Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Racial stereotypes on black people
Concepts of personal identity
Concepts of personal identity
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
When people ask me about my interests, I’m usually unsure of what to say. I find it difficult to define myself in broad terms and generalities akin to ‘interests’. I usually like specific things and not generalities. Similarly I find it difficult to define myself. Who I am on the outside and who I am on the inside are intertwined through my race and yet still do not dictate one another. My ideas of the person I want to become is equal in emotional to professional parts.
Who I am on the outside is very influential on who I am on the inside. I am Korean, and I am adopted. My race has been a large part of my identity and has aided in forming my definition of myself in good ways and bad. For most of my life my life has revolved around places where
…show more content…
This isn’t a negative thing, but it’s definitely confusing to how I identify myself. I’ve never met them, and I don’t know anything about them, but I know somewhere in Korea I have biological parents and maybe even a family. I don’t think about it that often, but it’s kind of a funny feeling thinking about how I don’t know these people who are so close to me. Knowing that I’m from there and I do have family makes me feel a sense of allegiance to Korea even though it hasn’t touched my life in many other ways. In American media, Asian people are often portrayed in unfavorable ways. Many times our thoughts about Asian peoples are about oppressive regimes, war, unchecked pollution. Because of this limited view of Asian cultures, which is quite varied, I often feel a sense of Asian shame. I know it’s widely and easily used, but I sometimes am annoyed by the umbrella term ‘Asian’. There are many different countries in Asia, many different people, many different cultures, so it annoys me when we all get grouped together. I know there isn’t an easy way around it, but I’m just slightly more sensitive to this …show more content…
One of the biggest things that makes me happy is traveling; I want to become a globetrotter (world traveler). I love seeing new landscapes, meeting new people, hearing a different language, and experiencing a new culture. The world seems so endless and interesting when I experience something so different. One of the greatest dreams I have is to step into another world, and traveling to a foreign place is the closest I’ve come to realizing this dream. I also want to be the kind of person who brings happiness to other people or at least a sense of peace and calm. I don’t need to do anything extraordinary or be recognized. I just want to be like an anonymous ray of sunshine. I also want to be an even more caring person than I am now. I want to help animals and help people. I want to become involved and try to make the world a better place. I know that sounds cliche. I don’t need to change the world, but I do want to make an impact in my corner of the world. I want to help people who live thousands of miles away, but I also want to help people where I live. I hope to make the people’s lives who intersect with mine a tiny bit better and spread happiness because it makes me feel happier. Besides animal cruelty, I also really worry about the environment. In any ways I can I want to lessen the damage. Many people are just too lazy or don’t care enough to act, but I want to know that I
While growing up many of times one may find themselves searching for their purpose in life through the different activities that one may join and often times quit in search of something of better interest, something that he/she may feel fits their personality/character in a better manner. Darnell Tingle once said, “Character is what you know you are, not what others think you have”.
We cannot deny the fact that, as Americans, racial realism has always affected us and our way of thinking. In my personal experience, being an Asian, I have had
I am a Japanese-American, growing up I never felt like I belonged in either one. I never felt that I was fully Japanese because I did not have all of the same beliefs and traditions as other Japanese people. Nor did I feel fully American because I fully do not believe in all of the American beliefs. I saw myself relating more to the Japanese culture because it taught me to be more respectful to my elders and other people in the community. Growing up I had to assimilate to the prevailing culture because people were bantering me because I had unusual views than they did. It was hard for me growing up; I was trying to identify myself as either a Japanese boy or an American boy while I was at school and at home. At school I had to be this normal American boy, while at home, I had to be a Japanese boy. I felt like two different people. This also tied into me having an awkward relationship with other kids my age especially the girls. I would ask my parents if it was okay for me to date, their response was “as long they are some sort of Asian, then it is okay.” Today my parents do not believe in that saying, they just want to see me in high spirits, but as I was growing up it was hard for me to find a girl that I liked that fit my family standards I always found myself fond of another race other than my own and my parents were not too thrilled with the choices I made when it came to girls when I was an adolescent.
