Week One

So after reading Chapter 6 of Chris Barker's book and then having the discussion in class on Thursday, there's a few things I noticed and thought were interesting. First of all the concept of identity I think is thoroughly fascinating and often overlooked not only in the field of conflict but in everyday life. I agree with Barker in that most times we generalize identity to be some 'universal and timeless core of the self which we all possess'. Inherent in that statement is the notion that identity is unchanging and although everyone has their own unique 'identity', it remains the same throughout their life. This train of thought he called 'essentialism'. I agree with what he called 'antiessentialism' which argues that identity is not some 'constant to be realized' but something that is actively constructed and subsequently changed with every decision and action that we take. In relation to our discussion I thought it was interesting that everyone's 'societal ideal woman' was almost exactly the same. Granted there were some discrepancies and some pushed the envelope farther than others but overall they all hinted at the same blonde bombshell with limited brainpower. I think that furthers the notion that we as a society glob identity into one solid group with rigid and unchanging characteristics. However our group also talked about the fact that there are different 'ideal women', and each of us had very different ideas about what characteristics made a woman 'ideal'. Talking in groups it was good to see that each of us had our own unique concepts of identity and 'idealness' but in general i think the activity did a good job of bringing to light how our society generalizes and solidifies the concept of identity and 'idealness'.