The Changing Face of American Identity

This essay by Wesley Morris discusses the changing face of the American Identity in the 21st century. It explores the role of financial emancipation of women, the depiction of characters in popular culture, and the existence of racism and discrimination in society.

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READING ONE: The year we obsessed over identity
This essay is written by Wesley Morris and it presents the account of the
changing face of the American Identity in the 21st century (Wesley, 2015).
Vertical identity reveals the innate traits of a person inherited from the parents,
the horizontal identity refers to the individual development of the identity in
accordance with the environment.
While generating the examples from some popular culture films and literature
designed for the females, the author discussed about two diverse social status
caused by an extremist thought processes.
Three questions for the class:
-What is the role of the financial emancipation of the women and removal of
glass barriers, in the merging gender identities of the USA?
-The general depiction of the characters in the popular culture tales is giving rise
to a new identity; do you think that this new identity has coherence with
conventional “American Identity”?
- Do you think that concepts of Racism and discrimination exist in the present
society where social media and legislations are pro-Minority?
READING TWO: “Red Skin, Insult, and Brands”- C. Richard Kings
The author of the article is a researcher in the field of “Native American Symbols”
and their interpretations (Kings, 2016). He collected a set of events that took
place in the football arena during the year 2013 when many local teams tried to
erase “Native American Symbols from their identity.
The author further states that almost two hundred years ago, these symbols
were a matter of pride for our country; the previous generations also cherished
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them as treasure from the past. However, the present generation is considering
them as an insult and treating them as a dark spot on their brand values.
Three questions for the class:
-Do you think that “Red Indian Symbols” should be treated as a national insignia
and should be given a mandatory placement in the sporting arena?
-While leading the life of a slave Native Americans fought to preserve their
culture and now in a “free country”, why they are erasing their own identity?
-Should we consider this change in the outlook about “Native American symbols”
as a natural progression of society?
READING THREE: “Pornographic Eroticism and sexual grotesquerie in
Representation of African American Sportswomen: James McKay and Helen
Johnson
Author James McKay and Helen Johnson compiled a set of media coverage
reportages about Serena Williams and connected them with some social
perceptions to draw a point that media is treating black Tennis players as soft
porn stars and this depiction is helping them in earning a great brand value
(McKay et al, 2007).
This article condemns the privileged perspective of the whites where they
promote this different kind of “gender-specific racial” treatment.
Three questions for the class:
-Do you agree to the fact that William’s sister is a victim of the wrong “Soft
pornographic” projection?
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- Do you believe that concepts of “Privileged white perspective exists” in present
society?
-Connection of Sports with erotica is justified, if yes then what are the fruits, if
no, then what are the repercussions?
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
King, R (2016). Red Skin, Representation of Gender Race and Class. Nebraska.
University of Nebraska Press.
Johnson. H & Mckay, J. 2007. Pornographic Eroticism and sexual grotesquerie in
Representation of African American Sportswomen. New York. Taylor & Francis.
Wesley. M. 2015. The Year We Obsessed over Identity. New York. New York
Times Publication.
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