Paper 1 Section A - Topic 6 = Identity

What is identity?

Identity is both:

Personal - How you see yourself, your interests and beliefs

Social - How other see you, and the key categories others see you through e.g. gender, ethnicity etc

It can be about how we are both different and similar to others

Your identity is also a product of all the experiences you’ve had through socialisation - formed by family, peers, education media etc. Positive and negative events have an impact.

Some argue identity is fairly fixed - gender, class, age and ethnicity = stay the same throughout life

Others say it is fluid and an active process. Construct our identity using the media for ideas to decide who we want to be - people now identify as ‘gender fluid’ or ‘non-binary’. Similarly, sexual identities may change.

Aspects of identity

The aspects of identity vary in importance for different individuals e.g. sexuality may be more important for someone who is homosexual over someone who is heterosexual.

Seven key identities:

• Ethnicity

• Gender

• Class

• Age

• Nationality

• Sexuality

• Disability

Intersectionality

Aspects of identity also intersect in different ways. For example, age may have a bigger impact on women than men. As looking attractive and youthful is the standard for women so arguably a more significant identity aspect for them.

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