Are We Changing Our Identity

L ike many significant things in our lives, our identity is fluid. It is always changing and growing in accordance with our experiences.

Our identity is shaped by many factors, such as the media, the community we grow up in, events in our lives, the views of those around us; especially those of whom we look up to like our parents, and the knowledge we perceive. As we grow older and the range of our experiences widen, our identity often changes to reflect our attitudes and ideas. Our identity is important as it characterises our behaviour towards others.

Our identity represents who we are. Therefore we frequently seek to associate with like-minded people. Often, this trait works for the better of society, as it allows us to communicate with people we can relate to; helping us to forge strong connections. Being around people who share similarities of identity with ourselves can aid us in achieving

If we choose to create our own identity, society either applauds or criticises us, depending on what we choose to change. Often, changing something that is not particular to yourself such as your job, is more readily accepted by society, than deciding to change something more personal, such as your gender. For although our community places a value on being aware of individuality, importance is not placed on acceptance of individuality.

This side-lining of the diversity in identity albeit it having a vital function in our community prompted me to create an item that represents some of the diverse identities in our (school) community. My representation of diversity is a video that shows various people wearing masks that obscure their real sentiments. My video also shows people breaking stereotypes about parts of their identity. This item depicts some of the diversity in our community as it provides an insight into how we display and hide parts of