Nonverbal communication and culture. Identity, stereotypes and prejudices, страница 16

The driving force behind a critical approach to identity is the attempt to understand identity formation within the contexts of history, economics, politics and discourse. To grasp this notion, ask yourself: How and why do people identify with particular groups and not others? What choices are available to them?

A French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan gives the example of two children on a train that stops at a station. Each looks from the window and identifies the location: One child responds that they are in front of the door for the ladies' bathroom; the other says they are in front of the gentlemen's. Both children see and use labels from their seating position to describe where they are; they are on the same train, but they describe their locations differently. Just as we are never "out" of position, we are never "outside" of language and its system that helps define us. And, like the two children, where we are positioned – by language and by society – influences how and what we see and, most importantly, what it means.

The identities that others may ascribe to us are socially and politically determined. They are not constructed by the self alone. We must ask ourselves what drives the construction of particular kinds of identities. For example, the invention of the label "heterosexual" is a relatively recent one, less than a hundred years old. Today, people do not hesitate to identify themselves as "heterosexuals." A critical perspective insists on the constructive nature of this process and attempts to identify the social forces and social needs that give rise to these identities.

Gender Identity. We often begin life with gendered identities. When newborns arrive in our culture, they may be greeted with clothes and blankets in either blue or pink. To establish a gender identity for a baby, visitors may ask if the baby is a boy or a girl. But gender is not the same as biological sex. This distinction is important in understanding how our views on biological sex influence gender identities.

What it means to be a man or a woman is heavily influenced by cultural notions. For example, some activities are considered more masculine or more feminine. When people hunt or sew or fight or read poetry, it can transform the ways that others view them. Similarly, the programs that people watch on television— soap operas, football games, and so on—affect how they socialize with others, contributing to gendered contexts.

As culture changes, so does the notion of what we idealize as masculine or feminine. Even the popular imagery of a perfect male body changed. In the 1860s, for example, the middle class had seen the ideal male body as lean and wiry. The male body, as well as the female body, can be understood not in its "natural" sense but in relation to idealized notions of masculinity and femininity. To know that this man or that woman is particularly good-looking requires an understanding of the gendered notions of attractiveness in a culture.

Our notions of masculinity and femininity change continually, driven by commercial interests, advertising, and other cultural forces. Our expression of gender not only communicates who we think we are but also constructs a sense of who we want to be. We learn what masculinity and femininity mean in our culture. Through various media, we monitor how these notions shift. Consider, for example, the contemporary trend against body hair on men. The ideal male body is with little body hair. Many men view their own bodies in relation to this ideal. Of course, at one time a hairy body was considered more masculine, not less. The dynamic character of gender reflects its close connection to culture. Society has many images of masculinity and femininity; we do not all seek to look and act according to a single ideal. At the same time, we do seek to communicate our gendered identities as part of who we are.