What is meant by identity?Identity can be defined as how I see myself and how others see me. (Woodward, 2007, p7). Identity can be confused with personality. Where personality describes certain qualities individuals may have such as being confident and outgoing or shy and introvert, identity requires some degree of choice. Identity is marked by similarity and identities are formed through interaction between people. We choose to belong and identify with a particular identity or group. This sense of belonging involves having the 'same' identity as one group of people and recognising that others are 'different'.Symbols are important in marking the ways in which we share identities with s ...view middle of the document...
This is what is known as having a 'collective identity'. Other examples of identity in this official sense include driving licences, i.d. cards and credit cards.The structures which are the forces beyond our control shape our identities, whereas the agency is the degree of control we have to choose who we are.Structures such as gender and class influence, encourage or prevent individuals from identifying with certain groups and therefore shaping their identity.There are different theories of what control we do have in shaping our own identities, and scope for agency. George Herbert Mead says we 'symbolize' the sort of person we want others to think we are. This is done by the clothes we wear or how we behave. We can 'visualize' ourselves. We imagine ourselves and see pictures of ourselves in our own minds. (Mead, 1934)Erving Goffman put forward that our identities are acted out as 'roles', like parts in a play. We can improvise and play to an audience. We act out our identities everyday with other people. (Goffman 1959)Sigmund Freud's theory is his understanding of the 'unconscious', which are often repressed feelings from childhood which can influe...
