Defining Identities: Subjectivity, Identity, and Systemic Marginalization

Central Premise: "Identity is the bane of subjectivity's existence" (Sidonie Smith, cited by Maythee Rojas in Women of Color and Feminism).
Bane: An irritant, disruption, or obstacle that diverts someone from their path.
Subjectivity: An individual's conscious sense of existing in the world as an agent capable of making choices and determining the direction of their own life.
Identity: Social classifications encompassing race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic class, religion, nationality, physical ability, and mental ability.

External Reduction: External observers frequently reduce individuals to a single perceived identity, ignoring multidimensional identities and lived realities.
Disrupted Agency: When external perceptions and societal assumptions clash with an individual's internal understanding, it generates conflicting expectations and split consciousness, thereby undermining personal subjectivity.
Complex Identities: Individuals holding multiple or intersectional identities (such as multiracial backgrounds like Vietnamese-Iranian, or dual affiliations like Catholic and Jewish) frequently encounter shifting, contradictory interpretations across different environments.

Institutional Oppression: Beyond individual encounters, systems such as education, healthcare, and the legal system systematically reinforce identity-based expectations.
Subtle Tracking: Institutional steering systematically alters trajectories; for instance, young women showing high aptitude in math and science during grade school are often subtly tracked away from advanced coursework in junior high, reducing representation in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and medicine).
Structural Power: Societal systems and policies are shaped by the specific identity demographics (race, gender, sexual orientation, age) of institutional leaders in governing bodies and institutions, such as USF and the State of Florida.