Monday, January 26, 2015

Audrey Beedle
COMM 211 – Reflection 2
            Chapter 5 is all about the idea of identity, and how it affects intercultural communication.  I found this chapter very interesting because someone’s identity is all based on your own perspective. You can either have a lot of control, or almost none at all regarding your own identity, as in how you identify yourself and how others identify you.  I find this especially interesting because it really puts things into perspective and helps one to realize that it is nearly impossible for one person to fully understand the identity of another, which in turn affects them in nearly every aspect of their life.  No one will every fully be able to understand why or how I am the way that I am, and simply being aware of this notion can help us immensely in communicating with others.
            One form of identity that has always fascinated me is gender identity.  Gender identity is defined as the identification with the cultural notions of masculinity and femininity and what it means to be a man or a woman.  This is not to be confused with biological sex, as gender is a socially constructed idea.  Gender identity has changed over the years, for example the book mentions that the ideal body type of a man and a woman has changed over time and is different from culture to culture.  The fact that gender is thought of so differently among cultures only further proves that it is socially constructed and that there is no universal standard for what is accepted and what is not.  Similarly, sexual identity varies from culture to culture as well.  Some countries shun homosexuals while others put them on a pedestal.  I think the most important thing to take from these varying standards of gender and sexual identity is that although different cultures view them in different ways, it is important to be aware of those standards and to prevent any forms of violence or discrimination against any certain group of people.  I wanted to write about this because I think many people forget that gender/sexuality is also part of someone’s culture, and it can cause issues with communication and understanding someone who is different from you.  Although we may not commonly think of this things as part of our culture, it is important to be aware of them and how to communicate effectively.

Questions:
1.     Why does the U.S. census not include a third option for gender and how does this create a problem?  Why is this important?
2.     How does gender identity affect your everyday life?
3.     What do you think would be different about gender identity if people were raised in a completely gender-neutral world?

4.     How does gender identity relate to sexual identity?


1 comment:

  1. Great! As you rightly put it, effective communicators are aware of identity differences. I agree such awareness helps you stay away from hatred, discrimination and violence.

    Nice visual and really good questions. Your question about a third gender option is the U.S census is big one.

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