Multiplicity of Identities
Facilitated by Dr. Ariela Bairey ben Ishay, Director of the Group Facilitation in a Multi-Identity Society program.
This workshop aimed to raise participants’ awareness of the multiple identities that are held concurrently, affecting individuals’ daily lives. Some of these are assigned at birth (e.g. nationality, gender, etc.), while others are acquired (e.g. ideology, professional identity, etc.). Any single or group of identities may move to the fore, depending on our needs or context. Thus, individuals must ask which identities help, and which hinder, when meeting other people.
The workshop included theoretical knowledge that provided a background on the method’s different applications in group settings (The Other Within Us, Dan Bar-On, 1999; The Social Order of Many Selves, Shlomo Mendelovich, 2005). In the first part of the workshop, participants were asked to write eight of their identities. Working in pairs, the first partner asked, “who are you?” eight times, each time receiving a different answer. The partners reversed roles, and then repeated the exercise with another partner (and additional identities). Participants realized that how and what they choose to share depends on varying circumstances. The subsequent discussion focused on distinguishing between identities that help and identities that hinder.
It is important to recognize our multiple identities (or perhaps, many selves) that manage the meaning in our lives, and how these are context-dependent. It thus becomes possible to say, “I’m simultaneously 100% a career woman, 100% Jewish, 100% feminist, 100% Mizrachi,” as the identities are simultaneously reciprocal. Each of us can hold any number of primary and secondary identities, while the latter may stem from the former, and these identities may move to the fore/background over time or depending on the context. Some identities may be complementary, conflict, or be disassociated: our identity as mothers can be conflicted with our professional identity. Identities may conflict based on age, socio-economic status, personal status, health, politics, awareness, and more. It thus becomes crucial to recognize relative privileges – which identities help us advance and which hold us back.
As Bar-On writes, “Throughout history, the Jews and Palestinians saw themselves and their identities differently – in the past, the approach was monolithic, whereas now a more multi-dimensional approach is emerging. These perceptions significantly influence the possibilities for dialogue, especially in times of conflict.”