When you consider any form of identification, the most important information is the first and last name. What do you put at the top of your essays, tests and quizzes? Your name. What is the first line of information on your driver’s license or on your mail? Your name. The first day of class, we were asked to give our opinion on what identity is and to share how we identified ourselves. I believe that identity begins with one’s name. When you introduce yourself to another person, you’re not likely to state your ethnic background or run off a list of physical characteristics and personality traits.
As I set up my Second Life account, I spent an excessive amount of time deciding what name to use simply because a name says, or can say, a lot about a person. Have you ever had someone say to you, “Oh, you don’t look like a (insert your name here), you look more like a (insert completely other random name here).” What does that even mean? And what do you say, “Uh, thanks”? I am so used to being Candace that it was difficult to give myself a new name. I felt as though I should create a name that had meaning, but I didn’t want to use my real one in a virtual world. In an attempt to be creative, I named myself Aasiya. This is a name that I have always wanted to name my daughter, if I had one, because it means flourishing, thriving and prosperous. What struck me as odd was the inability to create your own last name. This is where I got slightly frustrated, because most of the provided last names were awkward and unusual. After about an hour, I finally decided to go with something that sounded interesting: Ezarael. The reason for my frustration streamed from the fact that not only was it time consuming to keep refreshing the page, but also I felt “forced” into an identity that I did not choose for myself. In a virtual world, where one is encouraged to be free to create another self, what is the purpose of restricting the selection of a last name?
For the sake of discussion, I propose these questions: What is your definition of identity and what does your name mean, if anything, to you? Why is a name so important? And, if you were given either a test, information sheet, etc. with a space that read, “Identity:__________” at the top of the page, what would be the first thing you put?
My definition of identity is any unique characteristics that are held by only you and no one else. And how a person perceives themselves. Your identity is what discerns you from everyone else out there. My name on second life is Ian Saphed, and it does mean something to me, first off it’s my first name Ian. I didn’t want to change my name I wanted to try and be as close to myself as I could online. Once I found out that I had to take a chosen last name I decided to take on Saphed because I thought it sounded a bit ridiculous kind of like me. Also I thought that the name was funny as well and I try to keep a light a funny and light hearted attitude as much as I can about life, second life included. A name is so important because it is part of your identity so many people have nicknames or things that are completely unique to them. And I agree with you about the last name thing, when I originally picked my last name I enjoyed it. But after playing the game for awhile I wished that I would have had my own last name it would have been easier to connect with my classmates. And it would have been easier to be myself online. At times I felt myself taking on the saphed persona and just going around doing ridiculous things. I felt like if I would have had my own name I would have been more serious about the game. It’s just so hard to be serious about the game because it’s so overwhelming. And the fact that there really is no objective besides connecting with other people socially and building a life it puts the onus on you to do your thing. There is no set of rules there is no clear cut objective so you can make you and your identity whatever you would like. The first thing I think of when it comes to the word identity is self reflection.
ReplyDeleteWhat is identity? To me it means what people recognize you as. It’s your presence in the community and how people perceive you. Webster Merriam online dictionary states that it’s 1 a: sameness of essential or generic character in different instances b: sameness in all that constitutes the objective reality of a thing: oneness
ReplyDelete2 a: the distinguishing character or personality of an individual: individuality b: the relation established by psychological identification
3: the condition of being the same with something described or asserted
4: an equation that is satisfied for all values of the symbols
Basically, what you make yourself out to be that everyone can relate.
