Who do we think we are?

How is one’s identity related with politics? How does identity give birth to the issue of politics in our world today? According to Wibben (2009), in order to know one’s identity, we first have to begin to see how we are subject to identity politics then we must examine what our identity implies with a certain group in global politics. He also said that identity politics is inspired by the common interests, attitude and perceptions of a particular group.

Common issues long ago are actually related to this. Before the modern era, men and women are viewed as two different entities or identities. For most people, women should do household chores- cook, prepare for her husband and be the one who’ll stay home and wait for their husbands. Men are the ones who are strong, brave and must always take charge. As such, women become vulnerable and helpless in the eyes of other people. Women shouldn’t even be educated long ago. Nowadays, women are as intelligent and as independent as men are. They get to do what they want in terms of career and life. What do we see here? Gender politics has been present long ago. Women are viewed as inferior to men and receive discriminating attitudes from the people around them.

An example of this identity politics is the US Feminist Movement. The Feminist identity politics relies on the idea that some groups are oppressed because they are viewed in a certain way as women. Women have this common feeling regarding the issue, which led them to have a shared experience and start a feminist movement. Women thought of ways to voice out their experiences, ways of thinking and culture. This is known as feminist consciousness-raising. When they gathered and talked about their personal problems, they realized that these were political problems they had in common. This feminist political issue intensified when second-wave feminism emerged. Here, the black, Chicana and lesbian women voice out that there is a division within feminism. For them, they are discriminated, prejudiced and separated from white middle-class women (Wibben, 2009). Eventually, the focus from identity of a particular group turned to identity itself- one’s color, race, culture.

Wibben (2009) posits that there are two approaches to identity: The static and the dynamic. The static perspective presumes the existence of an individual and raises questions about his past identity. The dynamic perspective on the other hand, does not assume subjectivity. The former perspective was criticized since it is only based on observations. For instance, men and women. A book called Men are from Mars- Women are from Venus can clarify how men and women behave as to observations. The author understands human behavior, yes. But this doesn’t mean that what he wrote is absolute, in a way that it’s how all men or women behave at all times. It may be possible that it’s just what he noticed based on experience. The latter perspective states the opposite. This theory believes that subjectivity is always a product of factors such as ethics, race, etc. Here, one’s identity is relative to its society and environment. “Identification takes place on the process of articulating the relationships between the subjects and discourses.” (Wibben, 2009) This means that who we are is not based on what we are but rather who have we become considering every experience we have felt.

I agree with the dynamic perspective although in our daily lives, people act accordingly with the norms of a society which is why the static perspective cannot be avoided. An example of this is gender politics. Men act this way because they think like this. Often times we think that men think the same and we generalize because according to society, it is true. However I think there are some that are different in a way that they do not let norms dictate who they are as a person.

Moreover, my stand is one’s identity depends on how he/she was brought up, what he/she has experienced and who he/she hangs out with. There is a saying that says “You are who your friends are”- I believe in this saying because again, we cannot separate society from one’s identity. It is human nature to adapt in order to live and be happy. As such, one’s identity is always influenced by his/her surroundings. I think who we think we are will constantly change through time and who we think we are today will still alter in the future when we learn more, experience more and know more.

Sources:
Edkins, J. and Zehfuss, M. (eds.). (2009). Global politics: A new introduction. London: Routledge.