Lecture 4 - Identity

The subject of identity is a controversial issue, particularly in the past. These are some of the main points that were demonstrated in the lecture:

• Essentialism is the theory that everything has a set of characteristics that makes it what it is. The same goes for people - it is believed that you are born a certain way, but each has different characteristics so you can tell the difference between, for example, a man and a woman.

• Everybody has an identity; supposedly we can be whoever we want to be and we shouldn't be judged for it, but that's not necessarily the case within society. 

• In the past there was an extremely contorted version of the ideal identity - that if you didn't look or act a certain way then you weren't deemed intelligent or beautiful. This borders on racism and sexism suggesting that white men are smarter and generally better then black men or women in general. This is reflected in artists work as well, such as Chris Ofili's work exploring how The Bible's Mary could have looked if she were black, generally receiving negative feedback on it.

Holy Virgin Mary

• Another way to judge your identity was in the clothes people used to wear; depending on their jobs and how rich they were they would wear the appropriate clothing for those tasks. You can also talk about this with the use of items instead, such as a Macbook can represent someone who is rich. 

• Since the use of social media has become so popular, more and more people are able to form an identity they like and that others might like, that doesn't necessarily describe themselves since they have the freedom to be optional with what they post and what other people can see. This is ironic in the sense that despite having the freedom to express yourself in a profile, a lot of people still choose to be an ideal, different version of themselves.