Boston, Massachusetts , US
Posts: 8
Personal Identity and Vessel Reflection
After seeing and reading some of my peers' Identity Vessel projects I found it extremely interesting to see others the way they perceived themselves compared to how I perceived them, and to learn about people that I had no idea was in my class. From looking at all the projects one common theme was how the family environment shaped identities. The experiences that people had with their families were a constant in most projects (inside the box). This illustrates this idea that the environment someone grows up in is crucial to the development of identity and how they might define themselves. Another thing that I saw that was quite interesting was how frequent race and cultural identity was included. I feel like for people of color this is a huge part of our identities and this is mentioned in the article by Beverly Daniel Tatum where she states that “Students of color usually mention their racial or ethnic group” (Tatum 2). But for white people I was not expecting to see anybody mention skin color, which I found quite interesting. It is also written in the article that this goes for women, people of certain religions (like jewish), and sexual orientation. People who have been historically oppressed seem to more frequently than not mention the part of their identity that was at some point in time and even still today rejected or persecuted. This plays a huge role in how someone might want to identify themselves, as a person who may feel fear from societal ostracization might not want to define themselves with a certain part of their identity (like race, religion, etc.) or loudly and proudly do so. In this way I believe that our identity is both malleable and stagnant. Some parts of our identity, especially things that we are born with or develop at a young age, are stagnant and cannot be changed. While other parts can shift and develop as we grow and gain more experience.
I feel as though society can be quite limiting when it comes to our growth and development. In school for example students might feel as though they are unable to fully express themselves because of other students and highschool culture. But at the same time those students might learn discipline, good work ethic, perseverance through school and find their own identity. In highschool especially the social psychological idea of “Us” vs “Them” makes humans less inclined to accept others and their identities. It is natural in humans to think this way and separate themselves from whom they believe are “others”, which affects the way people interact and view others.
West Roxbury, MA, US
Posts: 8
Personal Identity and Vessel Reflection
The way society as a whole sees a person can be permanent, and for this reason, identity is not very malleable. After looking at my classmates’ vessels, I saw so many things on the outside of people’s vessels that contrasted what was on the inside, and it made me realize that no one can really escape the way other people see them, even if that doesn’t align with the way they view themselves. I realized as I read through “How Social Media Shapes Our Identity,” that in society today, especially, social media plays a large role in a person's sense of self. Social media “can prevent those who wish to break with their past from doing so cleanly” (Renner 3). Whether it is old photos or videos from old accounts resurfacing, or family and friends posting someone without telling them, social media can destroy a person’s confidence and identity. As humans, we are constantly learning, growing, and changing, aiming to be the best versions of ourselves at all times. Everyone has made mistakes in their past that they have learned from, and for many people, the person they were ten years ago is completely different from the person they are today. However, after something gets posted about someone, it is there forever. Even if the post itself gets deleted, people will remember it, and can even screenshot it and keep it even after the post gets taken down. And although it is valuable and important, the growing and changing we do every day as humans, as a result, feels like it grows to be almost pointless. Many people in society today have people that they only know through social media. Maybe they haven’t met someone in person, but they follow them on instagram so they know who they are, and they have their own opinion about them as a person. Yet, it is likely that if they were to meet this person, their perception of them over social media would be completely different than the way that person actually sees themself. This is why it is important that we value the people who are close to us and see us for who we truly are. In so many people’s statements for their vessels, I noticed that so many people introduced the things that were on the inside of their vessel by saying, “people who are close to me know…” While our identity to society as a whole may not be very malleable, the way that those who love us and care about us view us is malleable. People who are close to us will change the way they view our identity as we grow and change as people.
Boston, Massachusetts , US
Posts: 3
Identity Vessel Reflection
The way we see ourselves can be influenced by many things such as the things people say to us. It can also be influenced by what we see online, we commonly compare ourselves to others. It can also be influenced by our upbringing, events when we are young play huge roles in how our self image is later in our lives. Our identities impact our personal and social choices because we seek out people with similar identities to us. Throughout human history people have always been drawn towards people and groups who they share parts of their identity with. Social and personal identities often have overlapping aspects, some ways people see us are also how we see ourselves. The way we see others largely has to do with our own identity. If part of someone’s identity contrasts with our identity we are more likely to see them negatively. Part of our identity is malleable, I feel like we can change how others may see us but it is much harder to change how we see ourselves. I learned that nationality was very important to my peers, many of the identity vessels incorporated one or more flags. Many people believe their country of origin is important to who they are as a person. This relates back to what we learned in class with the topic of Social Identity Theory where it is theorized that our self image is tied to our nationalities, religions, ethnic groups and so forth.
