Chapter 6 The Cultural Construction

of Identity

Problem 6

How do people determine who they are, and

how do they communicate who they think they

are to others?

Questions

6-1 How does the concept of personhood vary

from society to society?

6-2 How do societies distinguish individuals from

one another?

6-3 How do individuals learn who they are?

6-4 How do individuals communicate their

identities to one another?

6-5 How do individuals defend their identities

when they are threatened?

Self and Others As we become who

we are, we learn

how we stand in

relation to others.

We learn how we

relate to others as

son, daughter,

student, friend, or

lover.

The Importance of Self

Society is a collection of social identities distributed over a landscape. Individuals strive to arrive at some identity/destination from which they can relate to other social identities.

Individualistic and Holistic

• Individualistic: a view of the self in which the individual is primarily responsible for his or her own actions ▫ America is a highly individualistic society.

• Holistic: a view of the self in which the individual cannot be conceived of as existing separately from society or apart from his or her status or role ▫ Views humans as “drops in the ocean.”

Egocentric and Sociocentric

• In the egocentric view each person is defined

as a replica of all humanity, the locus of

motivations and drives, capable of acting

independently from others.

• The sociocentric view of the self depends on

context.

▫ The self exists as an entity only within the

concrete situations or roles occupied by the

person.

Question 2: How do societies distinguish

individuals from one another?

• Identity Toolbox: features of a person’s identity that he or she chooses to emphasize in constructing a social self

• Some characteristics are almost universally used to differentiate and to group them. • Family membership, gender, and age, for example,

are used in every society as categories of a social code.

• Other characteristics figure prominently only in some societies: ethnic group membership, skin color, and wealth, for example.

Constructing Male and Female

• Gender is a cultural creation.

• Gender assignment begins at birth with the announcement that it’s a girl, or a boy, ignoring 4% of births in which the infant has both male and female characteristics.

• The infant is given a gender-appropriate name, dressed in “proper clothing,” and spoken to in gender-specific language.

The Third Gender THE SWORN VIRGINS OF ALBANIA (4 min) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4G47jIVoXWM

Published on Mar 10, 2014

For centuries, young women have taken a lifelong pledge to live as men.

ALBANIA: THE WOMEN WHO LIVE AS MEN (7 min) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO6LKIn-cMQ

Published on Mar 28, 2013

It's an unusual tradition in Albania, and today it's dying out: the tradition of the sworn virgin. They are women

who choose to live as men to escape the restrictions imposed on women in their patriarchal society.

TABOO: THE THIRD SEX NATL GEO (47 Min) Watch 10min https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JVFkqb1X3k

Published on Jun 6, 2012

Hedras in India

INDONESIA'S TRANSSEXUAL MUSLIMS (30 min) till 8:30min skip 18:00 end 20:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJTzMHDaOlg

Published on Aug 7, 2012

Indonesian transsexuals, or Warias, still feel the urge to practice Islam despite being shunned by Islamic

Authorities.

Question 3: How do individuals learn who

they are?

• In a classic work published in 1908, Arnold van Gennep introduced the concept of rites of passage.

• These rituals mark a person’s passage from one identity to another.

• Van Gennep identifies three phases in rites of passage: ▫ The ritual separates the person from an existing identity.

▫ The person enters a transition phase.

▫ The changes are incorporated into a new identity.

Rites of Passage Girl's Rite of Passage (5min)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5B3Abpv0ysM

Uploaded on May 31, 2007

Apache girls take part in ancient tests of strength, endurance and character that

will make them women and prepare them for the trials of womanhood.

Maasai Rites Of Passage (5min)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8WTJ-r2cnQ

Uploaded on Oct 4, 2010

The Maasai are arguably Africa's most famous tribe. Unlike most other Kenyan

ethnic groups, they have largely retained their traditional lifestyles. Each Maasai

man goes through the warrior stage, a period in their life between boyhood and

becoming a man. And one can only become a warrior through several rituals.

Willis Raburu has the details in this first part of our series, rites of passage.

Question 5: How do individuals defend their

identities when they are threatened?

Identity Struggles: interactions in which there

is a discrepancy between the identity a person

claims to possess and the identity attributed to

him or her by others.

Question 4: How do individuals communicate their

identities to one another?

Discussion Questions

Glossary of Key Terms

Commodities (p.237) Goods that carry little personal meaning. (Compare with

possessions.)

Egocentric (p.220) A view of the self that defines each person as a replica of all

humanity—the locus of motivations and drives—capable of acting independently from

others.

Holistic (p. 220) A view of the self in which the individual cannot be conceived of as

existing separately from society or apart from his or her status or role.

Identity Struggles (p. 238) A term coined by Wallace and Fogelson to characterize

interaction in which there is a discrepancy between the identity a person claims to

possess and the identity attributed to that person by others.

Identity Toolbox (p.223) Features of a person’s identity (such as gender, age, or

personal appearance) that he or she chooses to emphasize in constructing a social self.

Individualistic (p.220) A view of the self in which the individual is primarily

responsible for his or her own actions.

Negative Identity (p. 224) The attribution of personal characteristics believed to be

undesirable.

Phallocentrism (p. 231) A term coined by Peggy Sanday that refers to the deployment

of the penis as a symbol of masculine social power and dominance.

Positive Identity (p.224) The attribution to people of personal characteristics believed

to be desirable.

Rites of Passage (p.228) The term suggested by Arnold van Gennep for rituals that

mark a person’s passage from one identity or status to another.

Social Identities (p.218) Views that people have of their own and others’ positions in

society. Individuals seek confirmation from others that they occupy the positions on

the social landscape that they claim to occupy.

Sociocentric (p.220) A view of the self that is context-dependent; there is no intrinsic

self that can possess enduring qualities.