27Aug09

In the chapter Issues of Subjectivity and Identity, Barker discusses subjectivity and cultural identity, with a particular focus on why the western idea of identity as something that individuals can create for themselves, free from political, cultural, and social restraints, is often wrong. From this reading I learned new ways to think about identity, as something that is changing and influenced heavily by culture and social structures. I thought that one of the most important points made by the authors is that the meaning and substance of any given identity vary from culture to culture along with practices and language. This is important in studying gender and conflict because it means that we cannot assume women who are part of a conflict in another country or cultural environment have the same feelings and ideas about the situation as we do. The conflict may also affect them differently because of the way others in their society view them (their social identity) and the roles they fulfill (mother, worker, victim, rebel, etc.).

One of the biggest questions this text raised for me is how much control we actually have over our own identity. The authors say that our identities are “structured” by our social systems, our language, and other such factors, but it is unclear exactly how much control we exercise over our own identities. I think this would be an interesting topic to discuss in class. It seems to me that, although everyone has unique factors at work in their lives, two people who grow up in the same cultural, social, and political environment could still have both self and social identities that are quite different from one another. I would think that we still have some degree of control over our own identities and that biological and genetic factors, as well as our family and peers, also play a role in the formation and changes in our identities.