Taylor Holzfaster's Reflection for Chapter 5

Taylor Holzfaster

Intercultural Communications

1/25/15

Reflection Paper #2

            In chapter five , there is a lot of conversation about all the different types of communication that take place in our world how identity has a different impact on people. One part that specifically stood out to me was all the different ways that people interpret identity and how different development issues can form. For example, heterosexual identities has more privileged positions than homosexual identities. In my opinion, I think the difference between minority and majority identities is a very touchy subject. Some people think of identities as class, gender, or sexual orientation, which is true while others don't think anything is set in stone. Communication and identities are ongoing and due to people coming from different backgrounds and experiences it can make getting a point across harder.

            One thing that I feel is very common in our world today is people's assumptions about certain things. Such as, sexuality, religion, background, etc. I know a lot of people that often feel threatened by certain situations that make them feel uncomfortable and rather than dealing with the situation head on and trying to come up with a solution or a compromise, they shy away from reality and the truth. That type of situation can have major effects on different types of relationships and determining someones identity as well. 

            In my opinion, I feel like people in today’s world don’t realize how many different types of identities and types of communication there are. Focusing more on relationships and no so much on a person identity and what they believe in is something that our world needs to work on.

Questions:

1.     How does communication influence people’s decisions and perspectives?

2.     Why should people value communication more?