A Report on the Controversial Portrayal of Stereotypical Social Identities in the Television Show The Office and My Personal Identity

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Social identity is a person’s sense of who they are, both individually and as a group. These classifications are based on many things, including, but not limited to: race, gender, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and political affiliation. Social identity within itself is just a way to categorize people into groups, but it can be very misunderstood and become something that has bad connotations. Almost every identity has a stereotype that society has labeled on them, ranging anywhere from women are bad drivers to everyone who is Jewish works with money.
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These stereotypes are always incorrect in the sense that not every person that relates to that identity fits into that particular mold. For example, some women are bad drivers, but there are also a large group of men that cannot drive well either. Social identity has tried to been hushed up in the media, so when the hit TV show The Office brought it up in such a blunt way, it definitely sparked controversy.

Season 1, Episode 2 of the Office is titled “Diversity Day.” It is an episode that brings up the topic of social awareness in the workplace. It ties in ignorance and humor to correctly show how some people do not know how to talk about social identities without stereotyping. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the episode, but all of Michael’s actions made me cringe. He went above and beyond to make it as worse as it could be, and it was very obvious that he did not know how to go about talking about diversity.
Michael’s ignorance is relevant to real life because there are many people who do not know that they are hurting someone’s feelings by their words and actions. The Office shows how easy it is to offend someone by insulting their own social identity, even if you are meaning no harm. The activity about stereotyping that is shown in the episode could be done in real life to break down barriers and show that it is okay to talk about social awareness. It is very important to discuss the concept of social identity, because it is essential to every person’s life.
My own personal identity is not set in stone because as I keep growing and changing, so does my identity. There are obviously parts of my own identity that I can never change, such as being a white woman. Also, the events that have happened in my past have shaped my identity, and those things are never changing. However, coming into college, I know that I will have to grow as an individual and become more independent. As I go through these changes, part of my identity will change as well. I am proud of who I am and where I come from, and although I am not a minority in any other sense than being a girl in a man’s world, I try to not be ignorant about other’s identities. I know I am lucky to be in the majority, and I do not want to take that for granted. I have only been at Mizzou for one month, but I feel like I have already grown to understand more about other identities. There are many opportunities for growth here, and I hope I can take advantage of these chances.

Alberta Stanley

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