Identity matters: us and them..... This chapter is about identity, how it is created and what it means. For example the book says that the 'me' is created from a mix of gender, race, ethnicity, difference/same, job/life chances, body, place and the visible/signs.It then asks you to think of 5 things that identify you, I thought of partner, father, my job, nationality and hobbies. Being white and male, did not figure in the first 5 and the book would say that this is typical/normal as these are seen as the 'dominant' identities. Had I been of an ethnic background, female, disabled etc these facets of identity may have been far more important - and I can agree with that as an idea.
There was also an interesting discussion about children who were adopted, born through IVF, via surrogates or with the help of donors (sperm or egg) - what is their identity, who is the real mother ? There was a further discussion about people who have gone through transgender changes or gender re-assignment, and what does this mean to their identity and even the identity of their partners/family ? This was all pretty hypothetical really until I thought about it and realised that we have adopted children in the family, but I just think of them now as our family - not 'the adopted children'. I also know a person who had undergone gender re-assignment, but again I know them as who they are now. So I guess that I think that 'identity' in these sorts of cases is more a issue for the person to define for themselves, but I can agree that for practical matters the state does need to, possibly for legal reasons, define very personal aspects of peoples lives for them, and possibly in a way that would be against their wishes. For example the natural mother versus the adopting mother, legally who is now the 'mother' ?
There was also, in this chapter, an exploration of identity through advertising and consumerism, i.e. how we wish to adopt an identity as portrayed through the media and the constraints that would stop this i.e. financial, body, disability. Then an exploration of the context of identity and how it can change depending on the situation and people involved.
The disappointing parts of this chapter was a large chunk of text regarding 'Cyborg Thinking'. I have read this 4 or 5 times now and it makes no sense to me at all. It just comes across as some new age 'emporers new clothes' type theory. 'Are people who wear glasses part machine?'
The other disappointing thing about this chapter is that, at times, it seems to have been written in an over elaborate and 'flowery' manner. Big words added in for effect that do more to harm the understanding, rather than aid the understanding, of the ideas put forward. However, this may just be that I need to adjust to a 'Social Science' style of writting, so it will be interesting to see what the next chapter is like.
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