Your individuality is what makes you who you are and what makes you alone as an single and different from other people. Identities are non inactive but dynamic and invariably altering. A personal individuality is made up of several different facets. and can be defined by civilization ( nationality. faith and gender ) every bit good as household and calling. Your individuality is defined by how you see yourself and besides by how you are seen by others. It is portion given and portion taken and besides can be something we are born with. In some cases an individuality may be something you are given and may non be through pick. I am traveling to look at what makes a personal individuality and is it self-defined and made without the aid of anyone else. I am besides traveling to compare the sentiment of the theoreticians Erik Erikson and Sigmund Freud and I will be utilizing the instance findings of the research undertaking into going a female parent for the first clip and more significantly the instance of Silma and her experiences. this was a research programme which included elaborate interviews every bit good as experimental research.

There are legion ways in which our Identity can alter. for illustration our organic structures alteration and how we look alters as we get older but our visual aspect and our organic structures can besides be changed by pick for illustration hair coloring material. decorative surgery etc. ( chapter 4. Researching Social Lives ) Our individualities besides change through patterns and when there is an disquieted to our normal modus operandis and we need to set up new 1s or larn new accomplishments. this besides has an impact on our individuality. This is the instance when patterns turn into modus operandis and we no longer need to believe about making them as they become 2nd nature. Finally we besides experience relationship alterations where our positions on who we think we are is influenced by the sentiments of other people and how they see us. We become who we are and modify ourselves through the manner others treat us and react to us. This is witnessed when a adult female becomes a female parent. she may be treated otherwise by her parents as a consequence of traveling to parenthood herself.

This was the claim for theoretician Erik Erikson who studied that our individuality alterations are influenced by past experiences. the moment-by-moment activities and relationships we have daily. This is spanned over a life-time and although can go on at any clip. Erikson defined 8 phases in which individuality is transformed in alone ways. as passage was non a smooth procedure. these phases he called “identity crises” . These phases were seen as times when struggle was introduced. struggle is postulating with occurrences in mundane life that stops life running every bit swimmingly as earlier. Conflict is being faced with picks. feeling confused and although he uses the illustration of go throughing from adolescence into maturity it could besides intend going in-between aged. old or traveling into parentage. ( chapter 4. Researching Social Lives ) Everyone experiences struggles and in bend sing struggles make us who we are and give us an individuality

One manner our individuality can alter is through designation. which is what it is called when we “try on” person else’s character. We try on other people’s individuality and see life through their eyes and empathise with how they felt at a certain clip. for illustration when you become a female parent you can sympathize and understand how other female parents feel. This was the instance with Liyanna. she used to look at images of her female parent with her sister and the female parent girl relationship meant nil to her. nevertheless now she is a female parent herself she looks at the exposure otherwise and can place with the love and the emotion her female parent was experiencing when the exposure was taken. She says that now she looks at the exposure and “she knows precisely what her Dendranthema grandifloruom was feeling” . she sees her female parent in a new visible radiation and because of her ain experiences can now set herself in her mother’s places. She is now placing with her female parent.

The theoretician Billig looks at designation and associates it with groups of people and how they are connected by the common quality or involvement that they portion. Sigmund Freud besides claims that designation is the look of an emotional tie with another individual. an individuality can be borrowed from person else. The theory suggests that there are two sorts of designation. projection which is the message we give off and introjection which is the messages we take in. Both are done accidentally and unconsciously to supply 1s individuality. ( chapter 4. Researching Social Lives ) .

All these theories can be backed up by the instance survey completed on first clip female parents and in peculiar Silma’s instance. Silma’s individuality begins to alter with patterns. she has had to larn a whole new modus operandi which will necessitate to accommodate as her babe grows. She besides has a new relationship to set up as female parent and girl with her new babe. the relationship with her hubby and household will besides alter. Silma has besides to cover with the struggle of going a new female parent. this struggle between being the “indulged eldest daughter” to maternity and besides between delighting yourself and holding to set your babe foremost are all facets of specifying her new individuality.

Silma is besides seen otherwise non merely by her neighbors but besides by her household and in peculiar her aunts and her sister. Silma feels she is treated with more regard by her aunts and is now welcomed into their group as a female parent. This is a generational displacement for Silma and where she one time thought of her aunts as drilling who merely talked about babes she now finds this interesting and likes to remain around them and can really associate to them and now sees herself more like them.

Silma besides starts to act otherwise and sees herself otherwise because people are handling her otherwise. Silma admits that she has left her wild yearss behind and go more mature and maternally and spends more clip with her household. This has besides had an consequence on her pick of apparels and anterior to going a female parent Silma preferred to have on denims but now she is a female parent her pick of vesture is now the traditional salwaar kameez. she refers to these apparels as “normal” and now feels less comfy in denims. Silma received several gifts of salwaar kameez for her birthday after going a female parent which may hold encouraged her determination.

Silma’s new individuality has besides caused struggle with her sister who now sees her as going like her aunts and gives Silma a difficult clip for being deadening and because she prefers the aunts company. Silma has besides taken on the individuality as a female parent and this is implemented in her concern for her younger sister and the manner she behaves. she worries that by remaining out late she may acquire hurt but in existent fact this was the same manner Silma used to act prior to going a female parent. Silma’s sister makes mention to the fact that Silma “used to be worse than me” but Silma puts this down to her holding changed. Silma negotiations about run intoing up with old friends at McDonalds and although we can non presume that she would have on the salwaar kameez this is a clear differentiation of how Silma has changed and her new individuality as a female parent is the dominant 1.

We have looked at assorted theories on what makes up personal individuality and it is clear that self- definition on its ain is non sufficient. Personal individuality is made up through interacting with others and through projection and introjection. it’s a two manner thing people see you otherwise so you behave otherwise. When we use identification it can merely be done through another individual to let you to place. this is non self-defined as you need another individual to be able to make it. You need to set yourself in person else’s places and yourself definition displacements when you look at person else. Besides some individualities are already defined by others and you are moved into this societal class without pick. as was the instance for Silma when she became a female parent. this individuality is societal and it is defined by how a female parent should act. If we require others to make our individuality so our personal individuality can non be self-defined.