Carter's Blog

  Paper #1: Understanding Identity                                                            (1,132 Words) Intersectionality is “an understanding of human beings as shaped by the interaction of different social locations (e.g., ‘race’/ethnicity, Indigeneity, gender, class, sexuality, geography, age, disability/ability, migration status, religion)” (Hankivsky, 2014, p. 2). Since I am human, I have a variety of different social identities that make up who I am. Intersectionality specifically is the focus on the power relationships between each social identity. In my case, as a dark-skinned, non-binary African American, I occupy two historically suppressed minority groups. However, because my gender expression usually differs from my gender identity, society sees me as a black male. Thus, the scripts of black males get imposed on me. But when I'm more feminine, society is disgusted at me and sees me as someone who needs to stay away from children. No matter what gender identity I i

  “I’m one of one. I’m number one. I’m the only one.” “No one else in this world can think like me” (ALIEN SUPERSTAR Song by Beyoncé Knowles-Carter). In a world where we are all different, we need to find common ground to relate to one another. Gender provides this shared link. Gender, assigned at birth, seems to be how first establish human connection. In middle school, boys would sit together and talk about video games and action figures. And the girls would sit together and talk about makeup and dolls. But how can you be “one of one” when you are constantly given labels to make you similar to one another? In a society where boys and girls sit segregated in the lunchroom, it forces kids to fit into a group. However, gender is socially constructed. You are not assigned a gender at birth; society believes you are a particular gender based on your genitalia.  So when society sees me, they see a male because most of the time, my gender expression fits society’s norms for a person whose