activity 5

Avowal and Ascribed Identities
Avowed: College student, daughter, aunt, sister, godmother, employee, adult, American
Ascribed: Young- for my age I look a lot younger than what I am, get underestimated by others because I look young.
College Student- get asked if I’m in school, have to tell people that I’m in college.
American citizen- getting asked where I’m from and what state.

Doing this activity was a challenge for me I was able to come up with my avowed identities very easy and gave me no problems. The ascribed identities however gave me some problems. I think that the avowed identities were easier because I know who I am; the ascribed however are what others think about me and how they see me. So to see myself through someone else’s eye was difficult for me. I thought of how I viewed other people that were similar to me and it helped me come up with my ascribed identities.
Using the ideas that I got from thinking of how I view people in my similar situation gave me an ascribed identity of being young. I have always been one of the older students in school, having a summer birthday and all. However when I tell people that I’m 21 they don’t believe it. At my job I have to wear dress clothes and I feel that if makes me feel older than my age however even at work I get people who question my age. Although I feel like I’m an adult and have my finances and educational path in line other people in my life feel that I am still a young child who needs a lot of guidance and direction. This I feel makes conflict between my avowed identity and the ascribed identity. People treat me as a child and I rebel against it.
Another ascribed identity I came up with was college student. This one kind of goes with the first, looking younger than my age makes people question if I’m in high school or if I’m in college. At work and talking to people around the town a vague question that I get asked when having a casual conversation is where I go to school, when I answer that I attend UWRF. They seem surprised and when I say that I will be a junior in the fall their reaction is increased. This I think is because older people, and I even do this myself, tend to underestimate ages. I tend to think people are younger than they are and because of this I can see how I get the reactions that I do when I say that im a junior in college.
The last ascribed identity is that I’m an American citizen. Even though I have never been out of the country, except for Canada, I can tell the different ways that people view the idea of American citizens. Going to Canada, everyone seemed to know that I was from the United States. The accent difference or maybe how we acted gave it away but I felt as if I was being treated different, like an outsider, because I wasn’t from there and I’m sure they feel the same way.
My ascribed was on how I am viewed in my life right now. I the future I would like my ascribed identities to have changed. I would like to be viewed as having a good and successful job. Being a family oriented person, being mature, and reformed. Looking into the future what do you want your ascribed identities to be?