determine safety or hostility. Those that understand why I started with those interests are probablythe same kind of people that would identify themselves first as sports players,or cooking enthusiasts, or engineers, etc. That, I think, is a shift from previous ways of determining identity,because for me identity is more useful when utilized as means of figuring outinterests. I find it much more amiableto figure out interests and passions rather than figuring out whether or notthe next person over believes in the same deity as I do or if our ancestors arefrom the same mother country. To thatend, let me tell you a little about myself and how I have identified who I wasover the years.

As Isaid, I have always had at least the two identifiers of being a reader and agamer. They have been hobbies of minethat have been consistent within my life since I was old enough to read andable enough to handle a controller of some sort. When it came time to start making friends itwould typically be the people who either were gamers and/or readers. Even these two things could be broken downinto subcategories; for example, I would have more to talk about with thosereaders that enjoyed fantasy fiction like I did. The reason I like to identify myself with myinterests first, if it wasn’t already obvious, is because it makes meeting people andcreating friendships easier, and probably in the long run stronger. Back in the late '80s and early '90s, though,these means of identifying myself for others didn’t seem like the most popularway of doing so; at the time, being anything resembling a geeky kid felt likeinstant social estrangement. This isjust one reason that I do my best not to look at differences and mentally, orverbally, degrade my view of a person. Relief came as the years went on, though, and I met more and moreindividuals who were like-minded. And asgreat as these two big interests are, they did keep me in a somewhat shelteredstate until after graduating high school, although a large part of that was probablydue to my shyness.

Aftergraduation I figured my identity as a gamer and bookworm caused me to miss outon a lot of those “high school” experiences--which, at the time, I consideredto be mostly partying. So, one of the firstthings I started doing, in lieu of going off to college, was to start seekingout people that had similar interests in getting intoxicated in various waysand drowning myself in altered states of consciousness. Wherever I was working I would do my best toferret out those people that had that same urge to “get fucked up” that Idid. Those first few years aftergraduation consisted, then, of working and partying: I worked to pay forintoxication. During this time I came tofind myself forming a new identity to be categorized under: a pothead.

Thereis a whole subculture to the lifestyle of a pothead, but that shouldn’t be asurprise, it’s been around for quite some time. Here, now, was another way to define identity, that is, what kind oflifestyle do you have? Whereas before itwas simply partying, now there was something more specific. Again, wherever I was working, or whateverparty I might have been at, the first thing I would figure out was who theother reefer smokers were. That more orless detailed the next five or six years of my life, and at the time that is as far asI could see at the time, just being a smoker. Who I was and identified myself as became intrinsically tied up with mylifestyle. All the people I met, hungout with, and avoided, depended on whether or not they also smoked marijuana;sure, my identifiers of being a reader and gamer were still there, but theytook a backseat to my then current habits. This way of living lasted a good, or bad--depending on how you look atit--six years or so; then the next shift in identity started sneaking into mylife.

Ididn’t realize it during the time, but those substance indulgences were servinga purpose, one that was no longer effective. This purpose is, I think, more common than one might think: the use of adrug (be it alcohol, marijuana, or any of the numerous others) to cover up fromourselves a problem we have. For me,this problem was depression. At first,the trick worked great; I completely forgot about any kind of worries or issuesI had. But in fact, the post-high schoollifestyle and identity I had chosen, at some point, were only worsening thedepression and anxiety. When I realizedthat, I took a good look at my life. Ilooked at the way I was living, the friends I kept, and thought about what Iwas doing for myself in the long run. Idetermined that the identity I had fallen into, or walked into, was not the oneI wanted, and so I made a choice to escape the category I had placed myselfin. This is one of those things that iseasier said than done.

So,shortly before I came to Fredonia I made a choice to better myself in every wayI could. I started by separating myselffrom the people that still wanted that kind of lifestyle; this way it would beeasier to change what I felt needed changing. Once that was done I began seeking ways to provide self-healing so thatI could escape the depression and anxiety that I had accompanying me for solong. As a result I found myselfbecoming a fairly spiritual person--I say fairly because I know there areothers that devote a lot more time to their spiritual practices than I do, butI will acknowledge that time commitments to school play a part in that. I began my search for a differentself-identity (although I didn’t think of it that way at the time), and throughmy meditations, the learning of various kinds of spiritual thought, and the modes of healingI participate in and with, I formed a different way of living. These things have become a crucial aspect ofwho I am today. I try to surround myselfwith people of a similar mind-set, but I am also open and aware to the differencesof the people around me.

Think about a major aspect of your life. Think about all the people associated withthat aspect, think about all those things you have become comfortable with, andthink about what they mean to you. Nowthink about removing them all. I’m nottelling you that you should actually do this, but I want you to think about howdifficult it would be to pull out of your life all those facets of yourcharacter. It’s not easy. These are characteristics that you haveeither grown up with or grown into. NowI want you to think about those people that you find to have differences oftheir own that seemingly separate them from you. While identity can help categorize people, asour human minds naturally want to do, there shouldn’t be a whole load of judgmentalweight put behind those categorizations.

Identity is fluid, and to put only one generalizedidentifier on someone leaves out all the other things they may be. When we confine people, it doesn’t do us anygood. As I have mentioned previously, Ihad lived a relatively sheltered life as a young child. My experiences with those outside of my ownfamily and friends, social class, and ways of living were rather limited, evenup through high school. I know I’m notthe only one that has experienced this kind of personal history. Through thisupbringing an idea of what people were like was formed, and there wasn’t muchthat changed my view until many years of my life had gone by. Even going over the events of my life, it ishard to pinpoint some experience that was truly significant in its effect on mynotion of identities, more specifically, the American Identity. Not until I was twenty-six did I have anexperience that was capable of showing me the differences in who we are,generally speaking, opposed to someone not from this country. This happened when I was taking a WritingTutors class and we had the opportunity to help tutor a group of Japanesestudents over the course of several weeks.

Notknowing a whole lot about Japanese culture, because undoubtedly culture isinherently tied into identity, just like lifestyle is, I was surprised by howproper, if that is the right word, the four initial students we met were. Their posture was very straight--I am fairlycertain, if memory serves me correctly, that there was not one sloucher amongthem. Their manners were very polite,almost timid and apologetic. Just thesetwo things felt strikingly different than the idea of the usual American’spresentation of one’s self would be; unfortunately an image of an Americanslouching and entitlement comes to mind, rather than someone who is of a reservednature.

Reservedis a very good word to describe these girls from Japan, especially whencomparing them to the usual American. Inever realized the sense of freedom of character that we have here until we--the group of us in the Writing Tutors class--began hanging out with theJapanese students. One way this stuckout to me was when we all gathered at someone’s house for a pizza and movienight. The group of us introduced themto the movie Superbad, since we all were in consensus about how funny themovie is. This turned out to be aninteresting ordeal since we had to explain to them a lot of the slang andidioms in the movie that we, as Americans, take for granted. It gave me the feeling that, generally,Americans are somewhat “loose” in conduct; but, then, this is only a comparisonto four young students from one country. Nonetheless, the values they were taught were completely ignored in themovie we were showing them.

Theexperience as a whole was very interesting because I had an opportunity tocompare my own ways of living and thinking to that of a group of individualsfrom another country. On a surface levelit was a comparison of two national identifiers: American and Japanese. Once the initial introduction was done, and Ihad time to really converse with the visiting students, I found that theyweren’t entirely too different from anyone here. They still identified themselves in relationto their interests and what they wanted to do with their lives. As it turns out, the identity of beingAmerican or Japanese was almost superficial, barring some cultural differences. We were able to compare the kinds of music weliked, what kind of reading we enjoyed, movies we were most interested in, andeven whether or not we had similar tastes in video games.

Whenwe look at ourselves as a nation and try to compare us to another country in anegative way we lose opportunities to have a more universal understanding ofbeing human. We still have a tendency tothink about ourselves as American and to use it as a base comparison. But what it means to be an American haschanged numerous times throughout history, no doubt. We have had so many sources tell us whatexactly it means and how to properly be an American that it almost seemsimpossible to figure out a way to define and understand that notion. Honestly, there has been few times where Ihave actually thought about the idea of an American identity, so this will bean exploration for me of the understanding of what that should be.

Fromearly on we are given the idea that we are this great nation under God--whichseems to be the Christian sense of God, rather than what should appropriatelybe a universal understanding of what a higher power may be, if this notion isto be included at all, considering we are, or at least from my understandingshould be, a nation that values freedom of choice in religion and thoughtrather than a direct link to one particular belief. This acceptance that we are a part of anation that is supported by God might be part of the reason why Americansbelieve that it is our duty to bring awareness to others in the world on how toproperly conduct themselves, which usually involves bringing our ideas ofcapitalism and democracy to other areas of the globe.

Soit would seem that part of our identity would include a sort of light-bearerrole to the rest of the world, a model for others to follow. While this is a great idea in that, just aspeople, nations should have someone as a role model, the problem is that no oneis perfect. I believe that it might dowell to no longer see ourselves as a shining example of all that a nationshould be, because, let’s face it, as we’re currently seeing, the condition ofthings here is not exactly rosy. Instead I think it would be prudent to identify ourselves not asperfection, but rather a nation that is a work in progress always seeking tobetter ourselves. This may be tied up inmy own personal values as an individual, but it is a notion that feels right.

Thatis a macro look at the identity of America and may be sidetracking the issue ofwhat my beliefs/principles on how we ought to define and understand Americanidentities. As nationals of America wecan define ourselves in a variety of ways. After getting past the nation we are a part of, we can look at moreindividual aspects of ourselves. Aproblem with looking at individual parts of our identity to create a largergroup to identify with, though, is that these can create barriers betweenourselves and other Americans that may not necessarily share those sametraits. Unfortunately it seems that wehave always been led to create these barriers: are you black or are youwhite? Are you a Republican or Democrat?What’s your gender preference? Yankees fan or Red Sox? We have built this inherent tendency to sideourselves in unnecessary oppositions.

Gettingbeyond the “sides” of how we identify ourselves would be difficult, but maybeit is possible. Maybe we would be able,one day, to just say that our American identity is that we are human. Then, maybe, we could just use those identitycues as categories, rather than a standpoint. As I said earlier, though, identity is fluid to me. For me personally, I am a gamer, a reader, a tai chipractitioner, a spiritual-minded person, and so much more at once. I guess the reason that I find identity kindof funny, then, is because while it gets made out to be this concrete thing, Idon’t think it can be.

American Identities and American Education: Keeping the Melting Pot Simmering

2011-12-18T16:42:00.001-05:00

Here's an Identification Project from Catherine Kilian!

American Identities and American Education: Keeping the Melting Pot Simmering

A. Perception of MyIdentity: “My Childhood HasDefined My Life”

Intrinsicself-exploration for the sake of discovering personal identity has existedthrough all of time. Individuals and citizens from all types of societies withvarying natures have long contemplated the question “who am I?” Throughout mylife, I am convinced that I have a basic understanding of what defines me. Ibelieve that within the timeframe of my lifetime, I have become familiar withsome of the characteristics that distinguish me as who I am. These perceptionsof my identity were most likely shaped by the same factors I am going to use inan attempt to explore who I am.

I am part ofa family. I am a daughter, an older sister, a cousin, a niece, a granddaughter,and a friend. I am part of a closely-knit family system. My entire family wasborn and raised in western New York. I have four younger siblings; two brothersand two sisters. My siblings and I have always been extremely close to oneanother, our parents and the rest of our extended family.

My parentsgave me a variety of experiences that provided me with ample opportunities toexplore myself as a person and develop my own identity. There are variouspieces of my life that I strongly value, that hold importance and guide myactions and decisions. First and foremost, my family, friends and boyfriendserve as the fence around the perimeters of my life. Like fence posts, they aregrounded, stable and reliable. I depend on my family because they have neverbeen undependable. These people are the most valuable part of my life and theyhave made the largest impact in it. They influenced the development of myvalues, morals, beliefs and principles.

Since lastsummer when I adopted my dog, I have become more aware of what it requires toprovide for and have complete responsibility of someone else (I say someonebecause I pretty much consider Tiko a person trapped in a chihuahua's body). Helooks to me while trying to express his wants and needs because he knows I'llunderstand him best. He understands that I am the one who will get him waterfrom the sink. He understands that his dog food is in the bottom drawer of mydresser and I need to get it out for him. He understands that when he barksnear a door that I know he has to go outside. He understands that when I'm nothome, he doesn't have the support necessary to fulfill some of his needs.

I am a veryimportant part of Tiko's life. Tiko's dependency provides some explanation ofthe excitement he experiences when I walk through my front door. Playing thatcrucial of a role in my little dog's life (the kind where when they see youthey're so overwhelmed with good feelings they can't breathe), brought me tothe realization that I strongly value compassion, understanding, dependabilityand providing for others. This instance was additional support of my choice tofurther my education and become an elementary school teacher.

In today'sworld it is often easy to forget about your heritage and what it means to bewho we are. We celebrate American unity claiming that our country's boundariescombine individuals from all walks of life into our “melting pot” society. Arewe straying from our roots and leaning towards the belief that we're all simplyjust, American?

I hope Inever lose the interest I have towards my heritage and my family's history. Iam German, Irish and Lebanese. My last name represents my family’s ties withGermany. As opposed to the likes of the Irish and their beer, “Killian's Red,”Kilian, with one L, is the German spelling of our name. My mother has curly redhair and I'm sure I've inherited my own curly hair and freckles from our Irishancestors. My grandmother was one hundred percent Lebanese. She was a veryimportant part of my life.

Through herpassing during recent years, I came to the harsh realization that she would nolonger be here to help carry on some of the traditions and customs that she hadshared and passed down to us. She left a bit of our heritage in our family andmy father, which he passed on to me. I see her in myself through my dark eyes,my olive-colored skin and my inexplicable interest towards the customs andcultures of the Middle East.

I intend tocelebrate all of my ethnic roots through the constant exploration of my family,their predecessors and our history. Another ambition of mine, to celebrate mygrandmother and our Lebanese heritage, is to further my ethnic cookingabilities. I am going to pass down the tradition of my favorite Lebanese foods.I will become more familiar with traditional Lebanese foods like seasoned ricepilaf, which is given texture and flavor from pine nuts, and stuffed grapeleaves, which are filled with a rice-ground beef mixture. I also have highhopes and ambitions to travel to these three countries, to explore the placesand people that have defined my heritage and sculpted my identity, as a personand an American.

It isimportant to note that being an American citizen has played a role in myidentity. The acquisition of American citizenship is sought after by manyindividuals. The government gently steers my actions towards our country's maininterests and priorities. Regardless, I am appreciative of the many rights andfreedoms my citizenship entitles me to. Many other nations and individuals areforced to abide by restrictions and government-mandated limitations, situationsthat strongly effected by the forces of various governing bodies. I believethat their ability to endure these often unfavorable circumstances, makes thesepeople ideal candidates for American citizenship.

