Nothing beats the joy of coming to terms with one’s identity. However, defining one’s identity is always a challenge, especially in the face of cultural restrictions. It also becomes more challenging when there are stereotypes that restrict chances of personal growth. In an attempt to overcome these challenges, and define their identity, some people may be forced to break ranks with their past. Although culture and stereotypes influence people’s way of life, the ability to define one’s identity lies with self.
Culture has a great impact on how people define their growth. Through the beautiful poem “Cage Bird”, Maya Angelou certainly transports the reader to the struggles she had growing up in a society at the time when the white race believed itself to be superior to all other races. This is evident when Maya states “And the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn and he names the sky his own, but a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams” (25). This quote clearly uncovers Maya’s despair to protest against a culture in which she felt caged. According to the prevalent culture, people are not equal; this makes Maya feel that some people have a glass ceiling on their heads, and are not expected to achieve the same heights as people of the white race. In the same country, the voice of a white woman also rises in the short story “The Story of An Hour” by Kate Chopin. In the following quotation from Chopin’s story the notable need of freedom can be heard: “There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature” (14). The traditions of this time made many women have feelings of extreme fear, and insecurity. Ironically, this took place in marriage institutions that should give women a sense of security. However, the dictates of that time made women feel inferior. As a result, women would not be expected to achieve the success enjoyed by men. The death of Mrs. Mallard’s husband meant freedom to her, because she was no longer a personal possession, no longer a property of her husband. If he was dead, the social rules no longer applied to her, and she was free! Edwidge Danticat is another woman expressing her voice with her short but very powerful story “Women Like Us.” In this story, Danticat takes the reader to her place of birth, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, to expose her struggles for being a woman, which were even worse because she was a woman trying to be a writer in a country where writers would be killed. “In our world, writers are tortured and killed if they are men. Called lying whores, then raped and killed, if they are women” (11). In this quotation, Danticat’s mother speaks, trying to discourage Danticat from becoming a writer. In Haiti’s culture, women become so similar, not by their physical appearance, but by the similar way they do their duties, especially in the kitchen, where women would spend a great amount of time. Danticat, at the opening of her story, promptly expresses this feeling: “You remember thinking while braiding you hair that you look a lot like your mother. Your mother who looked like your grandmother and her grandmother before her” (1). Each of these three women has learned that the cultivation of such primitive ideas has affected them tremendously in their lives, and their interpretations of their cultures have been seen through different eyes. They women learnt that their cultures trap men and women to think in a certain way, and they had to from these primitive cultural expectations, if they had to define who they are.
Apart from culture, stereotype is another thing that influences individual growth and shapes the way people express themselves. For example, in the short story “Miss U.S.A”, Studs Terkel expresses her disgust for the stereotypes that people keep on churning out. This is clear when she states "There are certain images that come to mind when people talk about beauty queens” (1). Most of the people see beauty pageants as sexual images without realizing that they also have other talents and brains. The perception created due to this stereotype is that beauty and brains do not go together. The same perception also explains why sponsors of the beauty pageants wanted to have a ghost writer to plan her speech; the reasoning was that beauty queens do not have the brains to give intellectual speeches. The effect of stereotypes in shaping people’s way of thinking also comes out in the short story “Generation X” by Kristen Cole. Cole states “Busters see boomers as insufferably self-righteous yuppies who sold out their principles, placed work over family and money over community’’ (18). In this statement, Cole conveys the misconceptions that people have on the baby boomers generation. To most people, the generation is all about making money without giving any attention to family and the society at large. The image created here is that of a spoilt generation that is out of touch with the conventional way of life. Although no seems to admit it, times have changed and it would be unfair to place baby boomers generation to the same expectations as those of the previous generations. The same theme of stereotype also comes out clearly in the story “The Chase” by Annie Dillard. In “The Chase”, Annie Dillard reveals the notion that some games were not meant for girls. She says “Boys welcomed me at baseball, too, for I had, through enthusiastic practice, what was weirdly known as a boy’s arm” (2). The statement is a confirmation that no one thought girls could play baseball, except those girls with arms that looked like those of the boys. Such stereotypes cultivated the notion that it was not okay for girls to participate in games considered to be masculine. In effect, the stereotypes would also influence the choice of careers for many young men and women. As a result, girls would be denied the opportunity to try their hands on some things. As these three stories reveal, stereotypes limited women in their choice of careers and other opportunities for individual growth. Stereotypes cultivated the notion of inferiority in women, and continued the primitive cultures, that began way earlier. However, as these women realized what holds them back, they did not relent in their quest to define their identities.
Although culture and stereotypes determine individual character to a great extent, personal identity will always come out. In an attempt to express his identity, Gary Soto resorted to wearing different attires. However, he later came to realize that identity is defined by one’s personality. In his story “The Jacket”, Soto thought that teachers and students in school would define him from the jacket that he was wearing. “The teachers were of no help: they looked my way and talked about how foolish I looked in my new jacket. I saw their heads bob with laughter, their hand covering their mouths” (6). In this quote, Soto thinks he is ugly due to the jacket that he is wearing. The disappointment of not getting the right attire changes is perspective of life in a great way. However, the late realization that clothes do not define his true identity was the break that Soto needed in his life. He came to terms with his true self, overcame his fears and lived with his new identity forever. “I started up the alley and soon slipped into my jacket, that green ugly brother who breathed over my shoulder that day and ever since” (12). A similar theme of coming to terms with one’s identity comes out in the story “Salvation” by Langston Huges. In the earlier interactions, the narrator finds it difficult to express his identity. Although he was “saved” at his aunt’s church, he was not yet convinced that salvation had come to him. However, he later came to terms with his new identity, and felt sorry for making everyone doubt him earlier in the day. “I couldn't bear to tell her that I had lied, that I had deceived everybody in the church that I hadn't seen Jesus, and that now I didn't believe there was a Jesus anymore, since he didn't come to help me” (15). In this quote, Huges is coming to terms with his new self. He accepts his newly-found salvation. On the same theme of identity, Studs Terkel does not let anyone define who she is. In “Miss USA”, Studs Terkel states “I was considered too old for a beauty queen, which is a little horrifying when you're twenty-two” (10). In this statement Terkel knows that she is not too old for the beauty contest. Although some people write her off the competition, Terkel knows herself and does not allow people to define who is; she defines herself in ways that would not be considered conventional. The three short stories reveal the joy of coming to terms with one’s identity. Although it is hard to fight societal challenges, the realization that cultural expectations and stereotypes do not define us makes it easy to break away from the past. Culture and stereotypes aside, an individual’s destiny can only be mapped by self.
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