Identity

First Reader: Daniel

Identity is the core issue most people in this generation struggle with, especially at this age and period in life. We have been discussing in class different stereotypes and prejudices through the eyes of Drew Tarvin. His travels throughout the world have opened his eyes to stereotypes that existed within cultures, yet broke the stereotypes he held on his own. One example being that New Yorkers were mean. He found that they aren’t mean, they just are so busy they do not have time to show they care (I have always thought that, but his experience showed me a different view of New Yorkers). However, listening to his multiple experiences throughout his trip, made me double think the stereotypes and prejudices that I held myself. Communication plays a huge role in the formulation of our identities and with that forms stereotypes and prejudices.

I found it interesting that during the Chapter Five reading, there were many different types of identities, yet I didn’t fit only one identity. This is where I found that the Social Science Approach was untrue in some aspects. It defines identity as static, meaning it doesn’t change. If this were true then how could I relate to gender identity, religious identity, age identity, and others? Thus the Interpretive and Critical Approaches were formed both allowing individuals to relate to multiple identities, yet still each had their flaws. Overall, the Dialectic Approach proved most relatable to me. I can have one constant identity, yet still have the ability to identify with other identities.

After reading about each of the approaches, it showed me one overall theme. All individuals deal with identity management; which is how people choose to present themselves and how they guide the impression others form of them. All humans want to fit in, yet be able to be an individual. Identity management is how all of these static and dynamic approaches blend together to allow an individual to present/identify themselves to others.

Respondent: Katherine

After getting a good understanding of this chapter I immediately began relating it to how it goes along with the Italian co-culture. The concept of identity is so broad and it is important to break it down into the many ways in which one can form their identity or the aspects that make up your identity. When we take a social science approach to looking at the Italian identity we can understand the Italian identity by looking at how they self identify, which is often Catholic, family-oriented, and in Italy's case people often identify themselves with which region of the country they come from (i.e. Tuscan, Sicilian, Ligurian, etc...). When we take an interpretive approach we focus more on how an Italian would form their identity through communication with others, so in one instance you may identify as a student while in another instance you may identify as an athlete, depending on if you are communicating with your professors in school or your teammates on your soccer team. For example, if someone had immigrated to the United States from Italy others may see this person and immediately attribute in their mind the stereotypical traits of an Italian to them, but after speaking with this person and learning about them they find out personal traits of them therefore reshaping their identity. Lastly we have the critical perspective that focuses on identity as a site of struggle and how identity is formed through social and historical forces. In order to understand this perspective we must look at the history of the Italian co-culture, as discussed last week, and take notice to how one's identity could be formed by their family history, which is often the case for most Italians. Over time many Italians have immigrated to the United States, typically residing in the East Coast and so often the family members of these immigrants learn about their identity by stories of their heritage from their ancestors. While identity can be described from these perspectives, the best way to understand it is to take on a dialectical perspective and focus how all of these things come together to form one's identity.


Researcher: Marilyn

We’ve all seen, or at least know enough about “The Godfather” to be familiar with some sort of Italian stereotype. They’re all mafia members and super catholic and they only eat spaghetti right? While a lot of stereotypes of Italian identity may align with some facts about the culture, it was interesting to discover what was true and what the out-group has dramatized over time.

I did some general Google research and came across one article titled “10 Common Italian Stereotypes That Are Actually True.” There were 5 in particular that I was very intrigued to learn were very commonplace in Italian culture:

1-    Italians can’t live without pasta: Italians consume the most pasta in the world. They value fresh food and home cooking and are known to make their greatly valued pasta from scratch.

2-    Italians are all about “La Famiglia”- Italians value family time and being close to their loved ones. So much so that it is common for them to live close to their family or even in the same house.

3-    Italians are Habitually Late- Italian culture is very present oriented and they focus on living in the moment and doing what they want to do when they want to do it.

4-    Italians are die-hard football fans- Of course by “football” we mean soccer in United States terms. Italians take soccer very seriously because it is an opportunity for them to connect to their local team and express regional pride.

5-    Italians love a good cappuccino- Breakfast in Italy is taken very seriously and always includes a cup of coffee mixed with milk and foam.

So after learning what stereotypes were true, as a whole its easy to claim that Italians are very present oriented and care greatly about those around them and experiencing the here and now to the very fullest. It’s very interesting to realize how much you can gather about a persons identity when looking at the stereotypes associated with their culture. I think the United States could benefit greatly from taking some of that “stop and smell the roses” mindset.

http://takelessons.com/blog/italian-stereotypes-z09

Investigator: Kendall

I hope you are all as excited to meet Lorenzo as I was! As an example for this week’s blog theme, I got the honor of interviewing someone who came straight from Italy. Prior to my introduction, I want to say that I feel pleasured for this opportunity because I learned a lot from the Italian co-culture, specifically how they identify themselves. I found it pertinent to first tell him how I perceived Italian identity, so we could then compare Italians’ are perceived and how they are perceived. Thus, I approached him by affirming that they are unique people, who love their cuisine. I actually told him that I consider Italians as white, catholic, family-oriented people, with emphasized focus on soccer. Amazingly, I ended up feeling proud of myself because he agreed with most of my assumptions. However, he explained how it is to be a member of the Italian co-culture and how it has influenced his perception of the world.

He began by saying that Italians are really family-oriented. His family values shaped his perceptions of other cultures, assuming they were all like his. Being family-oriented for him means that no matter what, family will always be above everything. He was shocked because he eluded that US citizens are way different than him, in terms of values, where he stated that US citizens are always thinking as an individual and not as common group. In addition, he argued that for him that his main identity and everything else would be secondary in the United States culture. His argument was simple, Italians’ love food because it is a way of sharing experiences with their families. They are Catholic because that is an activity that can shape the values of their families. They love women because they build families where women are the essence of the family.

In this scenario, identity strongly affects the way they perceive everything because they are tremendously family oriented. Throughout all the situations in life, family has always been present. Meanwhile, their main priority is to keep a solid family bond. In a nutshell, I was able to realize while interviewing him that the way he identify himself has shaped him in terms of traditions and values. Those traditions and values define his identity as Italian co-culture members. Grazie Lorenzo for this amazing opportunity to get to know Italian co-culture better.