B. Experience withAmerican Identities: “The Influence of Diversityon My Past, Present and Future”

Throughoutmy childhood, my parents have always modeled for me and given examples of waysto be--for lack of better words--a “good” person, based on the morals, valuesand beliefs they had already formed. They stressed acceptance and selflessness,treating others how I'd like to be treated. I've learned not to form my views ofindividuals off of other people's opinions, to give people an opportunity toreveal themselves before forming any criticisms. My parents were able toimpress into my malleable, developing brain the concepts and perspective Ihold today. I think genuine care and kindness are important aspects of myidentity and my understanding of other's identities.

When I wasyounger, I was given the tools and devices necessary to develop creativity andimagination. My parents had created an environment that was crucial to thisdevelopment. Not having this background would have changed the way I perceivethe world around me. I had baby dolls and stuffed animals, a kitchen set, a work bench and a construction hat,barbies, matchbox cars, blocks. All of these provided hours of entertainment,but more importantly, gave me various options to explore all kinds of play,instead of restricting my toys to “girly” ones. I played on the work bench. I'dwear the construction hat and talk about how I'll help my father at work in thefuture. I'd dress my stuffed animals up in doll clothes and push them around instrollers. I'd play “house” with my siblings, playing different roles. I trulybelieve that the vivid imagination I've held onto until today comes from themethods used by my parents to supplement my development at such animpressionable age.

There shouldbe a nationwide agreement made between our country's citizens in concern of ourfuture, our children's future, and our grandchildren's future. The importanceand overwhelming influence that parenting has on a child's developmental growthand their definitions of personal identity needs to be discussed with allindividuals in all situations that are raising children. Stressing theimportance of parenting, either through more thoroughly detailed explanationsor more expansively, and making this knowledge and awareness available to parents and guardians from all backgrounds and circumstances, will likelycause an increase in conscious and informed child-rearing actions anddecisions. Having the knowledge that you as an individual are a crucialelement, a necessary requirement, in the development of a young child's identityis not only honorable but a humbling realization as well.

I might havemade the decision to enter the field of education during my childhood. Mysiblings and cousins would play more realistically as we grew older. We movedonto games like “court,” where we'd develop ridiculous scenarios for a case. Mycousin received an overhead projector one year for Christmas. Paired with thedesk I had, we made an excellent classroom set-up to play school in. We wouldtake turns, reversing roles from teacher to learner. Creating tests andworksheets, correcting in red pen, raising our hands or shouting out obnoxiousanswers, we modeled strategies used by our real teachers and experimentedacting out the behaviors we observed in our peers.

Myenrollment in the school district I lived in exposed me to an increasing amountof diversity. Once I had reached middle and high school, I was accustomed tothe nature of diversity. I already had a good understanding of treatingeveryone equally, respecting all individuals; if this wasn't common sense atthis point, my parents had already taught me. I also understood that while wetreat everyone equally, it is not the case that we all live equivalent lives.The schools I attended encompassed a variety of students from many differentethnicities, cultures, economic backgrounds and family histories.

My freshmanyear of college I had already defined my major as early childhood education,with a concentration in art. Ideally I would like to have an art classroom atthe elementary level. However, I believe that to get the most value out of myeducation at Fredonia, I should strive to become a classroom teacher at theelementary level and incorporate all of the skills, strategies and methods Ihave learned thus far into a resourceful, stimulating classroom environment.The fact that I chose elementary education as a career path, driven by mymorals and values to have a positive impact and influence in young children'slives, reflects my identity.

The totalityof my field placements here have presented me with the opportunities necessaryto observe, experience and better understand what it's like to teach a group oflargely diverse learners in a multitude of teaching styles. I have worked withstudents from Pre-K to 2^nd grade. These students have come from allwalks of life, and are all a part of something bigger. Despite all of theircultural and ethnic differences, I saw beneficial relationships form betweenthese children. Collectively, these groups of diverse American students belongtogether as part of American society and a classroom community.

Myparticipation in this American studies course has made me aware of the factthat one increasingly more existent aspect of our national identity is “American competitiveness.” Over time, American citizens began to shift from notonly challenging their “mother country” and comparing one another'sdifferences, to competing globally with, for and against members of otherworldly countries. With the state of today's society and global economy, itonly makes sense for parents, guardians and educators to raise and prepare ournation's youth for the competitive challenges tomorrow and in the future. Bylearning from experienced and devoted, educated adults, in a supportive,comfortable and culturally sensitive environment, young children will begin torecognize the existence of similarities and differences, equality andinequality, fair and unfair. Once students understand the inevitable nature ofdiversity and global expansion, they will be more readily able to appreciatestrengths and understand weaknesses. Being enlightened by the environments thatsurround them, and becoming increasingly more accepting of others, gives youngchildren the opportunity to become more exposed to and familiarized with, thediverse people, ideas and concepts of our world today. Multicultural educationthat provides a foundation for global awareness has been made possible in manyareas of the world (some even in exist within our country's borders). Theseexperiences have been made possible for students in today's society by thesystematic provision of: a. equaleducational opportunities that cause learners to become accustomed to varyingcultures through diverse classroom composition, b. opportunities to learn and practice second (even third orfourth) languages in a world of multiple linguistics, and c. adequate opportunities to explore, discover, and make meaningfulconnections, in order to begin forming a level of individual understanding. Inthe future, those students that were able to experience valuable educationalexperiences, are most likely the individuals that will succeed. Our world isnow populated by a global society that has (and will continue to) experienceexposure to an ever-changing, constantly altered state of existence. Thepreservation of our world will be made most possible by the extent of which ourfuture generations participate in global affairs and develop environmental andhumanistic consciousness and are aware of the impact that is (or isn't)occurring.

Knowingthis, it was difficult for me to witness segregation by teachers of students insome districts. The segregation was not meant to divide students by race orsocio-economic status. Rather it was meant to separate students of varyingacademic abilities. Ironically, this basically entailed that these Americanstudents who were speakers of different languages and less socio-economicallyadvantaged were struggling learners. The backgrounds and circumstanceschildren live in will affect the way students learn. With English being asecond language and parents working too late to be available, these studentshave not experienced the enrichment necessary to succeed at the same level astheir classmates. In my opinion, this type of labeling seems detrimental to theconstruction of confidence and self-esteem and therefore the students’ success.If students at this age continue being identified in this manner, it willundoubtedly influence the way they form their identity.

In additionto being criticized or treated unfairly by someone in person, even the historytextbooks used in some classrooms are used to delude the youngest generationsof American citizens from truth of our prior experiences as a nation. Thesetextbook 'stories' are often fabrications of historically true events and realaccounts, that have been intentionally designed and very specifically chosen to effectively create the standard “American Identity” one may see today,designed in respect of our forefathers' ideals (regardless of the circumstancesthat influenced them over a hundred years ago). Not only do I worry from mystandpoint as a future educator, I also play the role of an adult, concernedwith humanistic values, like honesty and the well-being of children. I have nowbecome aware of the fact that many classroom social studies textbooks containmisleading text that makes them unreliable sources. For this reason, I havebecome unsettled by the notion that records of American history could beequally unreliable and untrustworthy.

My teachingmethods are going to reflect the manner in which I was raised and theinformation that I have gained through my past experiences and observations inthe classroom. Using American identity as a common ground, a group all studentsare a part of, I intend to teach acceptance and celebration of culture. I wantto use this as a basis to form lessons addressing all levels of learners. Intheory, I hope that this practice helps eliminate, or at least lessen, theexistence of discrimination and stereotyping that is so prevalent in societytoday.

C. What Can We DefineAmerican Identity As? “Our American Identityas the Melting Pot Is Soupy”

Americanidentities can be interpreted in a variety of ways. In being citizens of thiscountry, one would assume these individuals might classify themselves asAmerican. However, I made the surprising realization that, despite having beenborn and raised a citizen of this country, when asked how I would define myidentity; “American” would never be my first response in describing myself. Ioppose the view that as United States citizens we should mask or blend ourheritage into the generality of being an American. When asked to define myself,I would have first listed the people that have defined my family's heritage,giving my culture and family history more credit to the creation of my“American identity.” This view should easily be accepted, even by thoseindividuals who truly classify themselves first and foremost as American.

Publicizingour country for generations as “the Melting Pot,” the juxtaposition ofcultures, race, ethnicities, it should come as no surprise that we, as asociety hold so many different perspectives and outlooks. I believe that theexistence of “the American Dream” seems like an illusion to so many of ourcitizens as they make their way into our American society. Our country'sdefinition of “well-being” and “success” do not meet the expectations of thoseindividuals who have left their homes and families to come to American in hopeof searching for, finding, and experiencing a “better life.” Different cultureshave different standards and definitions for these ideas. While reaching “theAmerican Dream” might be an attainable goal for an individual who has lived inthe country their whole life, it is often impossible for immigrants or migrantsto succeed this far into American society.

With theincreasing amount of diversity that exists within the United States, is itreally possible to create a definition that reveals the identities of all Americans?The amount of discussion, debate and inequality that still exists today, givesme the impression that we are currently involved in the process of definingwhat it really means to identify ourselves as American. Although I am American,feeling an overwhelming sense of pride and nationalism for our country rarelyoccurs.

Defining what American Identitiesis on a universal level would not be supportive of the United States. Othercountries seem to use degrading stereotypes to express the negative connotationsthey hold in association to our American identity. Since this is the case, itmust also be plausible that American citizens define our identity in more thana multitude of ways. Definitions of what it means to be American would mostdefinitely reflect an individual perspective. We would define American identityindividually, based on personal life experiences, history, etc. So is it evenpossible for our nation to develop an American identity that encompasses all ofour citizens? I am convinced that continually over extended periods of time,individual perceptions (as well as generalized opinions), are influenced by themost current status of general societal perspective and the most widelypublicly-supported beliefs during that time. I am led to believe that visibletrends and patterns have been documented by our nation's history, but are oftenignored or manipulated in meaning.

What really defines us as“American” besides the fact that we live in America? America was establishedhundreds of years ago. However, with the misconstrued, altered stories of ourcountry’s history, we shouldn’t use any one specific defining action taken byour American predecessors to define our identity. Maybe our identity could belinked to the fact that the people of our country are free. For example, thefreedom of speech is not something traditional to the rest of the world. Thefact that America is a young, growing, changing country might define us. But Ithink as long as we’re still learning what works best for our country and ourpeople, that we’re still constructing our American identity.

At thispoint in my life, I believe American identities can be most accurately definedas follows: the existence of American identity is composed of our diversecitizens. American identities reflect the vastness of our people’s culture,race, ethnicity, customs, faiths, beliefs, principles, morals, lifestyles andbackgrounds. We are “the melting pot.” Not only does the society we existwithin today still exemplify our country’s diversity, it is constantly growing,adapting and changing our identity, as well. American society and identity arecontinuously in progressive, adapted movement, like the motion of simmering contents inside of a melting pot. Ithink that American identities are a conglomerate representation of our diversenation. As an educator, in hopes of furthering young children’s development as“Americans,” I will not only aim to provide the most accurate American historypossible, I am driven to teach tomorrow's generation of children to livecompassionately and to accept, celebrate and understand differences in oneanother.

Identity through the Eyes of the Nation

2011-12-18T16:11:00.000-05:00

Identity through the Eyes of the Nation

Shannon

Whenit comes to the definition of an American Identity, I feel that there is abroad spectrum of aspects that one could use to define themselves through theircountry. Some base their identities on religion, while others use politics.Family background, ethnicity, and personal experiences also play a role inshaping one's identity. Family dinner conversations and skirmishes at high schoolare examples of events that have impacted my Identity.

Beingan American can mean many things. Some foreigners view Americans with negativestereotypes such as being overweight or obsessed with making money. Even thoughthose stereotypes may be true, there is so much more to this identity. One idealthat many people base their identity off of is religion. For instance, somepeople may introduce themselves as a Christian American where as others mayintroduce themselves as Muslim American. Just because their religions aredifferent doesn’t meant they are any less American.

Anotherbasis that people identify themselves through is how they view theirgovernment. People tend to gravitate towards a specific political party. Right-wing conservatives have much different ideals than that of left-wing liberals.Republicans may want less government involvement while Democrats invite moregovernment involvement to make change happen. At the same time, conservativesmight have stricter morals and like things the way they are while liberals areslightly more open-minded and stand by change. Again, I still find both ofthese groups to be equally American.

Myrelatives are fairly conservative and religious. My parents, however, are thelenient ones. Even though they both grew up in very religious environments, theyturned out to be pretty open-minded. My mom is Republican while my Dad is aDemocrat. This lead to many ‘interesting’ discussions at the dinner table. Therehave been countless times when my parents would disagree on a subject and go onand on about how one was more correct than the other. I couldn’t be happierthat I grew up with both sides of the spectrum because it gave me a chance tochoose for myself, rather than be forced into a certain mind set.

Iremember one discussion in particular that got rather heated. A few years ago,our dinner conversation lead to the topic of American troops still occupyingIraq. Now my dad, being the Democrat that he is, immediately reverted to thepoint that we shouldn’t have gone to war in the first place. He claimed thatthe decision was made on a false premise; that, after we overthrew SaddamHussein, it was useless to try and establish democracy. The conflict happeningin the country between the Sunnis and the Shiites was that of a civil war;something we had no control over. Moreover, after the fall of Hussein, thetroops didn’t protect any of their infrastructures. Our troops were ordered toguard the oil industry, which shows that Bush had a larger agenda in going to Iraqthan what he claimed to begin with.

Mymom, on the other hand, disagreed. Even though she agreed halfheartedly thatthe initial decision was a mistake, she felt that keeping troops there was theright thing to do in order to protect the citizens. Her take on the wholeaffair was that Saddam Hussein needed to be stopped. She felt that the invasionof our troops was needed to stop the senseless murdering and oppression thatHussein brought on Iraqi people. She also felt that our troops stayed after thefact in order to protect the newly-freed citizens which, in her eyes, needed tohappen.

Ifeel that being exposed to both parties as a child was extremely beneficial.Listening to the different opinions of my parents on heated topics such as thisgave me a chance to not only hear the opinions from both sides of a topic, butalso learn outside of the classroom. I always loved seeing how far they wouldgo with the discussion. It never turned into an aggressive quarrel; they simplyenjoyed bouncing their opinions off each other and listening to what the otherhad to say. This also taught me to respect others' opinions, even if they don’tcoincide with my own.

Evenwhen it comes to homosexuality and how people view it, I still feel thateveryone is entitled to their own opinion. Personally, I feel that it shouldn’teven be discussed whether or not they should receive the same rights or not.They are absolutely no different than anyone else; therefore, why on earthshould they be denied any rights at all? However, if there wasn’t room for others to hold different opinions,this would not be the United States of America. One of the most beautifulthings about this country is that everyone has the right to believe and standby what they wish, as long as they do not cause harm to others.

Americansare all connected in certain ways. We are all governed by a democratic systemwhich allows us to choose what we believe and what to stand for. The greatthing is that we can all choose what our identity is and what to define itthrough and still be just as much of an American as the next person.

My personalidentity as an American is greatly influenced by the people that have surroundedme throughout my life. Without my family and friends, I would be nowhere nearthe person I’ve become. The ideals that I have grown to live by have sproutedfrom the views of my parents, the observation of my relatives, and the friendsthat I have become close to.

