In What Ways Do Images Construct Identities? Discuss Using Specific Examples.
NAME: SEBASTIAN T
ESSAY QUESTION 3
In what ways do images construct identities? Discuss using specific examples.
In what ways do images construct identities? Discuss using specific examples.
Stuart Hall defines identity as an ‘already accomplished fact, which the new cultural practices then represent’. We should think instead of ‘identity as a ‘production’ which is never complete, always in process, and always constituted within, not outside, representation’ (Hall 1994 p.392). An individual’s sense of belonging to a particular group, thinking, feelings and behaviour can also be referred to as identity. One’s cultural image can construct identity; such features as hair, skin tone and height. History shapes our identity. Identity is very important in all societies, without identity we would not have culture. Identity in nature is a subliminal part of our subconscious and the events around us. The history and culture that shapes and models our society and the things of everyday life take over and gets embedded into the picture, most at times with no effort on our behalf. (Ipsos, 2006)
I will talk about how some young people pick their identity from the media, their ethnicity, and culture and how we all learn and portray our racial identity.
In her article on Media Use in Identity Construction, Katherine Hamley states that ‘young people have such frequent access and an interest in the media, it is fair to say that their behaviour and their sense of ‘self’ will have been influenced to some extent by what they see, read, hear or discover for themselves’( Hamley, 2001). The media teaches us how to be men and women. It shows us how to dress, look and consume and also how to react to members of different races and social groups. All this can be part of constructing a personal identity.
Most young people perceive their identities as being complex, diverse and contradictory, and demonstrate a reflexive awareness of their own sense of self as a phenomenon
ESSAY QUESTION 3
In what ways do images construct identities? Discuss using specific examples.
In what ways do images construct identities? Discuss using specific examples.
Stuart Hall defines identity as an ‘already accomplished fact, which the new cultural practices then represent’. We should think instead of ‘identity as a ‘production’ which is never complete, always in process, and always constituted within, not outside, representation’ (Hall 1994 p.392). An individual’s sense of belonging to a particular group, thinking, feelings and behaviour can also be referred to as identity. One’s cultural image can construct identity; such features as hair, skin tone and height. History shapes our identity. Identity is very important in all societies, without identity we would not have culture. Identity in nature is a subliminal part of our subconscious and the events around us. The history and culture that shapes and models our society and the things of everyday life take over and gets embedded into the picture, most at times with no effort on our behalf. (Ipsos, 2006)
I will talk about how some young people pick their identity from the media, their ethnicity, and culture and how we all learn and portray our racial identity.
In her article on Media Use in Identity Construction, Katherine Hamley states that ‘young people have such frequent access and an interest in the media, it is fair to say that their behaviour and their sense of ‘self’ will have been influenced to some extent by what they see, read, hear or discover for themselves’( Hamley, 2001). The media teaches us how to be men and women. It shows us how to dress, look and consume and also how to react to members of different races and social groups. All this can be part of constructing a personal identity.
Most young people perceive their identities as being complex, diverse and contradictory, and demonstrate a reflexive awareness of their own sense of self as a phenomenon
Bibliography: BBC news channel. (14 October, 2004). Are young people portrayed badly in the media. Available: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/3736156.stm. Last accessed 12/03/2012 Douglas Kellner . Ipsos, mori. (2006). young people-and british identity. Available: http://www.ipsos-mori.com/Assets/Docs/Archive/Polls/young-people-and-british-identity-summary.pdf. Last accessed 2/03/2012. Matthew Browne. (May 8, 2003). Intercultural Inquiry of Religion and Identity-Making at Carnegie Mellon University. Available: http://english.cmu.edu/inquiry/religionidentity.pdf. Last accessed Wilson, E