“The subject assumes different identities at different times, identities which are not unified around a coherent ‘self’. Within us are contradictory identities, pulling in different directions, so that our identifications are continually being shifted about…” (Hall, 1992).
After considering these issues of subjectivity and identity, it leaves a lot to wrap one’s head around. Ways of conceptualizing identity has shifted from an “essential centre of the self” to identities not being fixed, rather changeable throughout time and space. While it is agreeable that self-perception can vary substantially, it is hard for me to conceive how one’s identity is not unified around a coherent ‘self’.
The outside shapes our identities through social, cultural, and political interaction. Yet, there is to some degree a threshold to how much we go in one direction or the other. Furthermore, influences carry different weight in terms of their ability to alter our identity, not everything we are subjected to is going to change our identities. I think there is something that restricts the amount or degree of change which we incur. Maybe identities are not unified, but rather gravitated to a ‘self’.
Identities are like play dough; they are moldable from outside influences and conformable to position. Yet, through regular practices, play dough doesn’t completely change its consistency. The 'self' provides subjects with a sort of consistency. And like play dough, throughout development I think we become harder to shape. I think there is some connection to self-identity and one’s ‘self’.
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