Personally,over the years, I have adopted very liberal views. Not totally in the politicalparty sense, but also in a general way. I am very open-minded with differentreligions as well as sexual orientation. Watching the rest of my relativesspeak about homosexuals as “okay but still sinners” made me very upset. I fullybelieve that homosexuals are absolutely no different than anyone else ofheterosexual orientation. Hearing people try to take away the rights of others,particularly the right to marriage, absolutely infuriates me.

Growingup in a small, predominantly white, rural town has its downsides. The majority of the citizens of my home townare very conservative and narrow minded. Unfortunately, the stereotypicalbullying of minorities, by sexual orientation or by race, happened fairly often.Throughout high school, I became very close with two gay males. They were someof my best friends, so, naturally, whenever I heard someone in the hallwayspeak against homosexuality, I wasn’t happy.

One day, a couple of boys started to outwardlymake fun of one of my friends. They would constantly make verbal attacksagainst him, leaving him upset and offended. So, a few days later, I decided towalk with him as he walked by this group of boys. Sure enough, they made aremark. Almost before they were done speaking the word, I walked up to them andasked them to say it again. When they wouldn’t, I asked them what they would doif I had said that to them. After none of them replied, we walked away and leftthem standing there. Later that day, one of the boys came up to me andapologized. I told him that I wasn’t theone he should be apologizing to. This whole confrontation made me realize thatI could never be that narrow-minded.

If Ihad to choose one considerable factor that defined who I am as an American, Iwould choose my acceptance of others. After seeing the way my friends weretreated and the way some of my relatives spoke about them made me take a stepback and reinforce my stance as an ally in the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,Transgender) community, as well as my inclination to be open minded andtolerant of all types of people.

When I think about who I am as aperson, I find it very difficult to narrow it down to a few words. There aremany different parts of my life that I can use to identify myself. Only when Icombine my hobbies and interests with my heritage and past experiences am Ireally able to effectively show who I am.

Ihave a semi-diverse background. Not in the racial sense, but of beliefs andideals. My mother’s side is primarily German Lutheran. In fact, her father waseven a priest. My father’s side, on the other hand, is Irish Catholic, which, asyou can imagine, has caused a few problems for family reunions; and by that Imean, we’ve never had a family reunion. Luckily for me, my father isn’t huge onreligion so he didn’t hesitate to be married under my Grandfather in a Lutheranchurch. That’s not to say his mother (my grandmother) didn’t nearly refuse toattend the wedding.

Themost family members from both sides that I’ve witnessed gathering at thesame occasion was at my sister’s graduation party. There have been other choiceoccasions, but considering that my family is fairly spread out across thecountry, it’s difficult to travel the distance to attend weddings and such, soI haven’t been able to attend. It was really interesting to sit back and watchmy family from both sides interact with each other. Very small conversationwould be made. Topics were simple and mild to avoid any kind disagreements; forthere were bound to be some. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that either sidehates each other. It’s just that the difference in religion and lifestylesdoesn’t make for a pleasant conversation.

Growing up in a fairly religiousfamily, I attended church just about every Sunday. As I got older, however, Ireally began questioning religion. Seeing how easily it kept my family fairlyseparate from each other, I naturally didn’t appreciate the concept. There wereother reasons I turned away from religion, as well.

I often went to my pastor withquestions about homosexuality, exorcisms, and what our “regulations” were aboutwho can go to heaven. Come to find out, Lutherans are very lenient when itcomes to applying concepts from the bible to everyday life. When asked abouthomosexuality, he responded by saying that the bible has been re-written andtranslated hundreds of times. So, who are we to say that homosexuals aresinners? In Lutheranism, the bible exists more so as a set of guide lines,rather than a literal decree. In fact, the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod justapproved the ordination of gay pastors.

Contrary to what one would normallythink, I have actually grown up to be an extremely open person without a hugeinterest in any one religion. However, if there was any religion that I couldhave grown up with, I’m glad it was Lutheranism. To me, it seems that Lutheransare much more open to topics such as homosexuality and the respect of otherreligions. Even though I’ve strayed away from religion today, I feel thatgrowing up as a Lutheran has played a huge role in molding my identity intowhat it is today.

Asidefrom my home life, I’ve been involved with music in school ever since I canremember. I’ve been in chorus, band, jazz band, madrigal choir, marching bandand musicals. Music, for me, is something that helps me escape from whateverI’m going through. It gives me something to occupy myself. Also, I simply loveto play. At home, whenever I was bored, I’d pick out a couple of piano books,sit down at the piano, and sight read. Itis really relaxing for me, plus it gives me an outlet to vent any emotionalissues through the notes that I play.

Throughout my years in grade school,I have met many people through the music department. Music was irrefutably thebest part of my day. Not only was I able to take a break from academics, I wasable to spend time with people who shared my passion and enthusiasm. Whether itwas jazz band rehearsal or music theory, I always found being in a group whereeverybody has the same interests as you is a great environment for connectingwith people. Some of my closest friends that I have today were made in themusic wing of my high school.

Whenever you take part in a musicensemble or group, one of the re-occurring ideals is to be ‘open to yourfeelings.’ I’ll never forget a quote from my band director in 9^thgrade: “Never be afraid to say what you feel because good music comes from trueemotions, so you’ve got to be true to yourself.” Even though this soundsincredibly corny, this piece of advice has actually helped me come to termswith who I am. Rather than think about what I say to please other people, Ilearned to say what was really on my mind, which helped me find my place amongmy peers.

Before I entered high school, I wasan extremely anxious person with a hyper active personality, which proved to beextremely annoying for others around me. Even the slightest mishap would sendme on a worry rant. Something as simple as a missed question on my homeworkassignment would drive me to tears due to anxiety. For the longest time, Ithought this was normal, until the “phase” never passed.

Eventually, after my sister left forcollege, my first panic attack was triggered. Soon after, I was diagnosed withdepression and anxiety disorder. So, throughout junior high and the first yearsof high school, I went through a difficult period where therapy and counseling becamea part of my weekly schedule. When trying to relax, I would often revert toplaying the piano or listening to music. Without the help of therapy,counseling, and music, I would not have changed into the much more relaxed and self-reflectingperson that I am now.

Naturally, during this process, mygroup of friends shifted, causing me to realize who I wanted in my life, asopposed to those who I wanted to please. Before, I spent all of my brainpowerfocused on making others think highly of me. I never stopped thinking aboutwhat others thought of me. It wasn’t until after I was able to stray away fromthis habit that I was able to forget everyone else and pay more attention tothe smaller things in life. I focused more on activities that brought meenjoyment and satisfaction. This step in the healing process really helped merealize what mattered most to me.

Rather than simply naming off a fewwords and hope to get my personal identity across, I find it extremelyeffective to use different aspects of my life as an aid to define who I am.However, if I was for some strange reason put in a situation where I was forcedto use a few choice words, I feel the words “open-minded, true, appreciative,and introspective” would do the job.

My identityhas formed over the years from many different experiences, habits, and ideals.However, I feel that my identity as an American truly comes to light through mypolitical and social views. In order to really define one’s ‘AmericanIdentity,’ I feel it is necessary to define yourself through the eyes of ournation.

If I had toassociate myself with a certain party, I would identify as a liberal democrat. Forthe most part, I am middle of the road. However, when it comes to change in thegovernment, I am for it as long as the change is based on a reputable premise.For a while, I have held a negative attitude towards our country. I’ve neverreally felt “proud to be an American.” I’ve read the countless stories ofcorrupt politicians, loop holes in the judicial system, and the risingunemployment and homeless rates of the population. I always thought thatpatriotism was corny and misplaced.

It wasn’tuntil this past year that my negative, pessimistic attitudes towards the U.S.began to change. My economics professor in high school made an extremelyprevalent point one day in class and it’s stuck with me ever since. He startedthe class period out by taking a small public opinion poll. We had to raise ourhands if our view of the government was good, bad, or in-between. Come to findout, the majority of the class raised their hands for bad. He then asked us whythat was, if we even had an explanation. The overall census was that ouropinions originated from what we acquired from the media. This was exactly theanswer he was looking for.

Myeconomics teacher’s main problem with the population today is that too manypeople think badly of our government and either A.)Don’t know why, or B.) Don’tdo anything about it. He went on to tell us that the media plays a huge role ininfluencing our opinions. The media (whether it be newspapers, news channels,or the internet) tends to only portray negative stories because that is whatthe public wants to see. Nobody wants to hear that everything is fine and dandybecause, well, it’s just not interesting. This is why my teacher stronglysuggested that we use more than just one media source. If you exhaust as manysources as you have available, you will have a much better sense of what isgoing on in the world today.

This pieceof advice is what first prompted me to rethink my opinion towards this country.Leaving my hometown and entering college also helped me gain new perspective.When you’re stuck in a conservative, closedminded town for a long period oftime, it’s easy to be bogged down by the negative attitudes of the peoplearound you. Living on my own has helped me realize just how fortunate I am forthe opportunity to grow up in a free society. Even though we have our fairshare of problems, I’m now starting to appreciate what being an American canmean.

Throughthe friends I’ve made, the family I’ve grown up with, the experiences I’veshared, and the background I’ve come from, I have formed a personal identitythat is definitive and unique. My ability to listen to others and expressmyself are a huge part of who I am. However, it isn’tuntil I view my identity through the country I’ve been raised in that I cansuccessfully show who I am as an American.

What Is the American Identity?

2011-12-18T15:55:00.000-05:00

What Is the American Identity?

Anonymous

How I defineAmerican identity is living in the land founded by both political and religiousleaders, and being part of the American culture. As Americans we are viewed as the abolitionistwho fights for what we believe is just. During the founding years of our nationwe were led by thoughts of both the radicals and constrictive, religious andpolitical leaders. Over the years we have come to reach a state of equilibriumbetween the opposing groups for a stable and functioning society.

Most Americans value civil rights. Compared to countries around the world, the United States is ayounger country. From day one the United States has always been known for itsfreedom and democracy. Today’s society is in a constant state of evolution.Every day there is new progress made somewhere; whether it is along the lines oftechnology, medicine or knowledge, somewhere in the world there are newadvancements beings made continually. With America being such a young nationcompared to other countries around the world we evolve at a rate much fasterthan most. If you look at the recent revolts over the past few years, they takeplace in regions where the governing limits the power of the people. In oursociety we the people limit the power of the controlling government. The Declaration of Independence opens with“We the people,” including all of those who make up thenation. When the power is literally placed in the hands of those who itdirectly effects, by no means does this limit our people but pushesthem to explore and question the unknown of the nation we control.

Even though oursociety can be broken down into different ethnicities, as a whole we are aculture of our own. A very unique bread of all our own, the values, dedication,hard work, and perseverance makes us American. With America being an infantcountry, we pull the strengths from all different regions of the world to buildwhat we call the American identity. Regardless of where your blood has comefrom Americans come together to value hard work, perseverance, freedom, anddetermination to better their lives. Even though we all come from somethingdifferent we all have the pursuit of happiness. All of this combined is why wecall ourselves American and is what makes up the true American identity which weall can relate to.

To me, I ammyself and no one else. I don’t findfollowing the role of someone else to be unique or enjoyable. I do what I enjoy regardless of otherpeople’s opinions. I personally would much rather become my own leader thenfollow someone else. Setting aside others' views on how I live my lifeallows me to live my life how I enjoy it, not how others think I should.

I enjoy a livelysocial life while still having my own personal alone time. One of my favorite pastimes is motocross or, anythinga little on the edge mixed with speed. At the end of the day when the smallthings start to get to me, I always have my bike to hop on and just leteverything go while I ride. When I am riding it allows me to have that timeto myself and just enjoy what I am doing. Not having to worry about what elseis happening in life with all of the stressors and responsibilities. Once Ireach that point when I am relaxed I start to rewrap my head around all of thethoughts. I find that time important to clear my mind for that point in time.This allows me to regroup my thoughts and process them clearly.

One examplethat strikes my mind is from a few months back right at the start of my first semester at SUNYFredonia. In early August I had experienced a loss in my family that really wasquite mind-blowing, the death of my uncle and the next day the death of afriend. After the news was first relayedto me I didn’t seem to believe it to be true. The first thing I did was grab mykeys and load up my bike and take off to the local track for the rest of theday. That afternoon I spent what seemed to be like ten minutes riding my bike,when in reality I had been riding for hours. During that time I first managedto just lose myself and forget about everything. The very next day I spent theentire day on my bike again in attempts to straighten out what had seemeddreamlike and bring it back to reality. Over the second day, I used motocrossas an escape to help clear my head, allowing it all too slowly once again becomprehended and accepted for what it’s worth.

I believe that for myself motocross and bike are just two things that help me identify who I am. At times I am abit outspoken; I have created enemies over speaking what is on my mind. To meit is very important to express your thoughts freely and clearly so others canunderstand your ideas. Sometimes I am not always right but when someone bringsup a valid point and backs it up I respect it. When I was younger one of myteachers Mr. Frank Burst had told me, “Havingenemies is not always a bad thing. It shows that over time you have stood upfor something you believe in; consequently you will be taken seriously andnever as a joke.” I always try to keep that in the back of my mind duringeveryday life. By doing this I will never be pushed around and walked over forhaving a different opinion on something. I believe if you feel strongly aboutsomething you should stand up and support what it is you believe in. If youdon’t have the courage to stand up and support the belief you should not have thebelief in the first place. I have learned that you sometimes have to act alonebefore others start to follow. Most of the time if you have a unique view onsomething there is someone who also has the same view, and if you act firstothers will follow. While I am not always the most open with discussion I amnever afraid to support something I believe in. If it is something onpersonal side I most likely will not share it with you. When it comes topersonal privacy I am respectful. If I feel the need to share something from mypersonal life it will be known. The odds are if it is something a bit morepersonal than I am not willing to share you will not clue there is somethingrelevant there to relate to.

My own personalexperiences I’ve had with American identity are something you cannot teach in aclassroom setting. To me they are something that is much easier to comprehend withreflection on your own experiences as you grow up. Over the years I have beenfortunate enough to travel all over the country and different parts of theworld to experience culture first-hand. The American culture is truly unique,like no other. The American identity is full of perception and personalopinions. What your beliefs are something only you have to own up to. Notevery family lives in a beautiful two-story home with a dog and a yard. Todaythe true American identity is becoming more of another radical. While we allhave the same endpoint, individually we have our own pathways in the successionof achieving the goal at the end. Everyone takes in their own past experiencesto create how they see topics differently. Psychology has proven that we allreflect back on our past experiences when it comes time to make a choice. In fear of committing the same mistake twice, we learn how use ourexperience to dictate our future actions.

Even though I amvery proud of my Native American and Irish heritage it is not very often that Iwill identify as strictly that. I am sure that my ancestors before mehave worked very hard of what they had become and shaped the lives of thoseafter them, but I have been shaped by more than just my ancestors. I am oneperson who has been shaped by everything I am exposed to, from my heritageto those I come in contact with daily.

