Who am I? Am I different to others?  What makes me so unique? These are questions I always asked myself. Theorist Benedict Anderson (1999) argues that people identity is defined and continues to constructed by their group of interests, such as Education, Race, Politics, History, Gender, Sexual Orientation, Geographic origin and Economic Activity. (FOUN 1101, Unit 6). Four of the reasons I think give me a different identity are:

Gender –  Ana Kari from the World Health Organization defines Gender as “to the socially constructed characteristics of women and men – such as norms, roles and relationships of and between groups of women and men”. Women are often seen as the “gentler” or “softer” as our genetics are subtler than men which sometimes cause us to be referred as weak. Even though we are “weaker” than men, we play a vital role in the family and to date we have seen more women holding very senior positions in companies, organizations and government structures.

Geographic Location – Part of our identity is also where “we come from” as we have seen people who lives in the same area share similar characteristics defined by race and they share similar objectives defined by similar economic status 

Race – One of the definitions in Merriam Webster for race is “a class of people unified by shared interests, habits or characteristics”. I believe race plays an important role in our identity as this is how we see ourselves within the world and relationships are not only through our unique characteristics (the way we look) but also by similar interests.

Education – This plays an important role in our identity because our decisions, future successes and life goals are all formed by the information gained through our Education.

                           References

Ana Kari/WHO. Gender, equity and human rights. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/gender-equity-rights/understanding/gender-definition/en/

  Foun 1101, Unit 6 Readings. Caribbean Identity: Defining a Caribbean Self. Retrieved from http://201620.tle.courses.open.uwi.edu/pluginfile.php/60257/mod_resource/content/3/FOUN1101%20Unit%206%20Version%201.pdf

Merriam Webster dictionary, (n.d) Race. Retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/race