Identity and Authority

Wardle talks about one's identity as a newcomer in the workplace, and the struggles one encounters in trying to decide how much of themselves they are willing to augment. She says, "As we encounter genres mediating new activity systems, we must determine whether we can and/or must appropriate those genres, thus expanding our involvement within those systems. We must also consider whether expanding involvement in one system forces us away from other activity systems we value-- away from 'activity systems of family, neighborhood, and friends that construct ethnic, racial, gender, and class identities.'" (523). When I read this bit, I though immediately of our discussion about discourses. We talked about how it is unnatural sometimes to enter and second discourse and how you might get around that, but we didn't talk about the resistance one might feel in trying to do this and how it might influence one's success in their chosen field. I really like the direction Wardle's article went in because I feel as though this is the main issue for people on an individual level. I thought about the blog post I had written about the resume- how angry and full of contempt it was towards trying to adapt myself into this new genre. Wardle says that, "participation in new communitites requires accepting for onesself identities that are at odds with the values of other communities to which one belongs." (525). It seems to me that one will inevitably feel this sort of "rebellion" as Wardle calls it, but the difference among people will be to what degree they are bothered and how easily they will tolerate these imposed identities. People are always saying that you need to do what you love, that you need to be "true to you," but, unless you are highly self motivated and talented, or maybe even inevitably, you will be forced into having to compromise your idealized identity in order to survive. We cannot all get paid to express ourselves in the way that we want to; so we must adapt. Our success, however, will be in negotiating a compromise between our identities as we see them and the identity that our employers seek from us. As far as how this has influenced writing in my profession, this article made me feel even more motivated to make sure that whatever profession I decide to get involved with is one in which I will have to be on the same page as my employer. I think a lot of the tension involved in this rebellion is in the insecurity involved in trying to adopt an identity that you don't even really understand at all. As I've said before, trying something new is terrifying, and I think it is especially for me. I have a lot of anxiety about fitting some sort of professional mold, because I've found throughout my life that when I was forced to be a certain way that I didn't want to be, I became seriously unhappy. I have found that there is a way to live life in the way you want- it is just a matter of reorienting priorities. What I mean is that you can prioritize your life in a way that secondary discourses aren't your primary focus. You can make a living in a way that doesn't involve your creative identity, but you can still be creative. You can have a family. You can make friends. You can be happy in the ways that matter, that don't involve compromising your identity. As Wardle says, "Identity is dynamic." (525). more to come on the rest of the question...