3 14 Regional identities What constitutes an identity? a) Look at the following question posted in an internet discussion forum and write a short answer from your point of view. Peggy Total answers: 243 9:55 a.m. Dear all, I’m curious as to just what constitutes a person’s identity and when someone has one. Is your identity something that one day you just have because you are born with it or is it something that you obtain and develop over time? b) Now read what other people have answered. How do these answers differ from what you have written? Randy Total answers: 331 10:06 a.m. Good question, Peg! I think, identity is however a person chooses to define him-/herself. I guess all I’m wondering about is if someone’s identity is something they have at one moment in their life and maintain or is it something that evolves over time? Julie Total answers: 89 11:59 a.m. I have asked myself this question so often! I was adopted as an infant. I don’t know if I had another name before or not and I’ve always known myself as Julie. I’ve always felt my identity as just what it is: the daughter of my parents. I feel that nature plus nurture plus life experience equals identity. It’s both something you’re born with and something you acquire. It evolves. Old parts of it fall away and new parts form. Maybe it is different for everyone. Rick Total answers: 152 2:09 p.m. Dear all, I think our experiences do contribute to who we are. We can choose our actions, which influence our character. We choose which goals we want to pursue. We’re influenced by the people around us – family, friends, teachers, spouses, our own children, etc. All of that contributes to who we are and who we’ll become. I believe you have to be very mature to stand for what you are and to like yourself. Your identity is just you, in every way. The way you are, you think, you live, you relate, you feel. Millie Total answers: 214 3:13 p.m. Hi Peggy, I decided that nobody has just one identity and it does not make sense to try and define it. To your co-workers you are someone, to your spouse you are someone else. When you are with your parents, you try to act the way they raised you. When you are around friends, you might want to prove that you are your own person by doing something that your parents would find very uncharacteristic of you. All the people around you can define who they think you are, they can give you an identity. But I believe it is impossible to give yourself an identity because you cannot decide when you are being the “real” you. 1 Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv
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