Identity check

 

In reading chapter 5 Identity and Intercultural Communication in the Intercultural Communication in Contexts book I was interested in how many actual identities are available for use to relate to that I never thought about before. There were actually two things that caught my attention.  The first identity that jumped out at me was class identity. Class identity, according to Martin and Nakayama, is a sense of belonging to a group that shares similar economic, occupational, or social status (Martin & Nakayama, 2022). In reading about class identity, it made me realize that I tend to socialize and connect more with individuals that are in the same economic situation as me or have a similar or same occupation. I tend to be a little more reserved and introverted when around individuals that are of higher-class identity. Also looking at the types of things I prefer to do and things I grew up doing is largely different than some of my friends and co-workers that grew up in a economic class. This also exampled to me while I have more of a preference for sports and outdoor things rather than going to expensive restaurants or art museums as I wasn’t exposed to that while growing up.

               The second identity that jumped out at me was the age identity, according to Martin and Nakayama, is the identification with the cultural conventions of how we should act, look, and behave according to our age (Martin & Nakayama, 2022). Age was something I knew made people different but not to this extent. I always considered age as just that a numerical difference. Now I have a whole new perspective on what age can mean. I never thought about age as conventions about how I should act, look and behave. For example, in the Intercultural Communication in Contexts book there is an example of looking at clothes and feeling too old or too young for clothes displayed in a window or a magazine (Martin & Nakayama, 2022). This aspect had never occurred to me with the exception of the size of clothes. Identifying clothes to a specific age never occurred to me as an identity that could make up who I am as a person. In my classes I keep learning more and more about who I actually am as a person but am also challenged by the ideas and definitions provided in terms of intercultural communication and diversity.



References

Martin, J., & Nakayama, T. (2022). Intercultural Communication in Contexts. New York: McGraw Hill LLC.

 

 
















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