Boston, Massachusetts, US
Posts: 8
Personal Identity and Vessel Reflection
Having explored classmate’s identity vessels, I believe that our identities are malleable as they are composed of factors that can change over time, such as one’s passions or religious affiliation, and, crucially, because they are influenced by how we believe others perceive us. Several vessels and personal statements mentioned the author realized they are perceived to have a certain trait and enumerated ways this does not reflect their self-concept or effects this assumption has on their identity. This, in combination with Beverly Daniel Tatum’s arguments in “The Complexity of Identity: Who am I?”, which discusses how we shape our identities by viewing others as mirrors and measuring the perception that is reflected back to us through others’ reactions, has led me to believe that our identities can change over time, especially as we meet new people who reflect our identities back to us through unique prisms. When we enter new environments and meet people of various communities, we are likely to encounter individuals who focus on different aspects of our identities and therefore make different assumptions about us, leading to the conclusion that the part of our identity influenced by how others see us will always be developing based on new encounters. We, in turn, are limited in how we see others by the desire for social conformity and the tendency to create “in” and “out” groups that stems from our innate need to fit in and assure ourselves that our identities are valid. However, this in itself creates a paradox, as, in validating our identities, we often alter them by artificially attempting to lock ourselves into one self-concept consistent with the “in group” and subconsciously devaluing traits of those in the out group that may not have affronted us had we not tried so deeply to assure ourselves of the acceptability of our own identities. Therefore, all aspects of how we experience the world, including how we see others, influence the development of our identities over time.
While exploring the identity vessels, I attempted to look at and read about both those made by close friends and those by people about whom I have made unconscious judgments based on surface-level interactions to challenge myself to learn who they really see themselves to be. Consequently, I discovered how little I know about both groups, as I had misjudged many people based solely on how they present themselves in one club or class, and I learned new aspects of some of my closest friends' identities. This led me to realize that we often satisfy ourselves with a surface level understanding of a person’s identity, especially if relationships arise in contexts with very specific social norms, such as school. It is easier to fit into the “in groups” when we have a flattened view of others that allows us to characterize them more quickly, a tendency that frightens me because I truly believe that we form richer relationships with individuals when we take the time to learn who they really see themselves to be.
Boston, Massachusetts, US
Posts: 8
Personal Identity and Vessel Reflection
Multiple things shape how a person sees themselves and how a person allows others to see them. Where you are from and who you interact with can impact how you act and think as a person and hence how others not in said group can see you. Your identity can impact your personal and social choices because it frames who you are. If you consider being an activist as part of your identity, now you are more inclined to stand up for issues you believe in.
Your identity is malleable in certain areas. There are certain things you can change about yourself that you can consider to be part of your identity but at the end of the day, there are things that you can not change about yourself and will forever be part of who you are. Going back to the idea of the activist, activism might not have always been part of your identity, however, having learned more about any issue that you deeply believe in now you see yourself as a strong activist, and from that point on your identity has been changed. While this is a positive example, there are negative examples. On the outside at least, most people change themselves drastically to fit in with the majority, and more often than not it isn’t in a way they agree with. While there are certain people here and there who would rather “ be a tall, ugly weed” (Pollanco) and stay true to themselves and express their inner beliefs, there are not many. Your inner identity and true identity aren’t as quite malleable. While you may portray yourself as someone who is x, y, z, instead you could be a, b, c and that won’t change because no one would know unless those who are shown.
A common theme across many of the vessels was how most people portrayed themselves as quiet people while hiding deep stories within. These vessels relate to the ideas of identities we were taught as they show how only the “acceptable” or “obvious” things are shown by many people. Even those who are expressive and I would think I would know them have so much more hidden and that just reinforces the idea that you never truly know someone. There will always be that one small tiny thing that they keep to themselves that could be extraordinary.
