Avowed Identities
Young, Teacher, Student, American, Female, Adult, Heterosexual, Caucasian, Middle, Class, Strong
Ascribed Identities
Child, Teacher, Student, Heterosexual, Upper Class, Weak
My parents have ascribed the identity of child to me. This is probably the ascribed identity that I have tried to resist the most. My parents sometimes make me feel that I am a child instead of an adult by the way in which they communicate with me. They explain some things to me in a very child-like manner and don’t trust me with some responsibilities that I feel I can handle. In order to make my parents view me as an adult like I see myself, I try to act as mature as possible around them. I take on responsibilities and manage my time wisely so they can see that I am growing up. I show them I can manage a job, school, family, and social life, although I think my parents will always view me as a child to some extent, no matter how old I get or how responsible I am.
When I tutor students, they ascribe the identity of teacher to me. This ascribed identity I did not resist because I wanted the students to keep a professional relationship, respect my position, and feel comfortable asking me questions.
Once people get to know me they ascribe the label of heterosexual to me. This ascribed identity I did not try to resist because it helps me to establish relationships.
Some of my friends think that I am from a higher class family than I am and therefore that I have a lot of money, also. Some of my friends feel this way because both of my parents work and have a bigger house. In order to resist this identity, I try to explain to them that just because my family has some nice things, it doesn’t mean that my parents didn’t have to budget and save to get them. I resist this identity further by telling them that I have a job to make money, and even if my parents do have money, I don’t necessarily get handouts. Also, when I am out with my friends, I try to be very frugal with my money so they don’t think I have a lot of it to throw around.
When teachers and professors view me as a student, I do not resist it because it establishes the principle that I expect to learn from them.
Sometimes when shadowing a large animal vet, farmers and even some veterinarians have made comments that ascribe the identity of weak. They thought I would not be able to handle the cows and horses very well. In order to resist this, I’ve restrained the animals for the vets at times and helped them perform the various procedures that needed to be done. If I choose to go into large animal medicine, I feel one of my biggest challenges will be to overcome this ascribed identity. No matter how good of a veterinarian I become, some farmers will probably think I am not a good large animal veterinarian because of my size.
Are there any ascribed identities that you will have to overcome in your chosen profession?
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I think most my ascribed identities are suitable for whatever profession I end up in. I can always out certain sides away while I am in a proffesional setting, I don't think I need to overcome them completely. I may grow out of certain identities and gain new ones as people are always changing and growing to an extent throughout their lives.
ReplyDeleteI am sometimes seen as being shy at first, and I am going to school for broadcast journalism which requires me to talk a lot, and I think at first it might be hard to get past that. People just need to get to know me and I warm up to people after a little while and then they see that I am not the shy person I appear to be.
ReplyDeleteI am going to school to be a teacher, and an ascribed identity I'm given is being shy, even though I do think I'm a little more outgoing then others tend to think. I'll obviously have to try hard not to come off as shy when becoming a teacher, and this I already know! I am a very neat and organized person so I believe that ascribed identity will stick and work great for becoming a teacher as well!
ReplyDeleteReally good question Jordan. After all, since we are in a recession, how we present ourselves--our image--becomes that much more important in finding and keeping jobs. For me, however, I think I will need to overcome my ascribed identity of being shy. My assumption is that if a school district feels that I am a shy person, then I might be singled out over some other teachers. For instance, a school district might say behind the scenes "If we have to let someone go, then we should let Anthony go because he probably won't say anything about it." So I guess I think I will need people to believe that I am willing to speak-up whenever needed.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the responses guys, all very good points. Like I mentioned in my blog, I will have to overcome being ascribed as weak in my chosen profession as a large animal veterinarian. I think it is very important to recognize when ascribed identities don’t agree with you avowed identities so that you can actively work to resist them.
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