I was recently thinking about how pervasive the concept and role "identity" plays in our daily lives. Check-out the following quotes:
- "I can identify with his/her politics."
- "Can you read that, I can't identify the last few letters."
- "I see you!"
- "I heard that!"
Although these are only a few examples of how I spotted the use of identity, note how each is used in subtly different contexts: agreement with one or more political ideals; the ability of the nervous system, in this case vision, to correctly discern something; a friendly verbal affirmation of one's physical presence as expressed by Southern African women; and lastly, a stylized verbal acknowledgment of an idea or statement which probably originated in Southern Brooklyn. I'm not a linguist, psychologist or psychiatrist but all clearly communicate something and all have real meaning to the stakeholders. I see you!
But when does one become sentient enough to have self-identity? In utero when the warm bath of amniotic fluid suddenly evacuates down a mother's leg? The first feeding from a nipple? The first cuddled, hazy stare into a parents eyes? In truth, who really knows. But what we do know is an infant embarks on a remarkable developmental journey where they clearly demonstrate joy and sadness, favorites and dislikes, tickle zones, etc. Eventually, the amalgamation of these traits leads to a distinct, identifiable personality. A personality that has a species-worth of knowledge to absorb, experiences to realize and opportunities to meet. Truly, the breath of humanity's promise to actualize even the most fanciful of dreams is within grasp.
So now it's time for society to exert influence on this distinct, promise-filled personality. The principle contributors that help shape socialization in these modern times are:
- Modeling Behavior and Language of Adults
- Interaction with Siblings and Peers
- Toy Play
- Modeling Behavior and Language Communicated Through Media
Although not an academically exhaustive list, let's briefly examine each of these socialization contributors using our common sense since we, as adults, have passed through these developmental stages.
Modeling Behavior and Language of Adults. This exerts the most significant influence on our young, promise-filled personality. Although the parents/care-givers are the dominant stimuli here, other indirect influencers include immediate family members and close friends. Many of the traits our young, promise-filled personality will model and potentially assimilate as core traits will originate here: verbal skills, inquisitiveness, mannerisms, grooming, dispute resolution, care-giving, etc. This is why many academic and non-academic studies continue to stress that the household is the key contributor in the development of any child.
Interaction with Siblings and Peers. This socialization contributor serves as the"applied field trial" of behaviors and language typically modeled from parents/care-givers (the home). Our young, promise-filled personality engages in group play, competition, dispute resolution, cooperative tasks, associative learning, peer-exposed failure, peer-exposed success, etc. As a parent, I found this to be the most interesting and rewarding component of my son's development because it reflected the relative success or failure of our parenting and allowed us to make mid-course adjustments as needed.
Toy Play. In addition to facilitating spatial, hand-eye, analytical and many other "physics-like" learning opportunities, our young, promise-filled personality leverages toy play for critical role playing. He/She visualizes themselves as the lead ballerina, the military commander, the scientist, the engineer, the fashion designer, etc. Again, the most fanciful of dreams are literally within the grasp of imagination.
Modeling Behavior and Language Communicated Through Media. Earlier in this article you may have noted the statement, "The principle contributors... in these modern times..." Prior to commercial newspapers (circa 1605), phonography (circa 1878), radio broadcasting (circa 1920), television broadcasting (circa 1936) and the Internet (circa 1994), media was not a developmental influence on our young, promise-filled personality. Yet, today it definitely is! Media now serves an integral role in education, illustrates behavior in social settings, provides subtle and explicit sexual conduct, drives material consumption, etc. Whether you want to believe it or not, each sound and image is perceived, processed and potentially impacts the socialization of an active or passively attentive child.
So there we have it, a basic scaffold of experiences and social influences that incessantly bombard our young, promise-filled personality and play a structural role in building identity. Although these experiences and the potential for unbounded achievement are universal to all children, this series of articles will explore why a statistically significant number of children, both of African and non-African decent, continue to identify the black doll in numerous social experiments (one example is provided below) as dumb, dishonest, bad and more. What are the repercussions of this type of identity! Furthermore, we will assess the role black doll play - also known as an action figure in masculine speak - can contribute toward affirming the identity of nearly one billion global residents who have tangible contributions to make to the global economy, science, literature, art, ... all fields of human endeavor. Finally, if you are a parent, care-giver, grandparent, aunt, or uncle who loves a child and read part 1 of the series to this point, it is obligatory that you follow the entire article series.