For me in my own experience fromaround the world the American lifestyle is something idolized by those who donot have it, and taken for granted by those who do have possession of it. Ipersonally have spent the time over the years to sit down and talk with othersfrom various parts of the world and hear their opinions about Americans aswhole. The general consensus is that most do not appreciate what they have andhow lucky they are. Over the well-invested time I have spent talking with others, Ihave heard several people mention radical gestures stating what they would doto just live the life of freedoms Americans have. I myself have been in bothpublic and private schools going up and have had the chance to meet all differentpeople. Some of my best friends are anything but a similar person--much more like opposites of each other. One of my best friends growing up would alwaystell me “you are so lucky that your parents are not divorced.” Even though Iwould get into fights with my parents I would not have to deal with the stressof living out of two different homes with different sets of rules. I am come tounderstand how lucky enough I am to have only one place I call home. Anotherone of my good friends came from a very wealthy family with what mostwould call a very expendable income. This allowed me to witness the differencebetween someone who had too much and someone who hardly had enough. In highschool he would buy new shoes every week simply because the other pair wasdirty or scuffed. At the end of senior year for graduation he was handedthe keys to a new truck while the rest of us got a pat on the back from mom anddad as they said, “we are proud of you, son.” Most people would be happy with just having a car being me age, when hewould not settle for a vehicle that was nothing less than what some wouldconsider a small mortgage.

By being exposedto different extremes it has opened my eyes to how different the people ofAmerica are today but how as a whole we can come together as one country. Oneof my favorite questions I have always managed to ask over the years is “howwould you feel if the government took away just half of your freedom andthreatened your pursuit of happiness?” Oddly enough most people respond withvery strong feelings of how they would feel obligated to stand against it andfight for it back. As Americans as a whole we are very fond of the privilegesthat we do have, even if we all do not use them to their true potential. Each individual has a unique place andwithout them, the country would not be the same. My own personal life experiencesand those shared by others have helped develop who I have grown to becometoday.

Today I would identify myself as whoI am and what I have become over the past 19 years. Everything from my hobbies,heritage, friends and family, personal characteristics, and past experienceshave helped me find myself on what I would use to call my own personalidentify. With my own personal identity discovered it can be used to contributeto another variety or blend into the personality that we have come to knownas today's American Identity.

Firenze 2.0

2011-12-18T15:29:00.000-05:00

Here's an Identification Project from Colleen Fabritius!

Firenze2.0

Ifyou have ever traveled outside of the United States, you know that it is aphenomenal experience. If you have not, I suggest you do. Over the summer I wasgiven the wonderful opportunity to go overseas through the fantastic SUNYFredonia Study Abroad program. I found myself spending a month in Italy, themajority of my time in Florence, studying art history. This just so happened tobe my second time traveling to Italy. My luck struck even bigger when myapartment was conveniently located right next to the Duomo and Piazza dellaSignoria, which is located right next to the Uffizi museum, one of Italy’s mostprized possessions. If you did not know, Italy is famous for its absolutelystunning artwork as well as the historic city itself.

This breathtaking experience broughtme into close contact with a completely different country and a completelydifferent kind of people altogether. Being in such close range with thesepeople, talking to them on a daily basis, struggling to understand and followtheir lifestyle and watching them interact gave me a pretty clear idea of howthey feel about us, Americans, as a whole, and to be honest it is not that good

When you step foot in anothercountry, you are there as their guest and you are there to abide by theirrules. Italians have an already complete idea of Americans before we even stepfoot there. From my experience and the conversations I have conducted overseaswith said Italians, it bothers me how they all categorize us as loud,self-centered, fast-paced, rude, and especially towards females, for a betterword, easy beings--or ,in other words, The Ugly American stereotype. Thispreconceived notion has been in place for what seems to be a long while.

It just so happened that on myjourney to Italy, the infamous cast of Jersey Shore, an American realitytelevision show, was coincidentally filming and living right down the streetfrom me. Having them here reinforced the negative image that these Italiansalready have of Americans. They view all Americans as Ugly Americans beforethey actually attempt to get to know you.

I recall one time when we wereshopping, the cast of Jersey Shore was nearby. A middle-aged Italian gentlemanapproached me and asked me what all the fuss was about. I proceeded to explainto him what the show was and what they were doing here. His reaction was notpleasant, as he proceeded to tell me how unwelcome they were and how loud andobnoxious and above all disrespectful they were to the beauty of the city. Heeven proceeded to categorize all Americans in this way, even assuming that Imyself was one of them. To add icing to the cake, the cast of Jersey Shore wasnot even welcome in the town. The Italians feared that the cast would corruptthe beautiful image of Florence as well as disgrace the Italians themselves.Having the cast there was a big fuss and being pinned as an Ugly American isn’tthe best stereotype or one that I want to be associated with.

Being in Italy and being surroundedby a group of different people made me realize that as Americans we do come offdifferently towards other nations. We are very loud, obnoxious and fast-paced.We live our lives at a faster pace with concerns mostly of money and wealth.But on the contrary there are Americans who are calm, laid-back and respectful.Even with going to another country and sitting in class, learning about theAmerican identity, I still am not completely convinced that there is oneidentity that fits us all. We are not all one race; we are not all oneethnicity. We are not all loud or obnoxious, but that is the perception that wegive off to other countries and that is the identity that we have to come toterms with and deal with when venturing to other countries.

Inother words, we are not their favorite foreigners by any means. I believe thisstems from the Ugly American stereotype that we put forth through our media andour experiences in other countries, taking Jersey Shore for example. They arenot portraying all Americans in the way that we deserve to be portrayed. Theyare just a few people but the impact they have and the viewpoint that they setup for other countries, especially Italy, is devastating to our appearance andour identity towards other nations. And I personally do not what to be throwninto the same category as the Jersey Shore cast.

Myrecent trip to Italy was an educational experience, already squashing thepreconceived notion of a drunken American. My intentions were strictly to seethe beauty that the city has to offer and learn how it became as it is. Yes Idid venture out towards the bars and the night life in Florence, but thatwasn’t always the case. The majority of my trip I was up at 8 o’clock,exploring the streets or spending hours in a museum.

Thistrip has taught me that we all stereotype, whether we do it on purpose or not.Italians do it, I do it, everyone does it. The downfall to stereotyping is youare pinning characteristics to somebody who may not hold them whatsoever. Thosestrangers looked at me and saw an American, a drunk, loud, uncaring American,which is not what I am. I was raised in a more respectful manner andstereotyping doesn’t allow me to portray myself how I wish to be received.

Dago?Polack? Kraut? Hick?

Onthe topic of stereotypes and myself, I do not personally believe that there isone stereotype that can completely contain my being. We all look at each otherand we see differences. We see different colors, different genders, differentfeatures, even different attitudes and beliefs. However, these differences arewhat define us as individuals. Living in America, we are supposed to beAmerican. However, America is made up of multiple cultures and multipleethnicities; therefore, the perfect American identity does not truly exist. Wemay be of the same orientation or share the same beliefs, but as Americans, ashumans, we are all different.

I myself have never reallyquestioned the perfect American identity or even my identity much before thisclass. Going through the perfect American stereotype in class has really mademe question where I fit and what I would be classified as. I have come to theconclusion that I do not really fit into a typical American stereotype becauseI myself am a cluster of stereotypes all balled up into one unique individual.

When I look at my background, Iguess you could classify me as Italian, Polish, or even German. However ,I do notbelieve that truly identifies me as a person. When I look into my heritage, Iparticipate in all aspects. Coincidentally, being Italian is a big part of myidentity. Although while I was living in Italy, I was viewed as a rudeAmerican, I take my Italian heritage to heart. One of the biggest influences inmy life has to be my Italian culture. Although I do adore and participate in myPolish and German culture, my Italian family is located generally in the samecity and tremendously close for being such a big family. I generally see themat least 4 times a week. The Italian side of my family is who I turn to ifanything goes wrong. Do not get me wrong, I absolutely love all of my family,both sides, but my sisters, as well as my Italian cousins, are all mirror imagesof me. They know me and understand me better than one could ever imagine. Ithink my Italian heritage helps to define me as a person but it is not all thatI am. I am loud, I talk with my hands, I can even speak some Italian and Ithink that shows in my personality. My Italian heritage is what pushed me tospend time in Italy learning as much about my ethnicity as I could, twice. So Iguess you could stereotype me as a Dago. It would not be a lie, but it is notentirely correct.

Anothercrucial part of my identity is my religion. From the day I was born, I was borninto a very Catholic, very intense family. As I grew up, I was bombarded withreligion. I received all the sacraments I could, i.e. Baptism, Confirmation,Holy Eucharist and Penance. I attended Northern Chautauqua Catholic School,went to church weekly on Sunday and even attended Sunday school. To this day, Isay grace before a meal and pray before I fall asleep. I even attend church ona regular basis and sleep with a rosary next to my bed post. Religion has had avery influential role on my life and I take my religion and God very seriously.Therefore I could be classified as a Catholic. It would not be a lie, but it isnot entirely correct.

Anothermajor factor of my lifestyle that truly shaped my identity, is how I wasraised. I grew up in a small town, Dunkirk, which is coincidentally right downthe road from SUNY Fredonia. The majority of the students in that school wereAfrican American and Puerto Rican. I was the minority and I think that trulyhad an impact on me and my outlook on life. Although I was born in Dunkirk, Ispent the majority of my childhood growing up in Forestville on one hundred andtwenty acres of land my family owns. From the age of four I have been huntingand driving four-wheelers. Everything I do is considered “Country.” I listen tocountry music, I wear camouflage, and I even own my own gun. My favorite activitiesinclude hunting, hiking and four-wheeling. I did not and, I repeat, not fit inwith my high school. The majority of the students listened to Rap and Hip-Hopand wore Southpole and Hollister. I was content in jeans and a t-shirtlistening to Country music until my ears fell off. If I had my way, I would beoutside in the dirt and fresh air twenty-four seven, rather than inside abuilding at a desk. There is just something about fresh air and the countryside that brings a smile to my face and reminds me of my childhood.

Thisis one of the most influential aspects of my life. It was hard growing up inDunkirk. Throughout Middle School and High School there is pressure to conformand fit in with your friends and the “popular” kids. For my whole Middle Schoolcareer and beginning of my High School career, I felt pressured to listen toRap music and dress like a “Prep.” I wasn’t happy, though, and my parents said itshowed.

Itwasn’t until my junior year that I really started to accept who I was and what Ienjoyed. I had a homeroom teacher, Mr. Burnett, and he helped crack my shell.For my junior prom, I attended my boyfriend’s prom in Cassadaga, which if youdid not know is a school full of country-loving rednecks. My boyfriend, beingthe hick that he is, wore a camouflage tux to the prom. Going to a school wherenot many people respected country music or country folk altogether, I wastortured. I remember sitting in the lunch room during study hall crying becausetwo of my so-called friends had picked on me for hours. But that teacher helpedme to realize that there was nothing wrong with country music or camouflage.Coincidentally, that teacher loved country music and lived in the countryhimself. It took for me to cry my eyes out in school to realize that noteveryone likes the same things and that we need to be able to respect eachother’s choices. You could call me a hick and it will notoffend me. It would not be a lie, but it is not entirely correct.

Asidefrom those three major aspects of my life, I am much more. I am one of the mostkind-hearted human beings. I put everybody before myself, addressing the needsof others before I address my own. I also am one of the most determined andoutgoing individuals. I never quit a task that is handed to me and I always puta thousand percent into everything I do. I love trying new things and I willalmost always try something once. You could also call me loud and obnoxious. Itend to get loud and I always have a lot of energy and that is a major thingthat people see when they look at me. Aside from my straight-forwardpersonality, I believe I am a great person inside and out.

On the outside, I am me. I am notstick thin, like all the other females try to me. I am not orange and do notself-tan. My hair is real; my lips, nose, forehead, they are all my real,natural body parts. I do not go out of my way to buy a three-thousand dollardress that I will wear one night. I wear what makes me happy and dress and lookin a way that makes me happy, not anybody else. I like my style and how I look,I like being different.

So when I look at my background and where Icome from as well as the American stereotypes that we picked out in class, I ama tad bit confused. I am not the American Idiot or the Dumb Blonde. I haveaspects that could be related to a Hick or a Redneck, but that is not entirelyme. I may be obnoxious but I am not the obnoxious CEO of a business corporationor someone who follows the trends. I am just me. If I had to classify myself, Iwould call myself an individual. I do not believe I fall into any category orstereotype set forth by our class or by anyone else. I am an Italian, German,Polish, Catholic, country loving, outgoing, obnoxious, kind-hearted, loud,thick, style-savvy American, and I am proud.

Amuurica

Throughoutthe course we have been reading and discussing books designed to dissectAmerica and what it means to be American. But what does it really mean to beAmerican? There is no set nationality, no set race, even no set language. Fromthe beginning of this class, I have started to question American identities andwhether there is a single one or not. America is supposed to be the land of thefree and has been notably called the “melting pot”, meaning different races andreligions are welcome and supported here. Therefore, I do not believe that wecan truly be classified as a whole by one small stereotype that does notdirectly address us all.

American is not like the majority ofother countries. Italy is made up of mostly Italians, China mostly Chinese,Japan mostly Japanese, Africa mostly Africans and so on and so forth. However,America is the good ole melting pot. Our whole nation consists of bits andpieces of other nations, other nationalities, other cultures. You may say youare American, and you are, but you are made up of Swedish, Dutch, Italian, andso forth.

But what really makes an American,American? We already established that we are the melting pot of the world, thatwe have a little bit of everything and anything mixed in. So how do we trulydefine ourselves? I believe that when you go to define Americans, there is onlyone word that stands out: individuals. None of us are a hundred percentexactly the same, so how can we all be classified under the same stereotype?

Even though we all are different,there still are stereotypes floating around our country. However, we still donot treat everybody exactly the same. People who enjoy living in the countryand playing in mud are considered “hicks” and are “trashy.” People who areblonde and happy are considered to be “dumb blondes” or “ditsy.” We even takeit one step father, discriminating against races and against religions. Yes,there are groups of people who can be categorized. We have Catholics,Christians, Italians, and Polish, even Rednecks and Cooperates. The list ofgroups goes on and on and on. But those groups do not define everyone as awhole. Not everyone enjoys being outside frolicking in nature. Not everybodyearns an intense amount of money through controlling companies. As I mentionedearlier, and I stick by this a hundred percent, we are all different. We areall individuals. Sure, we may share common traits, whether it is races, orreligions, or even hobbies, while there are many other aspects that separate us.

Now that the semester is coming to aquick end, I have had to re-ask myself a key question, is there such a thing asan American Identity? Can I categorize myself under one stereotype? Even aftera whole semester, my answer remains the same, no. I do not believe that thereare sufficient identities that can grasp the full potential of America. Americawas a nation where already established ethnicities ventured to in search of abetter lifestyle. With that abundant amount of immigrants and the immigrantsthat come to this day, we are continuously growing and throwing morecharacteristics into the melting pot.

