Identity refers to diversity as it includes individuals or a groups perception on what they see from an identity which could form part of their social circle and this part of my essay will discuss various theories from Erving Goffman (1959) and Jonathan Raban after his visit to New York to support how some identities have impacted negatively within our society whether this is included or excluded.You may see a group of teenagers that have a collective identify as they have similar interests for example make up, clothes therefore will target certain shops like high street brands such as Superdrug or 17 Cosmetics located in Boots as they are making a statement as certain groups would like to wear certain make up where as other groups may have interests in Heavy Metal music. This all impacts our individual, group and collective identities.The Socialist Erving Goffman (1959) has assessed people’s everyday behaviour and feels that in life people will project what they want other people to see about them without them saying anything to show a certain identity you would be able to tell by someone’s identity if they work for a Supermarket Chain such as Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Asda as their uniform is branded where as some people may be proud to work for these kind of organisations where as others may not be. (Taylor, 2009, P. 172)Jonathan Raban visited New York in the 1980’s and he noticed how people would have negative things to say about people that live on the streets, mental illness, drug and alcohol dependency.
As other people are unable to tell your identity by looking at you but they make an assumption based on how you are dressed, what you are doing, your body language, if you are clean shaven in addition to how you conduct yourself. Is this right for other people to make these assumptions, no of course its not but as a society this is what people think and some of us naturally assume that person we see with a bottle of whisky in their hand is because they have made their self homeless.Who are we to made these judgements, the individual may have lost their home from losing their job and had no body else to turn to. The person you see doing drugs may have had an abusive childhood or there may be another reason as to why they are in this situation. We have no right to judge or stereotypical including setting boundaries within our society.
If our society was more aware and more caring we would not be as we are today. (Taylor, 2009, P. 175 – P. 177)When you mention rural Britain and Ireland people assume that it attracts certain people and certain ethnic origins. Some people want a place to escape to so that they can go for a long walk and gather their thoughts which can often be urban locations such as the Lake District, Scotland and Wales.
People and business within these locations find it difficult to have a sustainable business as they very much rely on being able to make a profit and tourists contribute towards this. (Hinchliffe, 2009, P. 222)During the period of mad cow’s disease (foot and mouth) is was a devastating time for this area in particular as it was affecting their crop, animals were dying which resulted in lost profit as they were unable to sell this products due to contamination which had a negative impact on our society as people started to question the quality of the meat nationwide and if the food was safe to eat. When Environmental Health was involved very heavily it was part of their job to restore the public’s faith in farm stock again.
This impacted on farmers and local businesses quite significantly as some farmers had to close their business as there was no stock to sell which meant they lost their properties, lively hood, careers and this would have affected them on a personal level as well.It can be said that in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the people either needed to leave their current city or town or find another way of escaping to be part of reality in the countryside as the pollution within their current areas was affecting their health, social lives and political status in a negative way. When you look back in history and when the Battle of Hastings in 1066 this was done within the English heritage which even today as a point of interest for people to go to relax and explore the area. Often people in battle would often do this in the countryside as this was a place of defence. (Hinchliffe, 2009, P. 227)After reviewing the Guardian article dated 9th October 2004 it shows how people of certain ethnic origins are made to feel unwanted and excluded.
If the people within Brockenhurst within the New Forest had a more open society everyone would feel welcome and not just people with a set skin colour. Are we meant to be living in a society that is open to anyone irrespective of race or colour, therefore why are some people made to feel like they don’t belong. What I find completely unforgiveable is how black ethnic origins are accepted to be cleaning up after us but not accepted as equals. Changes should be made to make our society more positive, by communicating with each other and offering support groups by building social networks. It has been proven that if you are a regular visitor that you do receive acceptance, sometimes it is just adapting to change and embracing different cultures.
(Assignment Booklet 2013J, 2013, P. 23 – P. 25)In conclusion it can be said that it is us as people that can make changes to make our society improved and more acceptable to anyone that wishes to be a part of it. These improvements will impact towns, cities, communities and each others life’s for the better. As I have mentioned above you can see the impact that our society has on us and just by making some changes would on have a positive affect on each other, our lives and to build for our children’s future. We need to show and offer acceptance to all irrespective of race, colour, gender and religion.
