Making sense of your identity

Although I was born and raised in the large metropolis city of Houston, I have always considered myself to have grown up in a “bubble.” Rarely leaving the five-mile radius that surrounded my neighborhood, I attended the same small school for the majority of my life, interacted with the same types of people, and accomplished pretty much exactly what society “expected” of me. However, after two full years of being immersed in a much larger and diverse culture at the University of Georgia, I have been able to better understand my personal identity and make a name for myself, without the expected pressures to do so. Yes, my childhood does hold a strong weight in my identity today but I feel that most of it comes from my recent exposure to new cultures, thoughts, and ideas. I have been able to build on my past and open my eyes to a variety of shared social meanings that I had never experienced in the past. This has led me to realize that identities are not fixed, but fluid and able to build on each other. Also, through class discussion I wonder that although everyone has different identities and symbols, such as the orchids and arrapas from Venezuela or the bluebonnets and Tex-Mex from my Texas childhood, is it possible for all of our identities to be connected in similar ways? And if so, do we each have a different interpretation of their meanings?

As I begin to explore the world of telenovelas, I am eager to see how they will have significance in my identity and everyday life. It is amazing to me that once you get past the language barrier, the realities and issues that the telenovelas raise truly do affect those in every type of culture and society, no matter how different people’s identities are. Dr. A describes telenovelas as “constructing audiovisual text that people consume like food.” Do people consume them for the drama, for the romance, or for the social and political inferences? My guess would be all of them, but I am interested to see how one’s own personal identity affects their interpretation of the show’s meaning.