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 Anzaldua and “Black
Power” by James McBride, I thought a lot about what identity was and
what it meant to me. Anzaldua says that your language is the
most important part of your identity because it helps distinguish who you
really are. I agree with Anzaldua; however I believe that another important
part of identity is the activities that you partake in.
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.
Identity is language. In
“How to Tame a Wild Tongue” Anzaldua 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 the
name of a crazy stunt such as, “hit a scorp lib 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.
Identity is dignity. 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 who
you are and what you do is a step to taking pride in your true identity.
Identity
is activity. Being included in a specific activity can help define who you are.
Some activities make you seem more athletic, while others make you seem
smarter. For instance, if someone said they were on the chess team, one would
automatically think that they were smart and sophisticated. For me, all the
cheerleaders I know are peppy and always happy. Activity helps portray our
personality, which helps define our overall identity.
Cheerleading
helped define who I am in many positive ways. The special cheer language,
taking pride in what I do, and still being actively involved in cheerleading
today have all aided in defining who I am as a person. For example, every
Wednesday night I voluntarily coach the 3rd grade town cheer squad.
Since I can no longer cheer, I put my heart and soul into coaching them and
hope they grow to love cheerleading as much as I do.
In
conclusion, identity is very important. As I have talked about earlier, identity
comes in many forms. For Anzaldua it was language, for McBride it was
dignity, and to me it is activity, which would be cheerleading. As
one can realize from above, identity is not only how we act, but it is also our
unconscious behaviors, such as our language. 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.
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