Turino Pg.

100-106
Summary

Each number relates to the paragraph in sequence (1 = 1st paragraph, so on…)

1. People have an unchanging essence about them. We constantly are changing in quality. Turino speak
of true self, a leaned habit based on emphasizing your inner characteristics — a persons soul.
2. The body we are born with plus our social environment make who we are and shape our habits. —
girl with blonde hair lives in a society where blonde hair is considered beautiful, she learns this early
on and can develop a way to get special treatment because of this feature. Our bodies and the social
process shape habits of thought and practice.
3. We develop habits unknowingly. They can develop early on or very slowly we don’t even notice.
4. We have more habits than we think. Turino tells us to sit down and write a list of everything you have
done, do, and are. The list could get pretty long.
5. People use identity as if it meant the same thing as self. You need to differentiate the two. Self is the
total number of habits that determines what we think, feel, experience, and do. Identity involves the
partial and variable selection of habits and attributes the we represent ourselves to us and others. That
long list of habits you could write wouldn’t be relevant to present to others. — don’t tell people your
a taxpayer unless your demanding rights in city hall.
6. Social identities are based on iconicity — recognizing simmer habits or features that allow
individuals to group themselves and group others.
7. Some countries pay attention to skin color as an important factor in identity because the nature of
racial discourse. Skin tone to some people is just as important as what that person does for a living.
8. Conceptualizing skin color or a nationality is a habit learned from the people around us when we were
children, which inspires other habits and behaviors. The habits of thought and expression shaped by
racial discourse are powerful and shape major life decisions and conceptions.
9. Recognizing and questioning the power of social discourses have on our senses is crucial for your
life.
10. Need to ask yourself if you are interested in differentiating yourself or uniting yourself with those you
interact with.
11. Strategic Essentialism is uniting people through political or social advancement. Social groups can
strategically use identity to serve political ends.
12. Strategic Essentialism is usually used when social groups essentialize themselves for unification.
Identity politics is the strategic use of group identities for political ends and who struggles over who
has the ability to control public representations of partial groups that affect the social status of group
members.
13. Hierarchical societies have people of higher status that essentialize the difference between themselves
and people of lower class. Disparaging the arts and cultural practices is part of a discourse that
represents inferior groups. African Americans and Jazz were considered dangerous and primitive,
much like rap was towards the end of the 20th century.
14. Identify involves unity — unions, political parties, fraternities.