Me, Myself, and I

Abstract

Gender is about race is about class is about sexuality is about age is about nationality is about an entire range of social relations. Why should it be otherwise? In a society where these terms matter, people cannot check identities at the door. In a society where standing on the “wrong side” of one of these terms can get your head bashed in, people ignore identities at their peril. You carry them with you, or at least other folks think that you do. If you don’t proclaim them, somebody else will be sure to do it for you. You can try not to linger in the fields of identity, but you cannot escape these terms altogether. And it’s a package deal.