Avowed and Ascribed Identities

Before looking into the way I have obtained or struggled to overcome many of my ascribed identities, I would like to first provide a list of both my ascribed identities and my avowed identities. Using these lists I will then explain how I obtained many of my ascribed identities and what, if anything, I have done to overcome these identities.

Ascribed Identities: white, male, protestant, middle class, privileged, old, father, son, brother, cousin, nephew, uncle, crazy, lazy, immature, intelligent, creative, balding, skinhead, prejudiced, anti-social, humorous, perfectionist, philosophical, tall, short, rock star, struggling musician, author, student, strange, weird, and geeky.

Avowed Identities: male, agnostic, working class, youthful, father, son, brother, cousin, nephew, uncle, intellectual, ethically conscious, culturally educated, creative, musician, author, student, passionate, philosophical, political, compassionate, and geeky.

Most of my ascribed identities were the result of labels received because of my relation to my family, my friends, and those with whom I interact on a regular basis. To better analyze these ascribed identities, who placed them on me, and what my reactions have been to these identities, I will address several uniquely ascribed identities on a case by case basis to illustrate my point.

White - this identity has been placed on me, just as it has been placed on nearly all people of European lineage. This identity seems to bring with it the baggage of being privileged, oppressive, and without culture. I find that most everyone is responsible for placing this identity on me, as it is such a easy generalization that provides people with general assumptions about me. Being called "white" often ties in to other ascribed identities, such as being privileged, being protestant, being prejudiced towards non-white groups, among others. I find that the generalizations that come with being labelled "white" do not identify me as a person. I also do not believe that being "white" is culturally appropriate concerning my lineage, just as calling someone African American just because they are brown-skinned is appropriate since brown-skinned people come from all over the world, not just Africa. Additionally, being "white" or "black" or "brown" or whatever skin color you can name has very little, if anything to do with who we are as people. Therefore, I do not agree with the idea that skin color should have anything to do with one's identity, especially when it is used so often as a way of making generalizations or stereotypes about a person. Obviously, this is a hot button issue for me, so I'll move on.

Male - I guess this is an easy one, but can also bring with it a wealth of issues. First of all, most people, me included, label me a male because I fit the stereotypical mold of a male. I often have intentional facial hair, I have a "male" voice, I dress like a male, and when it comes right down to it I have all the appropriate male parts. I guess the doctor who delivered me at birth is ultimately responsible for my identity as a male, but I think it might go back farther than that. To say the very least, I'm sure my wife would say I'm all male (with just a dash of sarcasm, of course). However, I feel that by being labelled "male" there are certain generalizations that go along with that identity that I don't see as appropriate. Being male usually means that you have privileges not granted to women. Being male usually means that you are masculine, tough, aggressive if not violent, extroverted, breadwinner, career-driven, and oppressive. Most, if not all of these generalizations do not fit me as a person, so being called "male," aside from the obvious biological identity inherent in the word, is not something I necessarily enjoy being called. To confront this issue, I have tried to question people's meaning when saying things like, "you're such a guy" or "man up." I think that what it means to be a male has almost lost any positive meaning in today's society, and a positive re-centering and redefining of what the word "male" really means is an area of interest to me.

Protestant - being labelled as "Christian" or "Protestant" is an ascribed identity placed on me since my childhood, as I was raised in a very religious family. This label was placed on me by my parents, those that went to our church, and those that knew I went to church. For a while, up through even my early college years, this identity was also an avowed identity, mostly because I had never taken the time to deconstruct what this identity meant to me. After I began to do research on the history of my religious affiliation and study the inherent inconsistencies that these ideologies had with my own avowed identity, I began to shift my belief system from anything "Christian" to being agnostic. The problem then is addressing this shift with those who unjustly ascribed this identity to me in the first place, namely my parents, as they are so deeply entrenched in their beliefs that they take them to be universal truth. Telling my parents that I wasn't Christian any more was basically the equivalent of telling them that I had decided to sell my soul to Satan. However, my youngest brother beat me to the punch, and so when I told them my decision, it was slightly less harsh than my brother's revelation. I think the moment that I really realized that I didn't identify with my parent's religious beliefs was when my mom told my sister, "So, how do you feel knowing your brother is going to hell?" While being completely brutal and narrow-minded, my mother's statement is directly in line with the philosophy preached by nearly every Christian church. This, in and of itself, was something I could never identify with, and ultimately the straw that broke the camel's back. Okay, another hot button topic - moving on.

For the sake of my fellow group members, I'll look at one last ascribed identity, and I'll try to keep it brief.

Prejudiced - after high school, I started to cut my hair short. At first this was just because I was tired of the long hair I had during high school, but eventually it became a way for me to hide the fact that my hairline was receding. However, shaving my head has often led to many ascribed identities such as being a "skinhead" or "neo-nazi" or just racist. I find this label almost humorous, as would anyone that has taken the time to actually find out more about me. First of all, I am far from racist. One of my favorite areas of study in college is multicultural studies, and I thrive in environments that foster open dialogue about pluralism, racial and cultural identities, and understanding unique perspectives. Secondly, my sister, who was adopted at birth, is African-American (yes, her bloodline does trace back to Africa, for all of those looking for inconsistencies in my writing), and one of my closest friends. I don't take my friendship with my sister as some kind of unique situation, but rather as an example of my belief in the unimportance of skin color as compared to belief systems, political views, worldviews, etc. Needless to say, if anyone tries to corrolate my haircut with being prejudiced or racist, I immediately correct them, and explain the actual nature of my haircut: my receding hairline.

I hope this blog - while being a few words over the minimum - demonstrates some of the ascribed identities with which I have had to struggle to overcome or challenge. I pride myself on my self-awareness, and I hope that my discussion of the above listed ascribed identities has done justice to my position on each.

Questions:
1. Do you find that there are a significant number of ascribed identities that are also avowed identities, or do they fail to match up?
2. Do you think that a disparity between lists means that we aren't being as forthcoming about our avowed identities as we ought to be? (What I'm asking here is if people identify us as one thing, but we identify ourselves as another thing or even the opposite, is there anything we can do to overcome or challenge these ascribed identities?)