The Complexity Of Identity Summary

Asking yourself, “who am I?”, is an easy way to start an identity crisis. At first glance, it seems like an easy question. Some people put their physical aspects, such as being short, pale, or thin. Others may state traits they have or things they have been called, such as intelligent, trustworthy, or funny. However, this is only the surface of identity. For an example, when I first answered the question, “who am I?”, I said I am a freshman on the school soccer team. If you take away my age and my sport, what am I? What am I, if not a daughter, a student, a sister, an athlete? This is where the question becomes difficult. You have to dive deeper. In Beverly Tatum’s article, “The Complexity of Identity: “Who Am I?”, the author explains why it’s harder for some …show more content…
In summary, what other people say about us, we tend to say about ourselves. An especially captivating topic in the article is domination and subordination. The two and a half pages discusses the dominants and subordinates of society. I agree with the author for the entire section. It discusses how subordinates often know extensive things about the dominants, while the dominants rarely know anything about the subordinates besides stereotypical depictions. For example, some uninformed people think that all muslims are terrorists. However, people who take the time to educate themselves will learn that the majority of terrorists that have attacked America are not muslim1,2. This section also explains that dominants often won’t state the trait that makes them dominant, while subordinates almost always will. When asked who they are, people of color will often state that they are of color while white people often will not say they are white. It also applies to sexuality. People who are heterosexual are less likely to say that they are heterosexual than openly queer people would say that they are queer. It is a defining characteristic, making them an