I was struck by the notion of “fit” when Stefani wrote in her comments to the last post:
“After reading this passage written by Guillermo Gómez-Peña, I started thinking more deeply about how we are perceived as different things through eyes other than our own. Sometimes the images that other people make of you, don’t really fit what we really are. Because of this, I can say that two things control your identity, how you see yourself and how other see you.”
What is that “fit” or lack of fit about? It seems that sometimes there is a tension between how others perceive us and how we see ourselves. I would like to know more about how that plays itself out in your lives as teenagers. It would be interesting to learn if teens in other countries have similar experiences orif this is unique to being in the United States, being in New York City, or in the multicultural borough of Queens. Hopefully, our Dutch schools in our iEARN Learning Circle will comment here and also our counterparts in Connecticut and Staten Island as well. This blog is open to all.
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Quite frankly with the situation that I have been in this past semester, I don’t think that anyone has a proper identity. It all has to do with the idea of “fit”. People most commonly have a sterotype about you and who you are. Personally, everyone thinks that they are someone and try to make others perceive them as that as well. In the end, it all comes down to everyone thinking and viewing the world in different eyes, so you don’t have an identity because everyone thinks differently of you. I had always thought of myself as a person who tries to do good or her best all the time, yet other people who has no other business but to comment on people say I am absolutely worthless. Who I am is only a person’s perception, whether it be a stranger’s or my own, and that perception constantly changes with every action I take, so in reality I have no identity.
i believe this issue of idenity isnt just something in the U.S. i believe it is something that is picked up and brought to peoplles attetion worldwide.
I agree somewhat with Nomita and Stefani. I believe that your identity is made up of what you think you are and what are people think you are. Also, I believe that identity is something you create not find so whatever identity you create for yourself fits well. The indentity others percieve of you usually doesn’t fit well.
I’m still not a hundred percent sure of what I think.
Amen.
I think everyone has there own definition of the word “fit”. Like you would have to fit in , thats how you get stero typed and based on first looks and sometimes ethnisity.
I think people make assumptions about who you are without knowing you and that label may not fit. They look at your outer appearence and label you. My friend told me she thought I was someone who she wouldn’t be friends with when she saw me the first day of 7th grade and now it’s 9th grade and we’re still friends. Labels don’t always fit. They are sometimes wrong.
I can surely say that sometimes the identity given to you is not what we want it to be. Many people live with the idenity of someone they are not. That is why many are said to have many different lives, idenities. For example, I am very different when I am in school than the person I am with my friends. However, I think that sometimes we need someone else to tell you what we are. Many people base who they are on their given identities. Our given identities help us find ourselves. Because of them, we can see what others see us as and how we have to change ourselves to change our identity.
One bad aspect of given identites are that they are mostly given to us from our apperance. What you are on the inside doesnt always correspond to what we are on the outside.
I believe that you cannot excatly “fit” into what you are stereotyped as. The reason being that everyone is different and if you are grouped with people that seem to “fit” the same stereotype, there will be multiple people that feel that they don’t fit in. Even if people seem to fit the same mold, everyone is differnt.
I believe that sometimes people are too judgmental and just label you what they think you are by just observing you very bad and how you differ from everyone else. Sometimes these labels can really hurt a person especially if they are called something constantly which is not compatible with the person. I think the only way to know what a person is ; is to get to know who we are but it doesn’t happen. From what I can see is that people are separated in groups which can be mostly noticed in the cafeteria. These groups are made of people with the most similar personality and likes.
Well I agree with the comments above that people just label you by your appearance and the clothes you wear but they never seen to even bother to get to know the real you and label the real you and sometimes the labels are really unacceptable. I thought that sometimes it could really hurt one’s feelings like for example people label me according to my ethinicity and heritage base on stereotypes and it hurts alot knowing that you don’t “fit” in that category.
I am in between I think that everyone is right with their opinions.I am absolutely agree with Nomita that what did she wrote before,that no one has any identity or everyone seem to look at you differently. I also think that people have identity but sometimes some people don’t understand what their identity is….As i read everyone’s comment i agree with everyone about what they said about identity.everyone had explained and i think Yes!that is similar to what i wrote.
i think no ne fits anything.
smetimes one feels they belong, but rarely does one fit into a personality.
everyone sees themselves and others differently…
I believe that no one fits a sterotype, or the idea someone else has of that person, perfectly. It is not possible for someone to perfectly fit the idea another has of them; really, it is not possible for one person to perfectly fit the idea they have of themselves.
I think that people believe that some fit in or belong somewhere, but some people just want to fit in somewhere not to fit in, but to change your appearance towards others and themselves.
I think that everyone is defined by stereotypes in order to “fit” or identify them. I agree with Janay when she commented that people try to fit in based on looks or personality because this is how people indentify themselves.
Greg likes soda & a bag of potato chips…
LETS GO DESTROY THE WORLD!!!
blah,bhah, blah…….