Stephany Pineda Cardoso Discussion 2

VISUAL IDENTITY 6/01/20

I will choose the Genderbread diagram to explain gender to someone else because of its clarity and familiarity of shape. Explaining gender can be difficult especially to people whose ideals have been established by decades of tradition. In many cultures’ men are expected to be providers while women are expected to please and care for their families, but within this ideal I believe that many people can see a degree of variation of gender roles and stereotypes. The word choice of the diagram recognizes these differences without any confusion, because of this, traditional families can be more willing to listen or acknowledge this idea. This is also where the shape of the diagram has a lot to do with how we can be introduced to new ideas. The gingerbread man gives us a degree of comfort because of its likeness to humans. The colors, kindness, and children-like aspects of this gingerbread man can help a person identify and be willing to listen without maybe feeling fooled by a unicorn or confused by a solid shape diagram. The gingerbread allows for personal connection.

I think my personal identity has been one of my greatest challenges. As I was creating this diagram, I asked my boyfriend how he thought people saw me, but this turned into a self-analysis. I believed people saw me as an uneducated and naïve Mexican, but honestly, I don’t know what others used to think. In 5th grade I got made fun of constantly (my Mexican culture highlighted my difference in this grade) and in response to this I suppose my mind tried to find answers, in turn developing my self-awareness. Whatever others made fun of it became something I hated about myself. Now I see that my biggest battle was against myself which paved the way for future conflicts. My experiences, passions and likes have become the most influential part of my identity. Moving from a small village to New York City was inexplicably challenging, but I am incredibly thankful I have gone through what I did because it made me value my family, education and it gave me something to pursue. I chose some of my features to represent me because some of them have been my greatest challenges and I feel proud to have accepted them. My smile is a feature I love about myself, but on the other hand, my bushy eyebrows and hairy arms is something that I was self-aware of. I got teased because of them, and all my friends who I thought I could turn to, just showed me I had to conform to these standards because they always ended up shaving their arms. My curly hair was also a torment until it became a trend. You can see my physical features, but you cannot see what’s inside me. One of the reasons I did not include my ethnicity is because I truly don’t know where I fit in, I have played this game my whole childhood and I will not play it now. As a result, I have developed family as my number one value, creativity and courage. I want to build a business surrounding creative fields to help my community. Even though family is my number one value there may be times where they might not agree with how I think, and this can become a challenge. With my creativity I always want to make sure I stay on track and do not overweight a creative process over an objective. Finally, my courage might put me in an uncomfortable situation if I am not prepared.