Our Identities

Remember that this class will work as a collective. This means that we will show care for everyone, help one another learn, help one another understand, work together, talk together, share our ideas, and work to trust one another.

As a whole class, review your shared values. Use these during your discussions.

A. Warm up

Think about the questions below. Talk about your ideas with your classmate(s).

1. What does “identity” mean?
2. What are some parts of your identity?
3. Do you talk about your identity often? Why/Why not?

B. Vocabulary Preview

In this section, you will preview the vocabulary from the reading. You can check your answers to Exercises 2-3 afterward by visiting: Answer Keys by Chapter.

Exercise 1:

These are the words that you will learn in this chapter. How many words do you already know?

Exercise 2:

Choose the best word or phrase to match each definition. Use a dictionary to help!

1. To say who a person or thing is (verb)
   1. Identify
   2. Injustice
   3. Advantage
2. With a gender identity that matches a person’s sex identity at birth (adjective)
   1. Injustice
   2. Non-binary
   3. Cisgender
3. The customs (language, religion, etc.) that have power over all people in a society; people think it is “normal” (noun phrase)
   1. Identify
   2. Dominant Culture
   3. Injustice
4. A benefit or help that a person gets from something (noun)
   1. Dominant Culture
   2. Identify
   3. Advantage
5. Something that hurts a person’s chance at success (noun)
   1. Advantage
   2. Dominant Culture
   3. Disadvantage
6. Unfairness (noun)
   1. Dominant Culture
   2. Injustice
   3. Advantage
7. Not identifying as either a woman or a man (adjective)
   1. Cisgender
   2. Advantage
   3. Non-binary
8. The abbreviation of “lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer” (adjective)
   1. LGBTQ+
   2. Non-binary
   3. Dominant Culture

Exercise 3:

Choose the best word or phrase to complete each sentence. Please note: screen readers will read the blank spots as “underscore.”

1. Maria is _. Her sex is female and she identifies as a woman.
   1. non-binary
   2. cisgender
   3. dominant culture
2. I can ask someone: “How do you _?” to find out who they say they are.
   1. identify
   2. advantage
   3. non-binary
3. My friend, Jaden, is _. They do not use “he/him” or “she/her” pronouns.
   1. dominant culture
   2. injustice
   3. non-binary
4. Pride parades around the world celebrate the _ community.
   1. dominant culture
   2. LGBTQ+
   3. cisgender
5. There can be _ to being different from the dominant culture.
   1. non-binary
   2. disadvantages
   3. identifies
6. In a foot race, a person with shoes has an _ over a person without shoes.
   1. advantage
   2. disadvantage
   3. injustice
7. In the United States, Christianity is part of the _.
   1. identify
   2. advantage
   3. dominant culture
8. The Black Lives Matter movement protests _ against Black people.
   1. identity
   2. non-binary
   3. injustice

C. Prepare to read

Get comfortable in your seat. Pay attention to your body and your place. Take three slow breaths. Now you are ready to read.

D. Read all about it!

Our Identities

How do you identify? Identity is a very important part of our lives. It is who we say we are. There are many parts of our identity. Here are some examples:

• Francisco identifies as Latinx. He identifies as a man. He uses “he, him” pronouns. He is in the LGBTQ+ community.
• Sita identifies as Asian American. They identify as non-binary. They use “they, them” pronouns.
• Brian identifies as Black. He uses “he, him” pronouns. He identifies as cisgender.
• Christina identifies as white. She uses “she, her” pronouns. She also identifies as a person with a disability.

Francisco, Sita, Brian, and Christina have different identities. Some identities we can see. Some identities we can’t see. For example, we may try to guess a person’s gender by looking at their clothes. But what if we are wrong?

Instead of guessing, we can share about our own identities and then ask: “How do you identify?” This shows we care about their story. We do not know about a person’s identity. Each person decides for themselves. Each person is in charge of their own story.

Our identities are not the same. Our experiences are not the same. Some of our identities are the same as dominant culture. This brings advantages in society. Some of our identities are not the same as dominant culture. This is not bad, but it brings disadvantages in society. For example, in the United States, English speaking, U.S.-born, Christian people with college degrees have benefits in society (García, The MSW@USC). White people have a higher chance to find work, go to college, and buy a house, because they are white (Kendall; Patten; University of Michigan). And men have a lower chance of being hurt by their spouse (“Statistics”).

We can learn more about our identities and talk more about our different levels of power. We can see the good in making connections with people, and we can see the bad in unfair disadvantages. Then, we can work to stop injustice in our communities.

E. Grounding

• Notice your feelings about the reading.
• Which parts gave you those feelings?
• Why?
• Now let go.
• You can take three deep breaths, stretch, or count down from ten.

You can choose to talk about your reactions or not. Maybe you want to think or write quietly, or maybe you want to talk. Our reactions teach us about our beliefs and experiences.

F. Discussion

Read the questions below, then look at the reading again. Talk about the questions with your classmate(s). Where did you find the answers?

1. What are some things that can be part of identity? Name 2-3 things from the examples.
2. Are all identities visible to us? Explain your answer.
3. How can we find out about someone’s identities?
4. What do you think the term “dominant culture” means?
5. Where you live, what is the dominant culture?
6. Why is it important to learn about our own identities?

G. Topics for Writing

1. Describe each of these parts of your identity. You can add parts or skip parts.

• Race (e.g., white, Asian, Black)
• Ethnicity (e.g., German, Spanish, Han Chinese)
• Sex (e.g., male, female, intersex)
• Sexual orientation (e.g., straight, lesbian, gay)
• Gender (e.g., woman, man, non-binary)
• Languages (e.g., Australian English, Ilocano, Brazilian Portuguese)
• Ability (e.g., able-bodied, blind, deaf)
• Age (e.g., child, young adult, elderly)
• Religion or spirituality (e.g., atheist, Muslim, Christian)
• Citizenship (e.g., asylee, refugee, citizen)
• National origin (e.g., Somalia, Ukraine, South Korea)
• Class (e.g., working class, upper class)
• Education (e.g., elementary school, high school, college)

2. What parts of your identity do you think about often? Explain.
3. What parts of your identity do you not think about often? Explain.
4. Are your identities similar to dominant culture or different from dominant culture? Explain.

Note: This activity is based on a “Social Identity Wheel” activity from the University of Michigan – Inclusive Teaching (Pabdoo).

H. Project!

Talk to your partner or small group about your answers in Part G. What did you learn about your identity in this exercise?

I. More Information

• LGBTQequity (Video): LGBT Equity Center: Sharing Your Pronouns (3:06). This video shows two students, Yasmin” played by Säm Hajarian (they/them) and “Akeem” played by Jamaal McCray (he/him). They talk about why it is helpful to share your pronouns with others.
• The Ohio State University – Administration & Planning (Video): What is diversity? (1:06). This animated video presentation explains what diversity means. It shows about how people’s identities can sometimes be visible and invisible.