To put it in simpler words, I do notbelieve that America has any identities that we as its citizens have to follow.Individualism means doing what makes you happy, whether that is playing sportsor hanging out in nature, even drinking and tanning your life away. However, myargument is that there is no right or wrong claim to be American. America isthe land of the free and that freedom pertains to doing what makes you happy.However, although we have mini-identities, such as the Ugly American or Hicks,there is no set overall identity that can encompass all that America has tooffer. I am not discriminating or shunning anybody’s way of life, I am justsimply saying that their specific way of living does not represent America as awhole, which is where I formulate my idea that there is no underlying identitythat connects us all, except for the term American or individual.

However, if you look back to my timeat Dunkirk High School or even look at the cast of Jersey Shore, there is anoverwhelming pressure to fit in, especially within the teenage population. Ifelt that pressure and I am sure almost every American has. The media portrayswhat you are supposed to listen to and how you are supposed to dress. However,does that really make you happy? Not really. Individuality means dressing,acting, listening to what make you as a person happy, not what makes othershappy. Even with the pressure to conform, I still believe that individualitytriumphs over conformity. Yes you may conform for the time being, but chancesare you will remain unhappy until you find your own being, your own identity.It is easy to become what others are but it is even easier to be yourself. Takeme for example, it took three years of high school for me to realize I did notfit in nor want to fit in with my high school crowd. Eventually, we all realizethat being ourselves is the key to being happy.

Even with the pressure ofconformity, the only American identity that I can throw forward and support isindividuals. We are all individuals. No two people that exist across thecountry are identical. We all possess characteristics and views that separatefrom one another. Therefore how would you classify completely different peopleunder one name? It’s not possible and I do not believe it would do America andAmericans justice. There are a bunch of little classifications and God blessthem, but as a whole, we are just America, a country brought together by races,ideas, cultures, and thoughts from all over the world. We are different and weare proud, or at least I am. I am proud to have my own views and ideas as wellas my own appearance and my own hobbies. I would not have it any other way.

Looking back through my paper, Ihave come across a multitude of races and ethnicities throughout my lifetime.Even though we may all may be American, we are not all the same by any means. Ido not live my life drinking until I cannot see anymore or spend the majorityof my time with my pants hanging low listening to Rap music. I do what makes mehappy, as do those people. But the thing about it is, is we are all doingsomething different. There are little identities that America has come to know,such as the Ugly American or Gangsters or even Hicks, but those identities onlyencompass a small amount of America’s rather large population. With that beingsaid, yes, we put forth little identities that can account for small groups, butas a whole, we are all different, different to the extent that all we have incommon is America and our individualism. Therefore, in my eyes I see nosurefire claim for identity or even one that stands remotely close that we allcan relate to. I just see a country full of individuals striving and doing whatmakes them happy and that is good enough for me.

Check It Out! Fall 2011 American Identities Student Web Authoring Projects

2011-12-18T00:00:00.000-05:00

A bunch of my students in ENGL/AMST 296: American Identities have created blogs for their final projects. Check 'em out when you get a chance:

American Identities: What They Mean to You and Me

2011-12-17T15:07:00.002-05:00

AmericanIdentities: What They Mean to You and Me

K. Thompson

How IUsed To Think About My Identity

Personal identity is acomplex entity that combines many different aspects of a person. It encompassesa person’s gender, race, religion, class, ethnicity, sexual orientation, wherethey were raised, their beliefs and many other things. Your personal identityis essentially how you view your self. Who are you? Most people, including myself, have a very definite idea ofwho they are. It has become clear to me that this idea of who you are may beincorrect. But how can you not know who you are? Let's start with my originalevaluation of my identity from a few months ago.

The most obviouscharacteristics of personal identity are probably sex, followed by race. Thesetwo traits can be distinguished just by looking at someone, most of the time.

Another important identifying characteristic ismy religion. I am agnostic, which isn’t so much of a religion but a belief thatthe existence or non-existence of a God is unknowable. This belief sets me apartfrom the rest of my family; it also contributes to the way I act and view theworld. I think that this belief is just as important as being white and a male.

Another important part of mypersonal identity is my economic class. In our society cash is king and it isno surprise that it influences people’s identity. Both of my parents areself-employed and their earnings put them into what is labeled as the middleclass. This is also an important part of my identity because it has let me docertain things such as travel abroad and attend college. It is obvious to seethat my personal identity is made up of a multitude of things and they allcombine to make me who I am.

Another part of my identityis where I was raised. Where you are brought up has a large impact on yourpersonal identity. You become accustomed to certain social norms from yourregion. I was brought up in the same small rural town all my life, Wellsville,New York. Wellsville is about two hours away from Fredonia near thePennsylvania border and has a population of about 4,000.

My ethnicity also plays a bigrole in my life and is another crucial part of my identity. I don’t know toomuch about my father’s side of the family since his parents died when I wasvery young. However, I do know that my father’s side came over from England andsettled in Canada sometime in the late 1800s then eventually moved to theUnited States, primarily New York. Since I do not know much else about myfather’s side of the family it is not a big part of my identity. However I knowmuch more about my mother’s side and it plays a much bigger role in my life. Mymother’s parents were born in Hungary in the 1920s. They later moved to Germanybecause of World War II and then in the early 1950s they came over to theUnited States. I regularly visit my grandparents and they are always telling mestories of “the old country” and how things were in Hungary. My grandparentshave taught me how to count in Hungarian and a few other random words here andthere, such as macska, which means cat. When I am at home with my family weeven occasionally eat traditional Hungarian dishes. My heritage is an importantpart of my identity; everyone’s heritage is unique, which is why I think ethnicityis always a major part of personal identity.

TheProblem With Taking Identity Categories For Granted

At SUNY Fredonia, throughoutthis semester in American Identities, we have read numerous books, had manydiscussions and debates about the ultimate American Identity. The first classwas dedicated to finding the ultimate American stereotype. A poll was taken andthe best 16 stereotypes were chosen. The stereotypes faced off tournament stylewith our class as the voters until just one was left standing. Our class endedup picking “American Idiot” by a landslide. Our class thought that this stereotypebest represented America due to Americans’ general obliviousness and apathytoward other cultures and other points of view. Obviously this stereotype isnot true for all Americans, yet we thought it was the best representation ofAmerica’s people. Stereotypes, true or not, sometimes will be accepted and evenconsidered to be fact. These stereotypes become even more entrenched as timeprogresses and can eventually be accepted as fact. Stereotypes are not alwaysnegative, they can be positive, and when a certain group in power has enoughinfluence they can choose their own positive stereotypes and assign negativeones to people who are not in their group. This can be seen all throughouthistory; Hitler and the Aryan race is a good example. Another good example isslave owners using stereotypes to justify slavery. By making another groupinferior it is easier to keep power and exploit the other group.

Considering all this, it isnecessary to reanalyze my identity, and I encourage you to do the same. When Ifirst analyzed my identity I identified race as one of the most definingcharacteristics. But after reading Matthew Frye Jacobson’s book Whiteness ofa Different Color my opinion has changed. I have realized that the termwhite has not always been consistent; in fact, it has been constructed. If youidentify yourself as Irish, Italian, Greek, Slavic or Jewish, at one time youwould not have been considered white. In his book, Jacobson states that:

Thisincreasing fragmentation and hierarchical ordering of distinct white races (now in the plural) was theorizedin the rarified discourses of science, but it also reflected in literature,visual arts, caricature, political oratory, penny journalism, and myriad othervenues of popular culture. It was this notion of variegated whiteness thatsurfaced in 1863, for instance, when the New York Tribune characterized the rioting Irish in New York as a “savagemob,” a “pack of savages,” “savage foes,”… It was this notion of variegatedwhiteness that undergirded Henry Cabot Lodge’s claim, in 1891, that Slovakimmigrants “are not a good acquisition for use to make, since they appear tohave so many items in common with the Chinese.” (Jacobson 41-42)

Jacobson gives many more examples of different prejudicesagainst these probationary “white” groups, such as Italians being referred toas “white niggers” in the South (Jacobson 57). However, because of the NaturalizationLaw of 1790, which permitted “free white persons” to become citizens in theUnited States, these prejudices eventually fell away because the debate shiftedtoward two other minority groups, specifically the Blacks and the NativeAmericans.

Being partially Hungarian Ican relate to the Irish being called savages because the Hungarians have been referredto as barbarians. When my Grandmother lived in Germany she told me a story thather second son was mistaken for having a black father because of the darker hue ofthe Hungarian skin tone. The malicious side of stereotyping people based onrace can be seen in James Der Derian’s book Virtuous War. Der Derian beginshis book by talking about the conflict in Kosovo. This conflict arose over aterritorial dispute but turned into an ethnic cleansing led by SlobodanMilosevic and the Serbian Government. After seeing how the definition of“white” has changed solely for the purpose of power, political and economic, Ican no longer consider being white an important part of my identity because Ido not think it means anything. My definition of my whiteness has been builtoff of other people’s attempts to make other groups inferior, and at one timemy Hungarian heritage fell under this category. To continue to accept this“white stereotype” would go against my personal beliefs.

AmericanIdentities in the Real World

I think it is hard to analyzeAmerican identities based solely on experiences that took place in America. Weare so used to our own culture that it is very difficult to see what is reallygoing on and how we are actually being perceived by others. When I was a juniorin high school I went on a ten-day trip to Italy and Greece. While we werethere we visited all sorts of tourist attractions such as The Vatican, the Coliseum,the Parthenon, and Pompeii, to name a few. Being immersed in a totally differentculture was a bit of a shock but it made it easier to analyze how people inother countries viewed Americans. One of the first things that I noticed dealtwith the language barrier. Our tour group knew practically no Italian or Greekwords; we relied on our tour guide from the area to handle all the speaking andtranslating. Most Italians and Greeks we talked to knew a little bit ofEnglish; I assume this is because they were shop owners and most of theirbusiness came from tourism. Since I did not speak to any Italians or Greeks onthe street I cannot comment on how their English was, but regardless this goesto strengthen the stereotype that Americans do not care to learn otherlanguages and that we expect everyone to speak English.

This also goes hand in handwith culture. While we were there I was trying to absorb and learn as much as Icould about the Italian and Greek culture. However I noticed that other peoplein my tour group could seem to care less about the culture they were in. Somepeople were even bored with all the tours we were taking and were evencomplaining! One night about half of our tour group went to an Italianclub/bar, since there is no drinking age in Italy. We did the typical “Americanthing” and got drunk before we went to the club. While we were there I noticedsome Italian girls staring at our tour group and a few other American tourgroups that were in the club. This was obviously due to our drunken nature. Oneof my friends ended up getting kicked out of the club because he had too muchto drink and was falling down all over the place. A few people in our groupalso puked out on the street. I was walking back alone form the club andaccidentally stumbled into the wrong hotel; after realizing I was in the wronghotel, I apologized and left. All of our actions were scrutinized by the locals,and rightly so. I think a lot out-of-control drinking was because we were soyoung. It was obvious to see that it is not the norm in Italy to party and getdrunk like in America. Alcohol is treated very differently in Italy and allthroughout Europe; they grow up with alcohol and learn to drink in moderation.This seems to be a severe contrast to Americans and the way that we drink alcohol.

I think that this behavioralso enforces the negative stereotype that Americans are irresponsible and onlylike to party. American shows, like Jersey Shore, which are popular in Europe,can give Europeans a false sense of what the American identity really is. It isvery hard for foreigners to get a sense of the real American identity withoutsitting down and getting to know us. Otherwise all their assumptions areusually based off of television shows and stereotypes. We need to make aneffort to connect with other cultures and learn what their true identity is,not just assume things that reinforce stereotypes.

AnalyzingCulture as an Identity

Ifyou have traveled to a different city, state, region, or country, you haveprobably noticed some cultural differences. The most obvious is often languageor dialect. If you look deeper you will realize these differences occur becauseof how these people are brought up. I think that this shows where a persongrows up influences them much more than their race.

My time in another country andreading Amy Chua’s book The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother made merealize this. Now after reading Chua’s book I can make a connection between thedifferences in culture in the United States and abroad. Chua’s style ofparenting seemed very strict to me and to our class. At the start of the bookChua gives a list of things she never let her children do:

Attend a sleepover, have a play date, be in aschool play, complain about not being in a school play, watch TV or playcomputer games, choose their own extracurricular activities, get any grade lessthan an A, not be the #1 student in any subject except gym and drama, play anyother instrument other than piano or violin, not play the piano or violin.(Chua 3-4)

Throughout the book Chua tells stories aboutraising her children by these rules. To most people this standard of parentingis considered very strict and some of the stories Chua tells, in my opinion,border on abuse. However in the book Chua states that her mother was evenstricter. It became obvious to me that we were looking at her book and style ofparenting through our own cultural lens. To us her parenting seemed strict andabusive but Chua’s Chinese mother might think she was too lenient on herdaughters.

I connected this differencein cultures with my time in Italy and Greece. Until I actually went abroad Iwould have never know the extent of differences in other cultures. When yougrow up in one town your whole life that mentality becomes your status quo andthis can be hard to break. This is best illustrated by my story of myclassmates and I drinking in Italy. In our culture alcohol is treated verydifferently than it is in Italy. Kids over there grow up with alcohol and it isnot the “forbidden fruit” that it is in the United States. This has taught meto recognize the differences in other cultures rather than the differences inpeople, such as race. The association between race and culture can cloudpeople’s judgments and lead to false interpretations that can be harmful suchas the American Idiot stereotype or the ethnic cleansing of Kosovo.

My Opinionof America

I truly believe that Americais the greatest country in the world. It is also very unique when you compareit with other countries. The most important thing about America is that it wasfounded on the premise of freedom and individuality. The pilgrims came here insearch of religious freedom; along with freedom of religion came a list ofothers such as freedom of speech and freedom of the press, to name a few. Butthere is also another kind of freedom, the freedom to be yourself and pursueyour own interests, essentially the entitlement to the pursuit of happiness. Ithink that this is a good example of American identity.

When you compareAmerica to other countries many differences become evident; for one thing,America is made up of a multitude of different people. America doesn’t have adefinite ethnicity like most countries. Most countries in Europe are made up ofpeople that have had a claim to the land for hundreds of years like the Germansor Swedes. America is truly a melting pot of all different ethnicities andcultures. Another thing that sets us apart from other countries is thediversity of different languages that are spoken here and the religions thatare practiced. Unlike other countries, such as Iran, we do not have an officialreligion or official language. While the majority of Americans are Christianand speak English we have a sizable population that does not and we recognizethis as a country. Because of the sheer variety of people in America it is hardto define what the American identity actually is; we cannot define our countryby race, or religion or even language like so many other countries can. AsAmericans it is sometimes difficult to come together because we are sodifferent and believe in so many different things.

I think that as Americans weare united not through a common religion or common language; we are unitedthrough freedom. We are united through the ideal that we are all created equal,that we are individuals, and that we are free to pursue our own happiness,whatever that may be. I think that this is the true American identity--it isnot based on the characteristics of our people such as language or culture, butit is an idea. Everyone can get behind this idea and support it, which is partof the reason so many immigrants have come here in an effort to better therelives. The American dream sounds clichébut rather than the American Dream being a house in the suburbs with a whitepicket fence, 2.5 kids and a dog I think the real American Dream is aboutopportunity. This opportunity for a better life has brought people from allacross the globe to America in pursuit of their own American Dream. I thinkthat this is the true American identity: freedom and opportunity.

