Dressup

Branding is such an important part of today’s culture that for the last few days I have been consumed with questions of how to transfer my personal identity onto the social landscape. Should I create a website, who is my audience, how do I want to present myself, what about a logo and a catchphrase? Answering these questions are such daunting and energy-consuming tasks for an introvert, who must now prescribe a social identity. I am just starting to bare and share my individual self in the real world, let alone construct a label so that I’m more accessible in cyberspace.

In this postmodern period, who we are and how we learn to stand in relations to others involves the language of social media. This is not a terrible emergence. In fact, we are given the opportunity, the courage to simply be. Considering cultural and geographical aspects - like globalization, interracial marriage, and freedom of expression - the struggles of constructing a self should not be mandated by whether you are staying true to familial roots and heritage, or merely customizing a self by taking on a persona from another race.  Because really what would an authentic representation of a Philippine-Libyan-Canadian Muslim look like--I can’t wait to see my niece and nephew morph into their selves as they grow up :)

Let’s not forget that people are multifaceted, with personal identities, social identities, gender-specific identities, and personalities. Away with the issues of what is prescribed, inherited, and what is simply a phase or a façade. We should be able to preserve our uniqueness and centeredness, and at the same time have an interest in going outside of ourselves to other beings and nature.

At the end of the day, just remember to be true to who you are. It might require acknowledging past and present. It might be balancing as many cultures as you are exposed to. I currently identify myself as a “Libyan-Canadian”: two polar opposite cultures brought together by a hyphen. It’s the most direct way to explain why I speak English fluently and carry a foreign name.