My name is Megan Whitney (Meg) and I was born as a white, American, fem woman. I am currently a 6th grade art teacher working in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. As I created this identity map I was moved by the realization that almost 50% of my identity was not my choice. I was brought into the world by my parents and do not have the ability to change my history at this point in my life. Another point that is made on this map is that part of my identity is how I was raised. As I was creating the map, I wondered why in my childhood that I never questioned my parents making comments about one day getting married to "the one". I wondered why I didn't question my parents when the told me that I had little choice in going to church on Sundays. I remember how irritated I felt when I was forced to wear itchy, lace dresses, trying desperately not to scratch while sitting in the pew. To answer this question I had to transport myself back to who I was a child. When I did this, I realized that as a child, I did not have the privilege to question my parents because I knew that this act would go punished. It was then that I realized how privilege and oppression happen simultaneously.
I was saddened to realize that in the areas that I was born, I was also mostly privileged. As a white American, I have found that I am often able to go about with little doubt, question or scrutiny from authority figures such as police. This is made clear when I compare my personal experiences with police to the events in Ferguson. I thought back to the one time in college when I got stopped at a check point going into town. I was underage and driving with a case of beer in my passenger side seat. When I saw the lights flashing ahead of me, I felt this instant sickness that felt like my body had gone numb. It was the feeling of realizing that I had no way out, and the police had all the power. When we finally got up to the cop that was waving car through, I was so anxious that I burst into tears. In the moment, I am sure that I was the picture perfect sensitive female. The male cop, completely overwhelmed by my blubbering simply waved me on, ignoring everything else.
When I also found interesting as I continued to begin my identity map was the amount of intersectionality. That there were so many identities that I did not choose, but I continued to maintain even when I became an independent adult. I am not surprised by the fact that my identity as I currently exist is mostly in the oppressed section of my map. Lastly, I wondered how personal experiences and trauma influence everyone's maps. The one thing that I wondered while reading the Diversity Awareness article and looking at the primary and secondary dimensions of identity is where subjective experience ties in.
Hi Meg,
ReplyDeleteYour perspective on the relationship between oppression and privilege is interesting to read about. The connections you made between what you wore or where you went were not things I would have considered as oppressive until now. I also like that you bring up the ideas of personal connection to identity. I felt the same when reading the Diversity Awareness article. I believe that your subjective experience is woven throughout the dimensions of identity. How could it not be?
I love the color coded identity map, and how you were able to combine and delineate raised identity from a developed one. I also appreciated your synopsis of your police encounter of real-life privilege. As someone who hasn't really been questioned/suspected by the authority(police), how to you approach questioning them in relation to the events in Ferguson and so many places since??
ReplyDeleteI don't necessary think that privilege is something to be sad about, but it is something we must own, especially when it dismisses, oppresses or harms other's opportunities in life.
Arielle- good catch on the oppressive church clothes; I can relate as someone who was raised Catholic and went to church every Sunday.
Hi Meg. A few things stuck out to me in your identity map. It looks great. Love the shapes and the use of font size. The combination of the two really speaks volumes. I took note that you chose to include “able-bodied” as “born as” or “without choice”. This is spot on with a twist. The first category is a given, if you are born able-bodied in every sense of the word then of course that was not your choice. However, you may become disabled over the course of your lifetime. The cause may very well be something out of your control, but withholding any ideas of pre-ordained destiny (you gotta believe in that sort of thing) your own actions could possibly be the reason for a disability. Then, we have a situation where it is no longer a case that you have no choice. I know, semantics. But, I included able-bodied and able-minded on my map as both fluid and passing and so wanted to introduce this into the dialogue.
ReplyDeleteIn the second paragraph you mentioned, “I was saddened to learn that in the areas I was born, I am mostly privileged”. I have also struggled mightily with my privilege, which by all accounts is much more robust than yours (white, straight, male…see my post, especially the first paragraph, straight-up implicit privilege). In Weedon (2002) she notes, “Recognizing the racialised nature of whiteness and the privilege that comes with it have proved difficult for white women, provoking responses such as disabling guilt rather than positive strategies that would involve relinquishing privilege”. I’m not sure that surrendering privilege is the best tool. Perhaps, weaponizing privilege in an effort to aid the oppressed is a better strategy. Looking forward to the semester.
Lance
Hi Meg, good to see we are sharing a class again. I'm most struck by you simultaneous oppression and privilege comment particularly in relation to religion. I was reared in a Catholic family. I didn't think to question the traditions and rituals when I was young because all of my Irish-Catholic family went to church. My neighbors went to the same parish and carpooled for CCD. It was not until I was an adult with my own children did I decide to switch to a community-based Protestant Methodist church with very different parameters. I still feel the ache of guilt when I miss a service on Sundays no matter how in control of my own choices I am now. Also, it is hard not to think about oppression and negligence with the news of the Catholic Abuse Scandals. I am still heartbroken about the massive reach of these cover-ups and the lives affected by these events.
ReplyDeleteHi Meg,
ReplyDeleteI agree with others above that privilege is not necessarily something to be saddened about, but rather something to acknowledge and use to benefit others that lack that privilege.
I also wondered in my post how personal experiences and trauma affects our identities. There are many aspects of my own identity that I would consider important, that come from these events in my life, that shape how I interpret and interact with the world. I did not choose these events, but they were certainly more likely to happen given where I was born and how I was raised.
Hi Meg,
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting that you considered half of your identity map to have been developed during your childhood and not your choice. That is an interesting way of putting it, but I would not consider it to be sad. Sometimes I look back on my childhood and wonder why I followed through with things that I didn't agree with, and I come to the realization that I was a child still being raised by my parents who only wanted what they thought was best for me. I think what is great is that we have the opportunity to become who we want to be as we grow and learn ourselves. Our identity maps are always growing.