Expandingon My Opinion of America

The above section describesmy view of the ultimate identity of America; this idea of freedom. Howeverafter reading eight different books and discussing various aspects of theAmerican identity, I am again forced to change my view. It now seems as thoughthis idea of freedom is not distinctly American but it is an idea that thewhole human race strives for; America is just the place to be for this idea offreedom to flourish. One of the more analytical books we read was Peter Spiro’sbook Beyond Citizenship. His book analyzes what citizenship means andhow important American citizenship actually is. Spiro states in his book thateven non-citizens', such as illegal immigrants, freedoms are protected under theConstitution. If you do not have to be an American citizen for your freedom tobe protected it is not inherently an American characteristic. I linked thistheme back to the first book we read, The Death of Josseline by MargaretRegan. Her book is a tale of various immigrants trying to get into the UnitedStates to enjoy this freedom I described in the above section. It chroniclestheir journey across the border, the dangers, and what people are doing tohelp. Their own country does not provide the economic freedom that they need sothey are forced to find it elsewhere. In addition to Regan’s book BarackObama’s Dreams from My Father also plays with this idea of freedomin a more subtle way. Obama chronicles his grandfather's, father's, and his ownstruggles for freedom from oppression in various ways. This idea of freedom isnot isolated to America.

AnalyzingYour Own Identity

My American Identities classreally got me thinking about every aspect of my identity. It was something thatI never really thought about because identity is so natural and usuallysomething you usually do not analyze critically. Now I think that it isessential to analyze identity on a personal level and national level. We allneed to be more conscious about what influences us and where our identity comesfrom and what it is based off of. I was very surprised with what I found when Iexamined my identity and I think you will, too.

Bibliography

Chua, Amy. Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother.New York: The Penguin Press, 2011.

Der Derian, James. Virtuous War. New York:Routledge, 2009.

Jacobson, Matthew Frye. Whiteness of a DifferentColor. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1999

Obama, Barack. Dreams from My Father.New York: Three Rivers Press, 1996.

Regan, Margaret. The Death of Josseline.Boston: Beacon Press, 2010.

Spiro, Peter. Beyond Citizenship. NewYork: Oxford University Press, 2008.

Quien tu eres

2011-12-17T13:01:00.000-05:00

OhAmerica

Briella Santiago

The American identity, if it eventruly exists, originates in many different forms and ideas. They are based onfact, straight-up lies, exaggerations and somehow all of these all at once.They generate from many different countries. Voices give truth to a typicalsometimes unrealistic stereotype. These ideas come about from the way wepresent ourselves, how we define ourselves or how others want us to be defined.

On a micro and macro point ofview America is viewed as the root of greed. The government is constantlytrying to find ways to extract natural resources from third world countries.America is never satisfied with just relishing in her own success. She isforever going into other countries and trying to push American beliefs on thosewho don’t need or want them. Everything that goes against her beliefs is viewedas something that needs to be destroyed and rebuilt in her Image and her peopleare worse. They are lazy fat gluttonous slobs who sit in front of thetelevision all day getting life handed to them as they die of obesity, whilemore than half of the world is starving to death.

Americans are stupid. They havenever worked a hard day in their lives. Their idea of strife is when theinternet connection falters slightly, or they missed that brand new episode ofJersey Shore. They know nothing about the world around them. China and Japanhave long since passed the United States in intellect. With all theopportunities presented to them Americans insist on indulging theirmindlessness.

Americans are unappreciative ofwhat they have. Even with their families fully intact and basic human rightsthat people are dying for in other countries. Americans take it for granted andconstantly criticize and bitch about a government that protects not onlytheir lives, but their right to vote and live in a peaceful crime-freeenvironment. Clean water and an abundant food source is not a right, it’s aprivilege, and yet most Americans waste food or water for the fun of it.

Americans are all beautiful andglamorous. We all walk out of the bed in the morning with pin-straight blondehair, sparkling blue eyes and a glowing tan, even during the winter months. Allour people are beautiful and skinny. We are physically perfect, therefore we leadthe perfect lives. We get the best jobs, have the most fun and marry the man(or woman) of our dreams. America is just one big party full of rich andgorgeous people.

What human nature doesn’t allowus to realize is that you can’t make a generalization about a group of peopleby the way an individual acts or carries themselves. People are unique and cannot be judged by theactions of the majority.

There are many American peoplewho are well-educated, who yearn to discover, who have a passion for givingback to others, who have experienced success through hard work anddetermination rather than looks or power. America has its corruptions like inmany governments. We are blessed in many ways; not all of us take our gifts forgranted.

Most of my mother’s childhood wasspent frolicking on the sandy showers of La playa de ponce, a beach twenty orso miles away from Ponce, the second largest city in Puerto Rico. My father wasraised on the lasagna and baked ziti of Sunday dinners at his Nona’s house,right after church, during Sunday football. Both of them found their way to the heart of Spanish Harlem. My fatherused to deliver milk to the boarding school my mother was sent to shortly aftershe made her trek from the countryside of her childhood to the mean hardstreets of northeastern Manhattan. I couldn’t tell you exactly who they areanymore but I can offer up pieces of myself as part of their stories. I am areflection of their past, a constant reminder of who they were. I am a mestizo,the typical Nuyorican.

Pregnant with a white man’s baby at fifteen,my mother became the typical American statistic even before she could speak thenative language of this country. My dad, smitten with her exotic looks andnaïve hopefulness for the future, never left her side. He spent endless hours satisfyingher craving for the food of her home land, empanadas (beef patties) and ricewith beans. Not fully aware of thesocial standards in this country, her family celebrated and welcomed my birth, theaddition to the family tree. She proudly displayed her growing belly in form-fitting maternity dresses and cut-up tank tops.

I came to this country fromBuenos Aires, Argentina, at age four and I haven’t been back since. My father left the big city to play soccer inArgentina with my mother. I guess it was a type of honeymoon, a way to escapethe scrutinizing eyes of his family. Impregnating a 15-year-old girl at 26 isfrowned upon and punishable by law. According to my father, however, my motherwas by no means a child. It’s one of the only things they’d still agree upon tothis day. When he had met her, shelooked 18 and told him in her broken English that she was in her early twenties.She doesn’t look upon him as the thief of her childhood or a molester. By thedefinition of Puertorican culture, her childhood had been stripped from her atage 13. She had long since become a woman, before even seeing my dad.

My mother gave me up to myfather, for a chance at a better life she says. He had a home, an established business,and his family had a stability and knowledge of the typical American dream thatshe knew to be unachievable for her family and friends. She encouraged me tosuccumb to a different way of life, to grow up a typical American child.

My transformation began on LongIsland. I came to my father speaking in Spanglish and fragments of brokenEnglish. He sent me to a special preschool for the chance at higher learning,early development and study skills it preached. It was there that I lost myaccent, that I came to embrace the English language and abandoned the prattleof Spanish tongue. Rice and carnita sandwichesbecame peanut butter and jelly. I no longer cooled myself in the summer byrunning through the streams of broken fire hydrants in the street, nor did Ispend my Saturday mornings watching telemundo. Still on occasion I yearned for the warmth of the tropical sun and theupbeat lull of bachata music. I missed the vibrant shades of orange and yellowas the sun set and night time cooled the air. I missed home.

Home came to be defineddifferently as I aged and allowed myself to become part of Caucasian culture. In school I stopped speaking Spanglish and eventually the Spanish languagebecame dormant through my lips, but never in my mind. My light brown hair and porcelainskin allowed me to blend evenly with my peers. I went to dance school, joined pottery club, girl scouts, and tookswimming lessons, horseback riding lessons and soccer. Never once did I lookback to my roots. My mother cut off most contact with me, not wanting tointerfere in my transformation or stunt my growth in any way, shape or form.My step-mother was Dominican, so occasionally I'd find myself prattling to herin Spanish quickly, but typically she encouraged me speak English and indulgedmy father’s desire for Italian cuisine.

Although the area I grew up inwasn’t too segregated, I got a scholarship to a ritzy private school. Most ofthem were unaware of my lower finances or Hispanic heritage. I tried my hardestto never let on that I was different. As far as people were concerned I was your typical all-American girl.

After I graduated from the private schoolthat ran from kindergarten to 8th grade, my plans to attend St.Johns, a private high school, fell through and I ended up in a normal publichigh school. It was there that I learned to embrace diversity and not shun whoI am. There was plenty of everybody in that school. In fact Bay Shore seniorhigh school won awards for its diversity and encouragement of acceptance of allpeople. Bay Shore ranks asthe 3rd most diverse high school in New York State. As I grew and met newpeople, I learned that to embrace one culture and lifestyle does not mean tocompletely disregard another. Part of being a typical American is embracing allthat you are and everything you wish to be. America is a melting pot. You couldnever truly define the typical or generic American because it varies. I would consider myself the typical Americanteenager. I listen to my iPod and I eat fast food, I shake my hips to a Spanishbeat and I never forget who I am or where I came from.

America is the true definition ofbeauty, a place where the evils of the world cannot touch those who enter herrealms. We offer a sense of freedom and stability. Our country is a shiningbeacon of hope. The very reason many decide to keep trying.

We are diverse. In many places inAmerica, there are a wide array of cultures, groups, religions and sexualorientation. America takes in the oppressed and unwanted and offers them aplace of belonging. Many of these people go on to find their place in a communityso full of choices and diversity.

In reality, although we preachdiversity and advertise a cultural melting pot, most of us live in segregatedareas. Whether the difference is racial, cultural, monetary or religious, weare taught tolerance and not exactly acceptance. Often reverse discriminationoccurs. We try too hard to be accepting of different people and end upexploiting and bending over backwards not to offend the group of people.Instead of actually welcoming them into the community, we gawk and make themfeel more out of place then at home.

Success is a tradition. InAmerica, there isn’t a child that goes hungry. We are a generous people. Thereare jobs available to all without the barrier of discrimination or sexism.America is truly a place of equal opportunities Judgment is rarely, if everpassed.

The government provides every oneof its citizens and refugees, a place of safety. They are non-hostile andunconcerned with things of monetary value. They rarely bother with pretensionsof war and usually stick to the business of the country. Their main focus isbenefiting the people and working to improve within themselves.

For the most part, the governmentis filled with corrupt politicians whose main interest lies in making a quickbuck. Heck, most Americans don’t evenrealize the true nature of the politicians whom they support. Most of what goes on in political electionsare rarely covered by the media. The media portrays the political meat puppetsin the light of their choosing. Charisma, a promise of “boosting the economy”and a couple of millions, is really all that is needed to win a major election.Notice that nobody from any other political group besides republicans anddemocrats get any media coverage during elections. I doubt that many people actually spend enoughtime away from their iPhones and whatever other mindless overindulgentelectronics to actually do the proper research on other candidates in theelection.

Americans are never unsightly.They take care to exercise and maintain a healthy weight. Their diet is craftedto keep them alive and fit rather than for entertainment of relieving of boredom.Nor do they starve or throw up to achieve an unreasonable standard of beauty.Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. America is a place where that’ssomething you'll never forget. We appreciate people from all walks of liferegardless of religion, race, gender, or sexual orientation.

Of course the media constantlybombards us with images of what we are supposed to look like. Constant adsfeaturing dangerously thin models who represent maybe 2 percent of the womenor men in the world are used to represent body ideals. Ironically, after watching a commercial forthe newest diet pill and ways to mutilate and emaciate our bodies, the very next thing that comes on commercial fortaco bell, think outside the bun. Make up your mind, America! You want my waistto be microscopic and yet, at every stoplight and corner I turn, there’s a McDonalds.

Most of all ,we’re all a very honestgroup of people. We would never invade another country and exploit their peoplefor a disposable useless good. We wouldn’t make children and old women work 12-hour shifts without breaks for less than a penny a day. In fact here in Americaeveryone lives in a little wooden cabin and works hard to make their ownclothes

We aren’t known for our crueltyor callousness at all. In fact none of our people are self-absorbed mindlessmedia zombies who parrot every subliminal message spoken to them. We research thingsbefore calling them a fact and entertainment is under no circumstances putabove basic human rights. Oh no, we’re the absolute definition of perfection.

Our culture on average is way tooself-oriented to even begin to comprehend any of these issues. Most of us wouldrather sit here in our perfect little bubbles and entertain our petty littleproblems than look at the world around us and realize that the definition oftragedy is not in fact your lack of internet connection for more than 5minutes. We turn a blind eye or refuseto dawdle too far away from our ignorance to try and make an impact in theworld. It’s all about us, all the time. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the very first step towards ourundoing. Think … the fall of the Roman Empire.

Cheers ;)

** smiles a stepford wife smile**

Who I Am

2011-12-16T23:39:00.002-05:00

Who I Am

Anonymous

Part A) NationalIdentity

Perhapsthere once was a day where the identity of Americans was more concrete andunified. Maybe there was a day whenpeople knew what it meant to be an American and were proud to be one. Today, it seems as though that being “American”is not sufficient enough; just saying that you are American is not a tellingclue as to who you are and what you believe in. People now only identify with the parts of the media and culture thatthey decide they want assimilate to. There is more of a choice when it comes to deciding “who you are.”

Ournational identity is withering away because children are being forced to growup in a more self-sufficient lifestyle. Life is no longer what it used to be like--the socioeconomic status ofyour parents may not be the same one you end up living in as an adult. Less and less are families able to pass onbusinesses or acres of land to their children because of the poor economy. Children are learning at a young age thatnothing will be handed to them and they are being taught to focus less on thegood of others, let alone of the nation, and focus more on the self. Society is continually breeding newgenerations that are taught to be more selfish than the last.

Thisharsh change in reality is not one that has to or even will remain withAmericans throughout the years. Peopleare given the opportunity to change the lives of others every single day. If more children are raised the way I wasraised or if more educators dream of teaching children what it means to be awholesome and generous American, than the national identity may find itselfweaving back into our lives. Instead offocusing on the negative aspects and stereotypes of the American identity, peopleshould work toward creating a positive atmosphere in order to live morefulfilled and satisfying lives.

Part B) Beautiful Life

Mylife is nothing short of beautiful. Ihave had my fair share of ups and downs but every rocky road and everymemorable day has in some way carved its way into my personal identity. While I am still on the path to findingmyself as a whole, I have a pretty solid idea of who I am at the core. My identity can be broken down into threemain categories--I am a daughter, a sister, and a friend.

Iam a “momma’s girl” with a strong presence of my father’s Italian blood. My mom is one of my best friends. She’s the one person I miss more than anyonewhen I am away at school. She’s my rockand my angel all in one. She has shapedme into being a compassionate and generous young lady. My strong sense of empathy comes directlyfrom my mother; I can always “feel” the emotions of everyone and anyone aroundme. These empathetic emotions make me theunderstanding and thoughtful person that I am. My father, on the other hand, has given me the irreplaceable traits ofbeing an Italian woman. I am loud andproud of it. I can be outspoken,defensive, and stubborn. And I willnever deny that to anybody, unless I’m offended or being stubborn. I can be high maintenance but that’s justpart of me wanting to live in a nice and clean environment. Some of these traits that make up my identitymay sound negative to some people, and at times, they can be, but I embracethem and view them as a part of how I was raised and how I want to continue tolive.

