Complexity Of Identity

Identity is created by the factors all around us, and also how we respond to them. In the article by Beverly Tatum titled The Complexity of Identity: “Who Am I?” she discusses how we as a society can get past our differences through understanding who we are. She gives multiple examples of how we relate to our environment and how a better understand of that can bring us closer together and even open new channels of communication through discussion. Tatum gives us a very well laid out way to ask the right questions, to get an outside perspective that ultimately helps us understand who we are and how we can relate with others.

Tatum talks about a situation where she asked her students to complete the sentence, “I am _____________.” Using as many descriptors as they can in sixty seconds. Her goal was to see what people considered themselves as. The results she obtained were very interesting. She notes that the subordinate races, religions, genders, and sexualities all listed some type of identity if it was considered different from this mythical norm exert she sites on page one from “Age. Race. Class. and Sex: Women Redefining Difference.” Audre Lorde (EX: …In America, this norm is usually defined as white, thin, male, young, heterosexual, Christian, and financially secure.)
Stating on page 3 “The relationship of the dominants to the subordinates is often one in which the targeted group is labeled as defective or substandard in significant ways.” What she’s saying is that the subordinate group internalizes what the dominant group pushes because they are not the larger majority. This issue leads to individuals not trying to rise to their potential because society tells them they have