Boston, Massachusetts, US
Posts: 8
While reflecting upon both my own identity vessel and my peers’, I noticed some patterns that made me feel more connected to people I have never met or spoken to before. I learned that a lot of girls felt like it was important to include the female symbol on their projects, but not many boys put the male symbol. This made me think about how gender impacts our views on the world, and how many girls recognize how their gender impacts the world, where as men are less likely to either know, or state this knowledge to a crowd. I also noticed that a lot of people, regardless of gender, put photos of their friends and family as a part of their identity, whether inside or outside. I think this is interesting because of the environmental impacts on identity. The relationships we have with others impact our identities, despite identity being a personal idea. How we are perceived by others, though, is an important part of human nature. I also found the amount of reflections that mentioned asking friends about how they were perceived were especially interesting. This seemed to directly relate to Claude McKay’s “I Know My Soul,” because it directly references having to look inward, as well as asking others about identity and how one is perceived. This poem also deals with the idea of only being able to control one’s identity to a certain extent, and past that, identity is something that one can not consciously control. Another interesting thing I noticed was that many people included things that they like somewhere on their vessel, but not things they hate. With this alone, one could presume that this is because human beings are optimistic about themselves and their lives, when in reality, it is probably in an effort to be perceived as being optimistic and happy that we do so.
Boston, Mass, US
Posts: 8
Personal Identity
I believe that people have two identities, one they share with others and one they do not. These two identities are both important to what makes us us, but we often only show one side. I noticed a pattern of many boxes having some kind of similarity on the outside weather that was because of common character traits or because many contained family photos. Although, when I looked inside of the identity vessels, I saw a completely different thing, they were all made of unique and interesting traits, most of which I had no idea about. I believe the reason behind this is these outside identities are shaped by what we feel comfortable with other people seeing about us. This is because at the end of the day we care about what people think of us, some more than others and even if we hate that, it is simply human nature. These “outside identities” are the types of things that we would feel comfortable posting on social media, things that we do not feel that we will get judged for because they fit into the “norm.” This fear of being judged often is stemmed from social media, the fear of we are always being recorded or always being watched in some way. Nausicaa Renner wrote an article, “How Social Media Shapes Our Idenity”, where she speaks about the influence social media has on our identity and how it shapes us as people. In the article she states, “We’re not the only ones posting; our friends and family chronicle our lives, usually without our consent.” She emphasizes how we feel we are being watched by others and I see how this connects to how different our identities looked from the inside of the box vs the outside of the box. The inside of the box is more personal identieis that we associate with. These are identities rhat we do not feel as comfortable sharing with others, these are ones we fear other people would judge us for. These identities are shaped by things we love, rather than things we think we should love, which is what shapes our outside identity. I do believe that our identity is malleable but to an extent, that is because some of our “inside traits” are simply who we are as people. These are things like our favorite foods and traits we gain as we grow up. Other than these traits, I believe many things about our identity can be changed and that is because our society is so changing. Trends change and things become popular, so we can change our “outside identities” to fit into these changing societal standards. Through these idenity vesells I leanred things about classmates whom I thought I knew very well but even more was revealed about them. I think this goes to show how people do not really show who they truly are to many people because of the fear of getting judged. Even if it is with someone they are close with, people tend to keep things about themselves to themselves. Overall, this project was not only interesting to learn about my classmates but also informative to learn about myself and what I keep from others and why I do so.