Iam a sister to the most amazing brother and sister. I care for them in a way that only a middlechild could. My sister is two yearsolder than me, and my brother is two years younger than me, so I am smack-dabin the middle. I worry about the both ofthem as if they were my own children. Iam constantly thinking about what they are doing, where they are, whom they arewith and what time they will be home. Iwant them to be safe at all times and more than anything, I want them to behappy. I would jump through hoops justto see them smile. Being a middle childhas definitely influenced my identity because it made me into a sharing,loving, worried, and organized person.

Iam a friend and a confidant. My friendsare my world. The friends I’ve managedto keep from my hometown since being out of high school and the friends I’vemade at college over the past three years are comparable to the air that Ibreathe. I need them just as much asthey need me and we have such an inseparable bond; I wouldn’t trade in one daywith them for all the riches in the world. Part of my personable and friendly personality comes from just havingpeople like these around. These peoplemake me want to be a better person, they make me want to help others, and theymake me want to do great things in my life. I get satisfaction out of knowing that I am dependable and that so manypeople know and trust in me enough to come to me with worries. I want each one of my friends, near or far,to know that at the end of the day, they are needed and loved by me. I always get teased for the amount ofpictures that I take with my friends and my response is, “I want to document mylife.” I want to take these memories,these friendships, and these good times with me everywhere I go so that one daywhen I have my own family, I can explain to them that it was these people andthese moments that influenced my identity. I am corny and my heart is just too big for my chest. These friendships are the shoelaces to mysneakers.

Myheart explodes with the love I have for my parents, my siblings and my friends. My entire identity has developed because ofthese influences. I am a stronger,happier, and healthier person inside and out. I know my identity will be forever changing but for now, I am contentwith who I am and where I am headed in life. After all, life is beautiful.

Part C) America, the Beautiful

Itis unfortunate to me that the overall American identity is mostly negativeconsidering I see so much beauty all around me. How can all of America be criticized and stereotyped in such horribleways when my life seems so uplifting and generally positive? The American identity should and needs to bechanged. There is no reason for usAmericans to feel ashamed or hated when going to other countries for vacationsor for work-related reasons.

The generalconsensus is that America is full of dumb, ignorant, fat, lazy people who aregreedy and think they are better than everyone else. It is almost amusing to know that our countryis stereotyped like that yet, not one single person in my life in Rochester orin my life in Fredonia fit into those appalling categories. Our identities are actually anything butthose stereotypes listed.

Every human being on this planet hasexperienced a bad day or two so there is no reason why our bad days should defineour entire country. So what if not everysingle American goes to school or has a 4.0? Does every person in every other country earn Ph.D.’s? If the answer is no, then we should not beconsidered dumb. We can all be a littleabsent-minded or ignorant of other countries, peoples, and ideas that we do notfully understand ourselves. Clearly, thecountries that would define the American identity as “ignorant” are displayingsome ignorance themselves considering everyone, all over, has a little bit ofignorance in one area or another. Instead of being stereotyped as dumb and ignorant, I think Americashould be considered intelligent and still learning. There are millions of very intelligent peoplein this country who do big things. Wehave a strong government and even if they make choices that not everyone agreeswith, at least we don’t have a tyrant for a president. We are learning Americans. We are constantly learning about new people,places, ideas and technologies. Teachersare making efforts to inform their students about diverse cultures andencourage their students to travel with an open-mind, ready to soak up all ofthe new stimuli.

So what if thereare some chubby people walking around? Being overweight should not define us. In all of my twenty-one years of life, not once have I ever thought thatmy weight is part of my identity. Iwould never answer the question of “How would you describe your personalidentity?” with “skinny.” I cannot thinkof any of my family members or friends that would answer with, “My identity canbe described as chubby.” Weight has nothing to do with identity rather physicalappearance so if people are going to categorize Americans as fat than theycould be categorized as shallow for only looking skin deep--then here we goagain, we’re in a game of cat and mouse. Calling each other names because our feelings got hurt. If you looked past the physical appearance ofAmericans, you’d see good people with good intentions and that should be whatdefines us. It’s what inside thatcounts.

Everyone in theworld at one point or another has been greedy in some way. Even I have been greedy before and I considermyself to be a very generous and open-minded person. Sometimes life requires you to be a littlegreedy and take a little more than you give. I don’t see Americans walking around taking from every single personthey can, every chance they get, without ever giving back. If an American has worked hard to get wherethey are, then they deserve what they earn and they deserve to spend it in anywhich way they want. There are hundredsand thousands of charities in America so to say that we are greedy is beyondme. Just taking a walk around a grocerystore or a gas station, you’d see plenty of items that you could buy where someof the proceeds go to a charity. Ifgiving to charities make us greedy then we’re greedy Americans.

I have met veryfew people in my life that think they are better than everyone else and I canalmost guarantee that they do not feel that they are better than everyone elsein the entire world. As a country thatis mostly middle class, most Americans are raised knowing that there are somebelow us and some above us but that we should treat all with an equal amount ofrespect and kindness. Confidence shouldnot be mistaken for cockiness. We areconfident in our abilities to survive and thrive in this world--where’s theharm in that? Americans might have ahard outer shell but we are softies inside, we do care about the well-being ofothers, we are understanding of the curves life throws people sometimes, and weare always willing to give a hand to someone in need. Confident is a perfect word that can be usedto define the American identity because that’s just what we are--positive--that we can do well for ourselves and for others.

Why can’t Americabe stereotyped as something more positive? Why do stereotypes always have to be so negative? I think that has something to say about ourworld in general; every country would rather focus on the bad parts of everyoneelse’s country rather than trying to fix the issues that are going on rightinside of their own homes. The worldwould be a much more peaceful place if the people in it could just start seeingthe good in others rather than the bad.

Part D) Beautiful Experiences

Mylife in America has always been full of diversity. I am almost unaware of how much diversity Ihave encountered until I really sit down to think about it. I am lucky to be able to say that. To be able to say that I know and havefriends of different races, different preferences, different ideas and differentbeliefs from mine is beautiful. The factthat I have not been sheltered from people different from myself is a blessingthat oftentimes gets overlooked.

I grew up in adiverse neighborhood; my favorite neighbors when I was little were not onlyAfrican-American, but also Jehovah's Witnesses. Coming from a not-so religious family, I was always curious about theirsand how they lived. I was taught earlyon that there are going to be people unlike me in my life and that thosedifferences do not make me any better or worse. I went to a decently diverse elementary school and an even more diversehigh school. There were never any racialissues or any discrimination against people who were gay or lesbian. You were who you were and if you had aproblem or didn’t like certain people, it wasn’t because of where they wereborn, it wasn’t because of their skin color, or their sexual preference; it wasmerely because you didn’t like some part of their personality or something evenmore miniscule like they stole your girlfriend/boyfriend. Going away to college wasn’t much differentthan living in my hometown. I have adiverse group of friends and I love every one of them just the same.

Icannot draw upon any personal experiences that can be considered revealing orsuggestive about both my identity and American identity in general. My life story has been standard and I havenot encountered any “wow-ing” moments that have strengthened or weakened thesense I have of my own identity or that of America as a whole. My American identities story is still in themaking. My moment has yet to come but itwill and I can almost be sure that it will come once I start teaching in aclassroom of my own.

Ichose to go to school to be a teacher because I want to make a difference. If a stranger were to ask anyone that knowsme why I want to be a teacher, the answer would come quickly and easily justbecause of my personal identity. To be ateacher, one must be a passionate, loving and thoughtful person. My personal opinions on American identitiescome from the drive to teach children to see the good in others. Living in a country that is so often put downfor a variety of (mostly shallow) reasons, it can be difficult for somechildren to see that they don’t fit into those categories and that they canmold themselves into any kind of person that they choose to.

Iam going to teach children of diverse backgrounds and of different needs. I want to teach them that they are not dumbjust for being an American. I want toteach them that they are capable and as long as they have a willingness tolearn, they will grow into a compassionate person. I want to teach children that their weight ortheir level of extra-curricular activity cannot define them. Children need to understand that body imageis not everything and that physical beauty is temporary, while inner beauty ispermanent. Children grow up to be greedyadults when they are not given the opportunity to give back to their neighborsand to the world around them. Americanchildren are not brought into this world being greedy. Outside factors influence that trait and as ateacher, I will have ample opportunities to get my students to fall in lovewith the act of sharing and giving. Myclassroom will be accepting of everyone, no matter the differences in race,heritage, or in socio-economic factors. Every student is capable of learning and every child is deserving ofequal respect and love as their neighbor.

My personalidentity and my opinion on America’s identity are both solid when separated, Ijust have not experienced a time where they have collided into one. These two will mesh once I am able to put myhopes of goodness and my dreams of happiness into my students’ minds. Children’s identities are changing and beingmolded every single day. Why not throwaway the dirty glasses that have been given to Americans and trade them in fora clean pair of glasses to look through? America holds much more beauty than it’s beinggiven credit for. As I have firmlystated before, the American stereotypes should and need to be changed. Teaching children to try to be the bestpeople they can be while seeking out the beauty in others will eventually turnthese negatives into positives. When itcomes down to it, it is the children of today that impact tomorrow’s future.

The True America

2011-12-16T23:28:00.000-05:00

Identifying America

Anonymous

As we start to get older, we tend to start seeingwho we really are as a person and start to identify what other people’s characteristics, personalities, and goals truly are. As I was growing up, my identity was all over theplace. Things constantly changed, such as friends,lifestyles, interests, and my understanding for life. Also, as you matures you start to realize moreserious matters such as government, money, family problems, etc. And when you begin to understand more about theseserious matters, you may also catch yourself identifying them differently thanyou would have when you did not understand. My identityand how I identify America are important to me because it shows who I truly amand how America actually is as well.

Throughout life, your identity and who you are as aperson changes every day. My identity has changeddrastically over the last few years since moving away from home and intocollege. Back in high school I was on the football team, honorroll, Boy Scouts, very family-oriented and never drank or smoked anything. Today I currently play no sports competitively, havejoined a fraternity, have picked up both drinking and smoking, currently have a2.9 GPA, but still have stayed very family-oriented. If I were to define myself I’d say I am a very humbleyet outspoken guy that is extremely into his social life, family, and future. But without myfamily raising me the way they did, I don’t believe these same characteristicswould be true. In the book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, by Amy Chua, she talks about how raising herdaughters in a strict manor caused one to be really obedient and another to bevery disobedient. I was raised similarly to Sophie and Lulu but not asintensely and turned out quite similar--more of a mix of the two, rather.

I recently became more involved in my social lifebecause in high school I was awkward, sheltered and was not a social butterflywhatsoever. When I came to college I told myself that this neededto change. Seeing as I was basically starting a new life, I madesure I made friends with a ton of people and got myself involved in groups andclubs. This strategy helped me to break out of my awkwardshell and do things I never thought I would ever experience, such as joining afraternity and being able to make so many friends. Ialso happened to become more family-oriented as well during my freshman year,but this was unintentional. In December of 2009, mygrandfather had fell into a coma and never came out. As he was taken off of life support, I held his handwhile the rest of my family watched sorrowfully as the heart rate machine slowlywent flat. Not only was the death of my grandfather tragic, but seeingmy handicapped grandmother be alone in her house was saddening too. Since my grandfather has passed away I have made ahuge effort to see my family members and help them out as much as possiblebecause you never know when something will happen and you will never see themagain. But besides being loyal to my family, I haven’treally looked into or been interested in where I am really from. I know that I am of Czech, Irish, German, and Englishdescent but other than that I couldn’t tell you really how my family came to behere in America.

When I was younger, I always thought America was thehome of the brave, the red white and blue that could never be touched, and ourgovernment was out to make the world a better place than it was before! Oh howI was wrong. Since I’ve come to college, my view and take on ourgovernment and America has taken a turn for the worst. I mainly started hating our government because Istarted learning more about marijuana. Now thismight sound extremely “hippyish” if you will, but it’s not about getting highwhatsoever. It’s more about lobbying, money, and politics thatsparked my interest.

After smoking marijuana for about a year I started toresearch more about why it is still to this day illegal. What I had found in my research was much differentthan I expected to find. I learned that marijuana has neverkilled a single person ever; it is a phenomenal medication treating many thingssuch as multiple sclerosis, anxiety, and depression--it even lowers growth in cancercells. I also learned that hemp, the male form of marijuana,is the strongest soft fiber known to man, cannot get someone high, yet isstill illegal in many places. So why are there so manypositive things coming from just a simple little plant that is so illegal inmany places? The answer to this question is simple. Some of the two biggest industries in America todayare pharmaceuticals and timber, and these industries can use lobbying to theiradvantage and pay politicians to vote on what they want to see passed. For example, a new bill arrives in Congress tolegalize the sale and distribution of marijuana in stores. If this bill were to pass, the pharmaceuticalindustry would take a serious hit, seeing as this new “medication” can be grownin one’s home at almost no expense. Yes ofcourse people would still be buying medicine for many other different symptoms,but when you can grow your own medicine without having to fill a prescriptionor pay the pharmacy tons of money, why would you?

But it is not only marijuana that is made illegal orless popular due to lobbyists. The timber industry and the oil industry arealso two of the top industries in the nation and they also pay politicians tovote in favor of them. Cutting down trees and burning non-renewable resourcesis terrible for our environment and has in turn changed the world since westarted this awful habit, yet our government hasn’t done much about it to fixit. The technology for an electric car or other means of transportation usingelectricity such as monorails has been around for centuries and we are nowjust starting to utilize it. And as for the timber industry, there are manyother soft fibers we can make from plants such as hemp, fiber stone, and evenelephant feces! There is no need to cut down our forests when there are plentyof other sources for paper. After realizing that our government is basicallypaid to do what is good for the corporation and not good for the economy orsociety I began to wonder, why is our government so greedy? Do politiciansreally need more money to feel better about themselves? This affected medirectly because I now think of all authority this way. Police, judges,sometimes even professors I feel are just out to do what’s better for themselvesand not what’s better for the community or their students. I know this isstrictly just paranoia but this how I think of it. If the top leaders of ourcountry can be as corrupt as they are, who is to say this shady techniquedoesn’t trickle down to the lower spectrum?

Seeing all of this made me tremendously upset and shocked. I realizednow that our economy and environment could be running much more efficiently ifwhat we are doing now could be changed. Not onlythat, but if they are mainly keeping these things around because the lobbyistscan pay the politicians a large amount of money to keep it that way, what else arethey doing strictly based on being paid? This question made me realize that ourcountry's identity is not what I thought it was.American politics are not about red white and blue, but more about the colorgreen. My new belief on American identity is that the peoplewho run our country are nothing more than greedy fat cats that will do anythingto keep their pockets and wallets full.

