Sources of Identity

Sources of Identity SOC 30 How do we define ourselves?

Readings As we work through the lecture notes, read the following sections in your textbook and add important information to your notes. SOC 30-2 Pg. 10-19 SOC 30-1 PG. 31-47

Family • Families have strong influences on the ideological beliefs of children • “Nature VS Nurture” “Whatever its biological inheritance from its parents and other ancestors, the child receives also from them a heritage of attitudes, sentiments, and ideals.” – Ernest Burgess

Family • What impact does an individual’s family have on his or her beliefs and values? • How much influence do you think your parents’ ideas have had on your own beliefs? • Is it possible to explain how two individuals from the same family are often so different?

Gender Man is the hunter; woman is his game… Man for the field and woman for the hearth: Man for the sword and for the needle she: Man with the head and woman with the heart: Man to command and woman to obey… - Alfred Lord Tennyson

Gender • Gender is understood in a variety of ways • Personal • Social • Cultural • Different cultures often assign specific gender roles to their members • What are some examples of negative effects of gender roles? • What are some examples of positive effects?

Gender: compare/contrast

Religion and/or Spirituality • Without a doubt, religion and/or spirituality can be one of the most driving ideological forces in the world • Religion – primarily a collective expression • Spirituality – can be an individual or collective expression • What common threads exist between most of the world’s faiths?

Religion and/or Spirituality “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain thhe whole world, and lose his own soul? – The Bible, KJV “A society without religion is like a vessel without a compass” – Napoleon Bonaparte “Say nothing of my religion. It is known to God and myself alone. Its evidence before the world is to be sought in my life: if it has been honest and dutiful to society the religion which has regulated it can not be a bad one.” – Thomas Jefferson

Religion and/or Spirituality The Golden Rule By: Norman Rockwell

Religion and/or Spirituality • Which of your beliefs and values stem from your religious background? • To what extent do you think religion and/or spirituality can influence an individual’s or a group’s ideology?

Environment • Climate concern has increasingly become a concern to scientists and citizens throughout the world • Most scientists agree that humans are having an effect on the environment • Environmental awareness has a huge influence on the lives of individuals

Environment • Ideological changes influenced by environmental concern: • Reuse & Recycle • Consumer behaviours • “Green Politics” • In what ways does environmental concern shape people’s ideological beliefs?

Relationship to Land Canadians have a special relationship with the land

Relationship to Land • Depending on your background and profession, the land you live on holds a unique significance • For early Canadian farmers: • “…free land, where a man might become rich overnight, awaited their plows, a land of temperate climate with the blessing of the Chinook, luscious grass belly-high to a tall horse, sod just waiting to be turned.” – Mrs. Ron Milne, quoted in “The Lone Pine Story”

Relationship to Land • For the Inuit: • “The Great Land of the Inuit is the sea, the earth, the moon, the sun, the sky and stars. The land and the sea have no boundaries. It is not mine and it is not yours. The supreme Being put it there and did not give it to us. We were put there to be part of it and share it with other beings, the birds, fish, animals, and plants.” – Sam Metcalfe, quoted in “Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples” • How would you describe the Inuit relationship with the land?

Relationship to Land • There is a clear and significant connection between the environment and one’s relationship to the land • When one is threatened, the other suffers too • Think critically: • Canada has the largest freshwater supply in the world, while other countries are increasingly running out of water. What will this mean for Canada in the future?

Language • Language is key to shaping identities • A common language and culture often unites people • Majority language speakers are often unaware of how powerful language shapes their identity • Minority language speakers, however, struggle to overcome linguistic assimilation (deliberate, or incidental) • Again, in Canada, language is a key part of francophone identity, protected by the CORAF

Language “French schools aim not only to meet students’ academic needs, but also to encourage the exploration and integration of their francophone heritage.” – Real Allard, Carole Essiembre, and Sylvie Arsenau

Language “How can cultural identity develop…where obtaining services in (the) mother tongue is often too exhausting, if not impossible? Francophone schools in minority communities have a key role to play in early childhood development, strengthening cultural identity and protecting the French language and culture. The education system alone cannot solve all the problems of minorities. But without such a system that ensures the transmission of language and cultural values, minorities will be doomed to assimilation.” – the Honourable MriaChaput (a Manitoban Senator)

Ideology • Ideological perspectives play a key role in influencing how people and groups think • For example: Emily Murphy • In 1917, appointed as a judge in Alberta • Male lawyers argued that she was not a person under the law • Emily, along with five other women, brought the government of Canada to court to determine if women were persons

Ideology • The supreme court ruled that women were not persons • This ruling was overturned by the British in 1929 “The world has never been partial to thinking women – the wise ones have always foreseen danger. Long years ago, when women asked for an education, the world cried out that it would never do. If women learned to read it would distract them from the real business of life which was to make home happy for some good man. – Nellie McClung

Ideology • Take a moment, and think back to grade 9. • What ideological beliefs are present in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms?

The Media • What is it? • All of the tools used to pass along information and ideas • Books, newspapers, magazines, radio, internet, television, e-mail, CD’s, MP3’s, video games… • Advertising Media • Is the term used to describe all media that aims to sell us a product • The Media has a huge impact on how we see ourselves • For example: Do you believe women are portrayed realistically by the media?

The Media: Marshall McCluhan • This Edmontonian famously coined the phrase: “The medium is the message” • The form of communication is more important than the actual content • He predicted the rise of a global village, made possible through technology • The media would then become a collective experience, rather than an individual one

The Media • Can the media control a population? Yes. • Evidenced by many totalitarian regimes • For example: China censors most of what is available on the internet • Is objective media possible? No. • What’s the worst that could happen? • Establishment of hegemony – complete political control (via the media) exerted by one group over another

Government • Rules and regulations implemented by governments have a deep impact on the collective identity of a nation • Take, for example, the Canadian ideal of multiculturalism (pluralism) • 13.4% of our population is made up of visible minorities (especially in places like Toronto) • 85% of Canadians describe Canada as multicultural

Government • How do we see multiculturalism in Canada? • Recognition of: languages, religion, and ethnicity of different groups • Official bilingualism • Charter rights that prohibit discrimination • Constitutional rights of First Nations, Metis, and Inuit peoples • What are the benefits and challenges of a multicultural society? • How do you think the multiculturalism has affected Canadians?

Culture • Culture is the combination of beliefs, practices and social behaviors of a particular people • The shared cultural experience of a group of people will profoundly influence what ideology that group chooses to adopt • What can shape a culture?

Apply YourLearning Make a list/chart of no more than 10 beliefs or values that you consider to be the most fundamental aspects of your personal identity. Organize them in such a way so that we can see how they fit into the factors that we discussed in this chapter.

Sources of Identity