Identity

The term identity itself was coined in the 1960’s and it was originally described as 'relating to the self'. Identity is often described as a construct. What that eludes to is that it’s made of different elements, characteristics, affiliations, and social roles. Elements or characteristics of identity would include race, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, political affiliations, religious beliefs, profession, and so on. Some of these aspects we are born into, some we have learnt (behavioural), some we’ve chosen, and some even change over time. It's important to remember that identities are self-determined, and always intersectional. One identity does not exist on its own, but continuously overlaps with others. We are not single-identity beings, but multi-hyphenate individuals. It's also worth recognising that we’re not portraying the same identities in every situation. As members of a minority group, sometimes in public this is for safety and security. We can also choose to apply varying levels of importance on each of our identities in different environments. For example certain aspects might play out more with family Vs with friends Vs at work.

See: Intersectionality.