Something else that piqued my interest just recentlywas the fact that our government is making our freedom to do almost anythingvery limited. I only just learned that our government wants to oversee more ofwhat we do on our private time. This includes what we do on the internet, wherewe're going by using public transit, even detaining people who “maybe”are terrorists! I am sorry but whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?There is evidence showing that innocent people have been put into the GuantanamoBay holding facility and have been tortured for many years, just to be let goand be told “ok you’re free to go, have a nice day.” Our government has becometoo power hungry over the years and it needs to end. I remember learning in highschool that during World War II, Japanese Americans were detained just forbeing Japanese. I was told this was extremely immoral then so what makes whatwe are doing today any less immoral? The science fiction novel Little Brother, by Cory Doctorow, portrays a societythat is similar to what I feel we are reaching here today in America. At one point in thebook, the protagonist named Marcus is scooped by the police and taken back tohis mother’s home. They are accusing him of possible terrorism, drug dealing,or stealing, strictly based on his travels on public transit. They said theytracked him easily on his transit card. Who says our government can’t do thesame exact thing?

Another topic that should be addressed similar to thesame issue is the control of immigration and how illegal immigrants are treatedand dealt with. The book titled The Death of Josseline, by Margaret Regan,talks about how Mexicans cross over from Mexico to America and how dangerousand expensive it could possibly be for individuals and their families. It also discusseshow border patrol officers can sometimes be very brutal and seriously injurethese people. Another thing about this topic that we discussed in class thatreally seemed strange yet was not surprising was the fact that they let acertain amount of immigrants in to do jobs Americans don’t want to do. I thinkthis is absurd! Our unemployment rate is through the roof and people all overare scurrying around looking for jobs yet our government is still giving someof these jobs to people that don’t belong in this country.

I don’t like thinking of America in this way but afterlooking into why politicians aren’t making certain decisions, it made merealize that they really are only into making money. The way America’s identity should be is obviouslyvery clear. I agree completely with the Tea Party activists thatare currently protesting all over the country that are saying America needs togo back to its roots. Not to the point where we arelimiting our racial boundaries but where our government was more centralizedaround our country and not every other country that has a problem. In connection with that statement, I believe ourcountry needs to have much better money management skills so they can take usout of a trillion-dollar debt. I say we can start doing thisby giving people who actually are citizens of America jobs before illegalaliens. But I also believe that our politicians have great money managementskills, although just for themselves, not for our country.

Our country, as of now, is in an extreme amount ofunnecessary debt. Our money is spent on things such as war, oil, less-than-par programs and so on. I believe our country isspending so much on war mainly for oil in these foreign countries. It is very evident that the big corporate “fat cats”of the oil companies have a big say in what politicians vote on. Mainly because there have been studies of newrenewable resources that can be used to replace oil, yet our country’sautomobile companies have been at a snail’s pace trying to incorporate theminto the newest cars. It is not only with oil butwith multiple industries that have been mentioned previously including timber,which can be replaced by hemp; pharmaceutical, which can be replaced with otherherbal remedies instead of pills that fix one thing but cause a great number ofside effects; and multiple other industries.

Basically, I believe that America’s identity haschanged from colonial, high nationalism spirit to a corporate “fat cat” runcountry that is nothing but driven by money. I understandthat lobbyists will always be around but I believe that we should go back towhen our country was more about the red white and blue instead of green greenand green. With this being said I think that I personally won’tbe able to do anything about this. Not only can I do nothing but I believe thatother people won’t be able to, either--seeing that we have been having protestssuch as Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Partiers and nothing has changed. I haveaccepted the fact that our nation is changing and has already drasticallychanged. So I’ve taken the old phrase, if you can beat them, join them. I planto take my major, business administration, and join the “1%” so I can liveabove the rest as the other 1% does today.

All of the Gay

2011-12-16T23:05:00.000-05:00

All of the Gay

Megatron

Every single person has their ownidentity and different qualities that make up that identity. At some point intime, I believe everyone struggles with that identity and has times where theyhave changed, for better or worse. Quite like that, I myself have had timesthat my growth as a person has influenced my identity today. I truly believe mychange was for the better and has helped me identify myself today.

            When I was in the sixth grade,I don’t think I was too different than I am now, but rather the people aroundme weren’t as open minded as they are now. With that said, I’m not saying I wasor am better than those people, but just that those people were more naive andclosed minded then than they are now. We were pretty young, after all. But backthen, people would make assumptions about me just because of what I wore orwhat TV shows I liked. “Oh, you wear black a lot. You must be emo and goth.” “Youwatch anime? You’re weird. Why are you still watching cartoons? That’schildish.” Try as I might to set them straight that black clothes does notequal gothic and anime is totally different and more mature than cartoons, theywould never listen to me. If anything, it would tend to egg the comments oneven more.

            Iremember for one of our art class assignments, we had to take this rubber-likeblock and carve out a design on it to make prints. Me being the anime geek Iwas (and still am), I decided to do mine about the anime Inu-Yasha. If you’venever seen Inu-Yasha it is a television show about a girl that getstransported to feudal Japan and ends up meeting Inu-Yasha, who is half-demon.They end up fighting against evil in order to gather a sacred jewel. So I wentabout doing my block just as everyone else did, but for some reason peoplestarted picking on me for doing my project about an anime, or rather a‘cartoon’ to them. I remember one girl specifically was calling me weird andsuch for doing a ‘cartoon’ when she’s over there doing hers of StrawberryShortcake, the cartoon character. Needless to say, I thought that was a bigpile of bull crap.

            Aroundthis time, I found a friend, who I'll call Soundwave, that didn’t make those assumptionsand embraced my weirdness and we became, and still are, best friends. When I’maround Soundwave, I feel like I can be myself. Shecame out as bisexual pretty early, which really got me thinking. My other bestfriend that I’d known for much longer, Shockwave, and I would get into talksabout sexuality due to Soundwave's coming out, saying that we are cool with it andsuch.

             Soundwave had gotten me into many different thingssuch as the TV show Degrassi: The NextGeneration, which I was instantly in love with. I came in on season fivewhich featured a lesbian couple and watching their love unfold on the showhelped me realize that I want that someday, boy or girl. Love can come fromanyone and that’s how I naturally felt with this couple and in life. With this realization, I started to noticewhy I was probably so pulled in by Soundwave--I had a crush on her. I was afraidto tell her about my realization at first, but eventually the truth did comeout (no pun intended), although we ultimately decided to keep our relationship strictlyfriendly.

            In the years to come, I slowlystarted coming out and finding myself. Although it was scary at some times, Iknew that being open about it would make me feel happier in the end. Ishouldn’t, and wouldn’t, hide my identity. Instead of hiding, I decided toembrace myself. After I embraced that, I was able to embrace much more ofmyself. I became more comfortable with myself and who I am.

            Comingout to my friends was the easiest, since most of them are kind of gay anyways.They pretty much knew before I even said anything. I then came out to my auntwho lives in Virginia before I came out to any of my family that lives with me.She’s very open-minded and likes a lot of the same things I do, so it was a biteasier to come out to her. The reason my sexuality came to conversation wasbecause we had gone shopping earlier and I bought a book called Rainbow Boys by Alex Sanchez, since Iknew my mother would never let me buy it with her. We were talking about it inher kitchen when I just told her that, yes, I like girls and she was perfectlyfine with it.

            Mymother was the one I was most scared to come out to. She’s the one whoseopinion matters most in this situation, for me. She’s very religious, so that’sone reason I struggled with coming out to her. I had tried to drop subtlehints, just kind of being “Yay Gay!” around her and I kind of think she knew.One day I was talking about this paper I wrote that had mentioned homosexualityand being accepted. Her response was kind of like “Is there something you’retrying to tell me?” and so I told her. Initially, she told me that she loves meno matter what, but she did think that I was young and that it is a ‘phase.’ Weoften got into fights dealing with religion and sexuality. No matter what, shewould still say that she loved me, though.

            Afterthat, I feel like she denied my sexuality and never took it seriously. Therewere times that she’d disregard that part of me. If we were talking about thefuture in which she was waiting for nieces and nephews, it was always megetting a husband. She’d always mention me getting a boyfriend, never agirlfriend. That changed a bit when I got myself a girlfriend.

            Myfirst legit girlfriend came along my junior year of high school. She wasn’treally out at the time and she was more so just starting to come to terms withher sexuality. So, no one really knew we were dating for the first week or sountil she was comfortable with me telling my friends. After a couple weeks ofus dating, she came over one day to just chill with me. We were just in my room(which is downstairs and has no door but thick curtains) watching televisionand kind of holding hands and resting heads on shoulders type of thing. My momdecides to randomly come in my room (I call it “mother’s intuition”) and shedemanded that my girlfriend go home.

            Afterwe have a mini-freak-out moment together, she leaves and I stay in my room tocontinue my freak-out, contacting friends for some sort of help. I think one ofthem agreed that I should go talk to my mom, so that’s what I went to do. Ifound her in her room, lying in her bed, crying, on the phone talking to herpastor. She said she didn’t want to talk to me right now, so I went back to myroom. When we finally talked, she grounded me for a week. Oddly enough, mygirlfriend and I broke up in the early days of my grounding (I think my momscared her a bit), so I was left grounded over a girl that I wasn’t even datinganymore.

            Therewere still times after that that my mother would deny my sexuality, but Ipretty much just went with it since I didn’t want to share anything gay withher at that point. I know I said I wouldn’t hide my sexuality, but it’sdifferent when it came to my mother. I didn’t necessarily hide it but ratherdidn’t flaunt it around her. I’d still wear rainbows like a pride parade, but Iwouldn’t fix her if she only said “boyfriend” and I wouldn’t talk about mylatest girl crush with her. I think she has become a bit more accepting nowthat I am older, but it still can be a bit awkward when it comes to mysexuality. I do know that she loves me, though.

            Theseevents shaped me to be who I am today. I’m proud of my sexuality, but there aretimes when I feel that it hinders my relationship with my mother. I know thatif I were to get a girlfriend, I would not hide it from my mother anymore,though. I’m not sure what exactly would happen in that situation, but I am anadult now so I’m not going to hide it away. I’m sure many other people in theLGBT community can identify with situations like this even though we all haveour own stories.

            Yoursexual orientation can definitely influence your entire life and be a big partof your identity. Having to deal with coming out and dealing with all of thedifferent reactions that come with that is just one part of it. Just onenegative reaction can change things entirely. Since I had already embraced mysexuality, I also needed to come out in a different way: come out of my shell.

            In high school, I was put in adrama class that really helped me come out of my shell. It helped me be lessshy and open up even more than what my friends brought out of me. It wasintimidating at first, being one of two freshmen in the class, but I slowlybegan to love it. After my freshman year, I wanted to be in drama every timepossible and I was. I had a drama class at least one semester every school yearafter that. My drama teacher joked that I was into it more than he was. Thatclass really helped me be comfortable around others and to laugh at stuffinstead of be embarrassed about it. It taught me to embrace the stage ratherthan be afraid of it. I even was in the school musical my junior year; thatdrama class made me comfortable to try out for it. I remember seeing one of mymiddle school teachers after a showing for the middle school and she said shewould have never expected to see me up there. Back then, I wouldn’t haveimagined it either.

            Everything in life becomes apart of your identity. These specific moments in my life are the ones thatstick out the most in making me realize my identity. Even though I have onlyjust started college, I am hoping that knowing my identity in that way willhelp me expand. I want to explore those aspects even more now that I have itfigured out. Hopefully that will help me build my future and continue on withease.

            Whenit comes to national identity, I do believe that the LGBT community does have abig part in it today. There’s always an issue or two in politics dealing withthe LGBT community. There’s always something controversial being said. From ourrights to get married to our freedom of being out in the military, our fightfor equal opportunity and rights is a constant battle. In time, I do believethat these fights will seem almost silly, just as it is to look back and seehow we used to separate ourselves by skin color. Race and sexuality areridiculous things to have to fight about. It’s who we are; we can’t change that.

            Iguess this could be biased, but I’ve never understood why gay marriage would beillegal. I understand the arguments, but I just find them rather ridiculous andnot really reasonable. We are still humans and we should be able to marry whowe want. Recently, there have been videos of Michele Bachmann saying that gaymen can marry, but they have to marry a female or that lesbians can marry, butthey have to marry a male. What the heck does that solve? We just want to marrywho we love, yet people can go get married in Vegas even though they just metthat night and it will most likely end in divorce once they sober up.

            Itdoesn’t make much sense when religion comes into the picture, either. If you’rereligious and think it’s a sin and not moral to get married to someone of thesame sex, then don’t get married to someone of the same sex! Making gaymarriage legal does not mean you have to go get gay married. You don’t evenhave to like it, but it’s not your life that’s getting affected.

            Thesestruggles of equality will always be a part of the LGBT community’s identity.If everything was just given to us to begin with, our lives would most likelybe dramatically different. Now, the LGBT community is slowly becoming part ofeveryday life. From television shows and channels with LGBT characters tomovies, novels, and music, the LGBT community is integrating. You can even finda lot more rainbow pride in stores these days. It’s a long struggle, but itwill be worth it in the end. The LGBT community’s identity is slowlyintertwining with the rest of the nation’s identity. I think, eventually, thoseidentities won’t even be separate.

            Atthe beginning of the semester, we focused a lot on stereotypes in America. Stereotypescan be a tricky situation. Some stereotypes can be true, but it doesn’t makethem true for everyone. There are lazy Americans, but we are not all lazy. Justbecause you’re an African American woman doesn’t mean you like chicken and weara weave. Just because you’re a homosexual male doesn’t mean you’re feminine andlike fashion. There are a lot of people that are not the stereotypical versionof who people think they should be. Some of these stereotypes can even beoffensive.

            Ithink the problem is that people tend to sort everything into thesegroups. The thing is, you shouldn’t begrouping everyone based on this or that… Everyone has their own individualidentity. I do think that having these ‘groups’ can make it easier when itcomes to making a general term for this large group of people, but you can’tjust say they belong to that group so they must be like this. If that doesn’tmake sense, I’ll use an example: the term “LGBT Community” gives us a general understandingof who these people are, but there’s so much more to them than just the LGBTside of them. Especially these days when there’s so many more terms than justlesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans.*

            Withthese general terms, people lose their individual identity. They just getlumped in with the rest of that group. It reminds me of a family. There’s thefamily as a whole, so it’s easy to call them, let’s say, the Smith family. Butwithin the Smith family, John is nothing like Bob…yet people expect John to belike Bob, since they are in the same family. People sometimes forget that theycan’t just look at the whole; they have to consider the individuals within thewhole. Everyone has their own stories that separate them from the rest andgives them their identity.

            Idon’t really think the nation’s identity as a whole should really mattercompared to everyone’s individual identity. It’s the individuals that make anation. America is considered a “melting pot” of all these different identitiescoming together as one…But just because we’re ‘melted’ together doesn’t meanour individuality gets separated from us. We’re always told that we aredifferent from everyone else, so this shouldn’t change just because we are partof a group or nation. We all might be connected, like in Yamashita’s novel Tropic of Orange, but we still havedifferent stories that are the reasons we get connected.