Identity Essay Examples

Identifying with groups can be a very difficult thing, especially if you were not raised in that group. Even if you are very familiar with a common interest, you may also have problems with the group you belong to. What does it mean to belong to something? Does a person have to believe in everything a group professes in order to be part of it? These questions relate closely to two experiences in which I examined the role of identity groups in my life – studying abroad in an American university and thinking about car culture, which is one of my hobbies. Both of these identity groups bring with them their own attributes and ways of approaching, and considering my role within them was very interesting.
I moved to America after high school to attend university. University has allowed me to gain a remarkable grasp on what the cultures of other countries are like, and to encounter a far more challenging regimen of academics. However, by the time I entered university, I was not sure what I wanted to study. The classes were extremely difficult, and I felt increasingly dissatisfied with what I wanted to do. I lost whatever passion I had for learning math and statistics within a year or two at university. To that end, I realized that I really did not know what I wanted to do.
It was also extremely difficult to assimilate myself into the other cultural groups that were around me; I had already grown accustomed to the firmly established cultural norms I was raised in. It was difficult to find new friends to talk to, especially since my grasp of the language was not as great, and I had no idea what people were talking about. People would talk about movies or television shows; that seemed to be how they would bond. I was unfamiliar with them, so I felt nervous about piping in with something, because they would probably be able to tell I did not know what I was talking about. Much of me not ‘fitting in’ was part of not having the same cultural background they did, so I simply did not have as much in common as I was used to with groups of friends.
Interestingly enough, one of the people who helped me most was my roommate, an American named Philip. He helped me by giving me a crash course in things to talk about with our classmates; we would watch Internet videos together, so that I knew what people were talking about when they mentioned things they saw on Facebook. We would also watch movies every night; he was big into movies, and so he and his friends would show me the kinds of American movies I knew people talked about, like Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and even older ones like Citizen Kane and Casablanca. While this was not a cure-all for my problems, I knew what people were talking about when they made broader cultural references; I usually was able to use those as an in to show I belonged. It also helped that I ended up really liking movies, and starting to watch some on my own; it became a new hobby of mine in addition to a means of making friends.
I found myself fitting in quite well with everyone else, after a lot of work. Learning about new cultures (American, Canadian, Japanese, French, native African, etc.) by interacting with my diverse group of classmates was a complete and utter joy, and opened my eyes to many aspects of other cultures of which I was heretofore unaware. I was even given the chance to share some of my culture with them, sharing native dishes and customs with them in turn.
What that lesson taught me was that, in order to fit into an identity group, you have to have things in common with them. My childhood taught me the value of hard work, and I actually had to apply that to my assimilation in this strange environment I was in. With the help of some friends, I managed to find common topics of conversation (like movies) and spring from that into real friendships. While I found them unapproachable at first, the other students ended up being very receptive and friendly to me once we were able to make these kinds of connections. This was what allowed me to finally latch myself onto an identity group, and fully fit in to American university culture.
Another way in which I have had to consider my role in an identity group is my love of cars. I would say that reading about and driving cars is one of my biggest hobbies – I love reading magazines about sports cars, underground racing, and even NASCAR and Formula 1 at times. It has been a big interest of mine ever since I was a teenager; I just love watching cars race in films and on television, and I find the look of stylized sports cars very appealing. Because of that, I had to consider my relationship to others who liked cars; like it or not, I was a fan of car culture, and so I needed to look more into how I related to others of my kind.
The part of my identity that likes cars is, I suppose, attracted to their speed and sleekness. There is also probably a certain adolescent appeal to its sense of competition and masculinity; it seems to be one of the new ways in which people prove their manhood or toughness. Often, racing and car culture is considered a uniquely masculine pursuit, as there are not a lot of women who take such an interest in cars. Because of that, many men I talk with about cars I understand to not have the most enlightened views on women; this is most certainly a generalization, as there are many friends of mine who are not sexist in the least. However, when talking about cars, many of my friends (or others I see talking about cars in magazines and on Internet forums) often talk about “girls” or “females” in somewhat derogatory ways. Advertising for cars in magazines and sports events also makes rampant use of scantily-clad, attractive models and ‘car girls’ to attract male viewers, so this somewhat objectifying view of women is closely linked to car culture as a whole.
Given my understanding of the problematic elements of car culture, I had to think hard about my association with these people. I certainly do not think of myself as sexist, and I have problems when I think about/see the way women are used to advertise cars. However, I can safely say this is a very small part of my experience and appreciation of cars, as my love for them boils down to the beautiful looks of the car itself, the statistics on its capabilities and construction, and the races they are used in. My identification with car culture is purely about the cars, and I can talk constructively with others about that subject. While I am concerned with how closed off car culture can be, I can safely relate to some elements of car culture without assimilating its more negative aspects.
Studying abroad in America and looking at the car culture I identify with has brought me to interesting conclusions about how I relate to others. What my investigation into my identity as a car hobbyist has taught me is that car culture, like many cultures, has its good and bad traits. Just because you like the same thing as a lot of other people, it does not mean you are exactly like them. Sometimes, when I would come across an ad using women to sell cars, I would feel a bit guilty – “by buying the magazine, am I identifying with this?”, I would ask. However, I have ultimately come to the conclusion that identities can be compartmentalized in certain ways. I resent the objectification of women and overly-insecure personalities that make up some elements of car culture, but I know that this is not me, and that I am not perpetuating it simply because I happen to like the same thing. At the same time, you do have to have at least something in common with people in order to belong to an identity group, as when I started learning about American culture to relate to the Americans I go to school with. All in all, however, these identity groups do not completely define me – I just happen to like the same things they do, and am rewarded with friendship and camaraderie.