Identity and Culture

My collage shows my understanding of my own personal identity. On the first side I have how I see myself as a person, which is called avowed identity. On the second side I asked some of the people closest to me to tell me how they view me as a person, which is ascribed identity. Among some of the things I have on the avowed identity there are words such as “free-spirit_ and “atheist” these tie into my own self beliefs and how I view myself religiously, or rather my lack of religion. I have the pumpkin in my collage to represent my culture, and beliefs in celebrating holidays, and events. My dog Tango is in the top left hand corner, and although I

don’t have any children yet, he is like my son. My ascribed identity isn’t far off from my avowed identity. I was told to use the word “mature”, and this contradicts my avowed identity because you can see that I’m only 21 years old, and maturity usually comes with (old) age. I would have to say however that I also believe I’m more mature than the average 21 year old, I grew up with an older sister and have always dated older guys, and I believe this is what made me mature faster. My boyfriend is in the bottom left of my collage, he is a carpenter and I included him on the ascribed side because the people who know me see me as in a relationship and that’s part of my identity. He is the person I’m closest too and he does everything to support our dog and I, until I manage to find a job! A few other things I have included on my ascribed identity are the things that are caused my nature. For example the female sign because that’s clearly my gender. I have the 4 leaf clover because I’m of an Irish background and the Canadian flag because that’s where I was born and raised. My ascribed and avowed identities which are displayed in my collage are what make up my personality and myself as a whole.