On Second Life, my identity is Salika Topaz. The name Salika (or Salik) means traveler. Topaz is a gem that is yellowish brown, or a translucent or transparent crystal. Crystals are also conductors and reflect or magnify light. Originally it was going to be silversmith, which I am to some extend and I am a traveler. So the name has specific meaning regardless of gender. I would have kept the first last name I found, but unfortunately I screwed up the password and had to remake the account. I wanted to keep this account as interesting as possible and wanted to express stereotypes I have come across on line and are familiar with – that which kind of become social norms. My intentions were to make my avatar hypersexualized, but this has come off only in asking around Second Life where were the orgies jumping off. Granted I have friends that are lesbian and bisexual, and I know some of them are not like this at all, but I wanted to focus on the 20 something black women that I have encountered at strip clubs, universities, Facebook, twitter, and just in passing. It seems there are a lot of sex in the media that people aren’t aware of its effects on them. Because so many that post these comments about themselves online will swear to you that this is not whom they are and anyone that thinks so should “kill themselves 10x”.
To answer your final question, Identity: Is what you make it and how people receive you.
For me personally I feel that your identity is something that is forever changing and never constant. The person I am today may not neccesarily be the person that I will be 10 years from now. To give a definition of identity I would say it is the way you would like others to perceive you. My name is extremely important to me mainly because it is not a common name for an African American female. My name in a sense means sophistatication because it is a name that has been carried by many sophistacted women in history.
ReplyDeleteIf I were given a test that says Identity_______ I can honestly say it would be hard for me sum up my identity into to one word or phrase. I think most people consist of multiple ingredients that make up their identity.
What is your definition of identity and what does your name mean, if anything, to you?
ReplyDeleteLike "blue" and "sky", identity is complex for me to define because it's part of ideology that I so take for granted.
I think, for me, it's a mixture of what Jackie described and what you described - that it's connected to external identifiers and it's connected with which ones you personally feel and want others to perceive in you. I also think the fluid nature of identity that Jackie brought up is important - how I identify now needn't be fixed and constant, it can change as I change.
My name is definitely part of my identity, but is not something that takes primacy in my identity for me at this point in my life. It's been more a source of interest to me during transitions - like when I went from Becca (how I was called in junior and high school) to Rebecca (what I'd been wanted to be called for during high school, that I transitioned to in college).
A random note on names: I've always taken variations on Rebecca when studying/using other languages. In German and Portuguese, it's kept the spelling but had different pronunciations, in Mandarin it was Li BeiKe (pronounced Lee Bay Kuh). I've, in some ways, had different personalities while using the different languages and I associate that personality with the name.
Why is a name so important?
Is a name so important? I'm just trying to play devil's advocate. But really, for me it is.
In the sense that it is, I think it's because I associate it with the rest of the person. I associate it with the many, many things that make up that person.
That's why I deem it important to try to learn names, to try to use the name the person prefers, and to try to pronounce it correctly. Because I associate the name with the person so much, I feel like I'm treating them as not-a-whole-person if I don't make the effort to recognize who they are by using their preferred name and saying it correctly.
And, if you were given either a test, information sheet, etc. with a space that read, “Identity:__________” at the top of the page, what would be the first thing you put?
I guess if "name: _____" wasn't there I might put it in. Having "what's your identity" questions isn't TOO unusual for me, funnily enough, and that's when I tend to pull in more of the definition of identity used above. I tend to write what I consider are the cultural/social markers that I think make up much of how I move through the world and am perceived by the world: White, Midwestern Middle-class woman.
What is your definition of identity and what does your name mean, if anything, to you? Why is a name so important? And, if you were given either a test, information sheet, etc. with a space that read, “Identity:__________” at the top of the page, what would be the first thing you put?
ReplyDeleteIdentity is how you view yourself and how you think others view you. Identity is what you identity with in life. Identity encompasses sexual orientation, sex, race, living location, interests, career, hobbies, friends, family, etc. Your identity is made up of all the things in life that define you. I also think identity helps us all find a "nitch" and a place where we belong in life. When people have things in commons they can more easily "identify" with one another and then feel more comfortable. An example would be that it's probably most likely easier for me to identify with a middle-class, mid-western, white college student compared to a Asian living in North Korea. Our identities make us who we are and how we view the world. It is all the characteristics that create our personalities and lifestyles.