This week's post is a guided blog from our instructor.
Identifying My Social Group:
However, keep in mind that gender is not biology. This means that some of the things associated with being a female should not always be what identifies me as a woman, even though society sometimes tends to lean in this direction. Females have their monthly period, become pregnant, etc. but this does not mean that it is what defines a woman. Being female and being a woman are not the same to me.
Being a women tends to make me see certain people as being either a part of this social category or not being a part of it. Of course, the ingroup would be people who have behaviors and attitutes associated with being a woman and the outgroup would be people who have the behaviors and attitudes associated with being a man. When I identify myself with being a woman, I tend to sometimes have a negative attitude towards the outgroup of men. I believe this can be attributed to a longing to enhance the cohesiveness of my associated group of being a woman. Perhaps this is even due to a willingness to conform.
When I hear about other's belongingness to this group of women I tend to hear a similar pattern of attitudes or thoughts and also see similar behaviors. However, there are some that have different views about what it means to be a woman. As an example, I have provided a video that shares women's views on household work. Some are very similar and some are radically different. Notice the differences and their reasonings behind each view. (Also, notice how their behaviors are different in each case, e.g. what they are wearing, what they look like, etc.).
It is interesting that in this video you can easily see the difference in each woman's behaviors and their thoughts on the subject.
Being a member of the group of women, to me, means that I am treated a certain way by men and society but I am not limited in opportunities. The group of women today is very diverse in attitudes and behaviors. So, I am able to do more things without my self-esteem being compromised as much as it might have been when my Grandma was growing up. Also, just the idea of being a part of a global group such as this makes me feel supported in my decisions, attitudes, and behaviors when I know that there are other people I can identify with.
Over time, my connection towards this group of being a women has, in fact changed. When I was younger I did not have as strong a connection to being a woman as I do now. However, when I went to high school and college I found more people that were part of this group of women that I could identify with and spend time with. It helped me build a stronger connection to this group and helped me with my personal identity. It is difficult for me to explain the source of this change, but I can tell that it happened because I went from being a jean-wearing, tee-shirt-wearing little lady to being a nail-painting, face-painting, dress-wearing woman. Somewhere in the time between high school and college this happened and I know this because my attitudes as well as my noticeable behaviors changed.
My Collective Self-Esteem:
Membership Esteem -- I feel that I am a valuable member of the global group of women and I feel good about the contributions that I make to it.
Private Esteem -- I evaluate this group positively and I am proud to be a part of this group.
Public Esteem -- I feel that many people evaluate this group positively but some nonmembers do not always respect this group.
Identity Esteem -- This group is an important part of my identity.
Share your comments! I would love to hear from you.
Share your comments! I would love to hear from you.
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