Gender
- Male
- Female
Ethnicity
- White
- Black
- American Indian or Alaska Native
- Asian
- Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander
- Multiracial
As you can see the most diversified group is the ethnicity group and this is only a tip of the iceberg in the U.S. Many times throughout our lives beginning as young as preschool, we have to identify our gender and ethnic background. You could say we develop a group to affiliate ourselves with and often this determines our lives and path.
Have you ever found yourself saying you had to shop because you were a woman? That you must play sports because you’re a man. That you must attend a certain college because you’re white. You should listen to certain music because you’re black. You can only eat certain foods because you’re Asian.
Do you think you have succumbed to one of these or others? With which do you identify?
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I would have to say being a male. As a man, I feel there are certain things a man should do and not do. Fairly straight forward. Ethnicity is subjective to so many stereotypes, that individuals find themselves being referenced, judged, and misinterpreted just because someone found out their ethnic background.
I’d have to say gender as well. The ethnicity card only comes into play when I feel EXTREME racism. Other than that I’m oblivious to it.
Things have actually switched for me. During my college years it was definitely my ethnicity that I identified with moreso. Attending college in Boston was all about culture and ethnic background. Now, it is definitely being female that I most idenitfy with. My role as a woman is constantly evolving and I find that very interesting.
Please enlighten us to what is the “interesting” and “evolving” role of a woman.
What I find interesting about being a woman is that the better you get to know who you are, what you need and what you want, the better the woman you are. This means being honest with yourself. If you want to be a housewife and handle things at home and have a more traditional role than you would excel in that. If you want or need to work to help your husband bring home the bacon then you will excel in that as well. At the same time understanding that you may wake up one morning and decide that you want to switch roles. Nothing is fixed for a lifetime. Your needs are constantly changing which a lot of women tend to ignore, ususally for the sake of other people. But, you need self-love and confidence to accomplish that. There isn’t any self love or confidence when you don’t know who you are. This is what I find interesting because a lot of women never quite get that self confidence or self love which is why too many woman live their lives for others. My role as a woman is constantly evolving because of the personal goals that I have for myself and then for my son. I constantly strive to balance my needs and the needs of my son. I realize that if I don’t take care of my needs then I won’t be the best mother to my son. That balancing act is where the evolution occurs.