Identity is a construct shaped by external forces from "summary" of Blood and Guts in High School by Kathy Acker
Identity isn't something we're born with, like a heart or a liver. Identity is something that's given to us, imposed upon us. It's a construct, a fabrication, a fiction. We don't get to choose who we are. We don't get to decide what makes us us. External forces shape our identities. They mold us, they shape us, they define us. Society tells us who we are supposed to be. Family tells us who we should be. Friends tell us who we could be. We don't exist in a vacuum; we exist in a world that is constantly telling us who we are. We are bombarded with images and messages that tell us what is acceptable, what is desirable, what is normal. We are told that we should look a certain way, act a certain way, think a certain way. We are told that we should conform to certain standards, fit into certain boxes, play certain roles. But what happens when we don't fit into those boxes? What happens when we don't conform to those standards? What happens when we resist those roles that have been assigned to us? We are punished. We are ostracized. We are rejected. We are told that we are wrong, that we are bad, that we are not worthy. And so we struggle to find ourselves, to define ourselves, to be ourselves. We fight against those external forces that try to shape us, that try to mold us, that try to define us. We resist, we rebel, we refuse to be confined. We refuse to be limited. We refuse to be defined by anyone other than ourselves. But it's a constant battle, a never-ending struggle. It's a fight that we can never truly win. Because no matter how hard we try, no matter how much we resist, no matter how much we rebel, we will always be influenced by those external forces. We will always be shaped by them. We will always be defined by them.
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