Boston, Massachusetts, US
Posts: 8
Learn To Question Post 1
I think that ultimately the reigning influence over our concept of self-identity is our family. Family for the vast majority of people is whom they spend the most amount of time with, and especially with older members of your family, it is truly in my belief that much of personality and identity is derived from the conscious and unconscious teachings of said family. This, of course, could certainly apply to friends as well but friends are more so social equals (or at least they should be), and they may have a say as to how you are in that regard, but parents are the coda. This identity is certainly able to changed, after all, we face and make so many judgments each day that our identity can’t be static, really anything we encounter could testify to it being malleable or able to be molded. I would argue that society today limits our ability to change and grow throughout our lives through initiating contact solely through screens. I know it sounds a bit pretentious but we learn the ability to empathize through our adolescent years with our peers. Stripping that away has left many children without a developed sense of compassion. That, paired with the anonymity and invisible consequences lead to perhaps not a limitation on our ability to change (an impossibility, it seems for identity) but rather an ability to change for the better. There is also the fact that considering how “the internet is forever”, it also makes many people unable to escape their pasts on popular social media sites; as Nausicaa Renner writes, “There are moments, elevated not by the fact of being recorded but by the impossibility of being erased, that become traumatic…” (How Social Media Shapes Identity 3). All of this being said, I learned from my peers that not only did I not know them but I doubt I ever truly could. Identity is a constant, but it is an inconstant constant. Because we are so often changing and growing and molding ourselves into another’s image, I’m not sure someone can understand the entirety of something which will never be in its entirety.
Boston, Massachusetts, US
Posts: 8
Identity Vessel Reflection
I believe that much of one’s identity depends on how they define the concept. Some people’s vessels focused on their hobbies, while others focused on the important people in their life, and some focused on their personality traits. However, among vessels there were many similarities. One of the first things I noticed when looking at other’s identity boxes was that many people had more in the inside of their vessel than on the outside. This physically demonstrated to me that there is often a lot more behind someone than what meets the eye. A lot of people had photos of their friends and family on the inside of the box and simple adjectives describing their personality on the outside. There is so much that goes into how we present ourselves, even in basic ways- our personality has been formed from the people we care about, the experiences we have had, and much more. The poem Fear by Kahlil Gibran speaks of a river, fearful of entering the ocean, who eventually realizes it is not disappearing into the ocean, but becoming the ocean. Similarly, when encountering a new experience, it can throw off our identity, perception of ourselves, and who we thought we were. However, it is these experiences that eventually continue to shape our personalities and identities. Since experiences can play a part in shaping identities, and experiences are constantly occurring, I do think that identities can shift over time. On the other hand, society tends to pigeon hole people and label them as a member of a certain group, which can be hard to escape. Additionally, the fear of losing the comfort and protection of being in a group can cause people to stay static and not grow new or change aspects of their identity, or at least not display these changes outwardly.
Hyde Park, Massachusetts, US
Posts: 6
Vessel Project Reflection
We are shaped simply by our concept of self and outside pressure. From this project, I learned that I have a high self esteem. I think my concept of self would consist of characteristics like authenticity, humor, boldness, independence, and directness. A lot of these characteristics were then again forged by my outside experiences. For example, I grew to become independent because some perceived me as apathetic. Since I lacked emotion in some eyes, they didn’t provide me with a shoulder to lean on or a helping hand, so I had to be my own shoulder or became the ladder for others to climb up on. Similarly, my name. I don’t think you will find over 100 people in Massachusetts who have the same name as me. My name is so unique that I made sure I am the exact same way- authentic.
I discovered my identity was malleable when I joined this class. After learning about cognitive dissonance, fundamental attribution theory, groupthink, and more; I realized that I was not entirely me. I did things that didn’t align with what I stood for, became a person who wasn’t truly themself, and I used deflection to mask it all up. The whole time I didn’t even know that I was doing it to myself. I know these are theories and all, and not backed up by factual or empirical data, but I still can’t help believing in it. I’m not sure whether to embrace this idea or revert from it because if you can’t accept the effect that all these outside factors have on you then can you really accept yourself?
I learned that a lot of my peers were more than just one thing. They had words, pictures, and objects that told stories just like mine, and I was really glad I could see it. I read some of their letters, and I was left in shock because I didn’t know some of the people in my grade could even write something so beautiful. Again I was super happy seeing everything come to life.
I really resonated with the poem “Fear” by Khalil Gibran. I think it reminds me of not only my journey as a senior about to go to college, but also my soon to be journey in this class. I think that when you enter a class like Facing History you change. No matter where you’re coming from in life, Facing History makes you see yourself differently, and creates this new version of you through awareness. I think it’s scary at first seeing this new version of you grow and losing that old you that you’ve felt so comfortable with, but then you learn like the poem said that you’re not losing you but you’re becoming you.