In the early years of my life, adapting to the foreign customs of America was my top priority. Although born in America, I constantly moved back and forth from Korea to the US, experiencing nerve-racking, yet thrilling emotions caused by the unfamiliarity of new traditions. Along with these strange traditions, came struggles with accepting my ethnicity. Because of the obvious physical differences due to my race, the first question asked by the students in elementary school was, “Are you from China?” These inquiries were constantly asked by several of American students until middle school which transformed to “You must be good at math” referencing the stereotypical intellect that Asian are perceived to have. Through continuous insult on my Asian heritage, I began to believe and later hate the person I was due to criticism made by teenagers which I started to see true despite all the lies that was actively told. This racial discrimination was a reoccurring pattern that
There was an experiment where two pairs of an Asian and a White student worked together on two different packets focusing on math and language. In the controlled experiment, the White student handed the math packet to the Asian and calmly asked if they wanted to do that packet. In the stereotypical experiment, the White student told the Asian to do the math packet because, “all Asians are good at math.” After the experiment ended, the Asian students were asked to rate how they felt about their partner. The student involved in the stereotypical experiment showed a disliking towards their partner as a result of their assumptions. Subsequently, Asians are trying to connect with other cultures and societies by learning American culture and are making an effort. They are trying to get over the differences and find a median between the differing parts of the culture. This shows that they are not only highly intelligent, but also want to engage in social activities and other pursuits. (“Asia focus”). While trying to prove their lives have more to it than just intelligence, Asians are being put down by this seemingly positive stereotype. Positive stereotypes judge others for who they are and Asians feel that it is more than racist. It is not only judging their character, but who they truly are, which Asians find highly offensive. It surpasses categorizing by race and
These are the two questions that I get asked regularly by non-Asians. I always reply “Well I was born and raised in America but my family comes from Hong Kong.” I grew up constantly being told to take pride in being Chinese, however, I was also consistently told by my family to be proud that I even have the opportunity to grow up in America. There was never a definite answer as to what I was, so I learned to accept both. I am Asian American. Many people have questions about what “Asian American” really means and their questions brought on questions of my own. It was not until recently that Asian American influences became more prominent in my life. I was able to find books,
Culture, family background and the society in which I live all play a vital part molding the persona of me today. My actions, thoughts and decisions have all been influenced by my environment and the people in which I interact. The main influences that has molded have been the fact that I was born in a Christian household, the Jamaican culture and society and the hardships faced and seen in my lifetime.
The doctrine of self identity is one that has throughout history been a way for people to identify who they were in relation to other individuals and society as a whole. To take into account how an individual’s identity is shaped, it is imperative to know it through the context of oneself and of society. This will not only provide a more holistic approach to understanding how self identity is shaped, but also how it relates to race. Nikki Giovanni’s poem “Nikki-Rosa” and Zora Neale Hurston’s “How It Feels to Be Colored Me,” reflect on the idea of racial self identity through harsh critiques from societal and internal pressures seeking to label and categorize people on the basis of race.
Identity, an ambiguous idea, plays an important part in today’s world. To me identity can be defined as who a person is or what differentiates one person from another. Identity would be a person’s name, age, height, ethnicity, personality, and more. A quote by Anne Sexton states “It doesn't matter who my father was; it matters who I remember he was”(Anne Sexton). This quote helps me define identity because I believe it is saying that identity is what people are remembered by. When some people think of identity, words such as, uniqueness, distinctiveness, or individuality may come to mind. However, I disagree with this because when I think of identity I think of mimicry, self-consciousness, or opinions.
Identity can be described as the way we view ourselves; the way that we distinguish ourselves from others while also comparing our similarities. In other words identity is what makes someone unique and average at the same time. To start off with I was born and raised in Jamaica for 6 years with my parents, but due to the fact that my parents were offered an opportunity to attend school in America they dove for a chance of a better life. My first home was in Jefferson, Missouri where it seemed like it snowed every day. White sheets of snow would cover every inch of the city, no stone or rock was left without an inch of snow. The city was so beautiful to me because it would always light up in front of my eyes. The people there was so nice that
Who am I; my beliefs, values, morals, and views on society have assisted in molding me into the person that I am considered to be today. I was raced with specifics values, traditions, and norms. Being raised in a small town made being socially aware very easy. I was raised under the southern Baptist Christian religion. Church was always the same and it had a majority of women in attendance although the men and elderly people ran the church overall. It was always the same, repetitive habits and events that occurred in my town but after a while I became accustomed to always being near or known by others.
A person 's beginnings do not completely define a person, but it does serve as a permanent foundation from which their identity is built around. As children, we absorb every sight and experience like porous sponges. Family, religion, environment, culture -- all of these aspects slowly form the background of one 's identity. As an Asian American, this identity is very different from that of a native Chinese woman 's, for I have parts of both cultures within me. It is a unique identity which I believes acts as a double edged sword. Being born into two cultures is a wonderful in that one can be a part of two cultures, but it is also a very confusing to be "divided" between two very different cultures.
A person’s identity is shaped by many different aspects. Family, culture, friends, personal interests and surrounding environments are all factors that tend to help shape a person’s identity. Some factors may have more of an influence than others and some may not have any influence at all. As a person grows up in a family, they are influenced by many aspects of their life. Family and culture may influence a person’s sense of responsibilities, ethics and morals, tastes in music, humor and sports, and many other aspects of life. Friends and surrounding environments may influence a person’s taste in clothing, music, speech, and social activities. Personal interests are what truly set individuals apart. An individual is not a puppet on the string of their puppet-master, nor a chess piece on their master’s game board, individuals choose their own paths in life. They accomplish, or strive to accomplish, goals that they have set for themselves throughout their lifetime. Individuals are different from any other individual in the world because they live their own life rather than following a crowd of puppets. A person’s identity is defined by what shaped it in the first place, why they chose to be who they are, and what makes them different from everybody else in the world. I feel that I have developed most of my identity from my own dreams, fantasies, friends, and idols.
In this reflective paper, I discuss several aspects of my race, ethnicity, and culture that has made me who I am, and impacted my overall individual identity.
In philosophy, the matter of personal identity comprises the related subjects of contiguity, change, sameness, and time. Conceptually, personal identity is the distinct personality of a man or woman, and concerns the persisting entity particular to him or her. As such, the personal identity structure remains the same, as the previous version of the individual characteristics that arise from personality, by which a person is known to other people.