identity

Kayla Leone

September 10, 2014

Professor Young

ENGW 1100

Essay 1

            Identity is defined as the set of behavioral or personal characteristics by which an individual is recognizable as a member of a group. While reading “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzadula and “Black Power” by James McBride, I thought a lot about what identity was and what it meant to me. From something as straight forward as your social security number, to what kind of clothes you wear, identity is distinguished in many different ways. Identity is one of the most important aspects in life, and helps us figure out who we really are. To me, cheerleading is a huge part of my identity.

            In “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” Anzadula talks a lot about language being part of her identity. As this is true for all of us, cheerleading has it’s own language.  Language can be anything from English or Spanish, to slang or hip. If someone were to go up to you and yell, “hit a scorp lip double down”, chances are you would be confused. To me, this makes perfect sense. Cheerleading has a type of language that only other cheerleaders can understand. This is one reason why cheerleading is something that identifies me.

            In “Black Power” McBride reflected back on many scenarios that involved his mom being teased for being white. His mother showed dignity when she ignored the comments and went on with her life. Dignity can be defined as the quality or state of being worthy of esteem or respect. Dignity also plays a part in a person’s identity. With personal experience of being a cheerleader all of my life, I can honestly say that there are rude people out there who will say anything to make you feel belittled. Through all the “cheerleading isn’t a sport” and “all you need to do is smile and yell” comments from other classmates, I was able to keep my head held high. This shows that I have dignity in what I do. I have never been ashamed of being a cheerleader and I never will be. Taking pride in whom you are and what you do is a step to taking pride in your true identity.

            In conclusion, identity is very important. As I have talked about earlier, identity comes in many forms. For Anzadula it was language, for McBride it was race and dignity, and to me it is cheerleading. Being able to understand your identity and how important it is can be complicated, but once you realize who you truly are, it’s the best feeling ever.