Identity, Society, and Culture

Our position in the world affects how we view our lives in such a great way and half of the time, we don't even realize it. It affects many aspects of our lives such as how we view identity, society and culture. Being from the middle class, I can really only give my views on such things because I've never really been part of any other class and therefore don't have any other experience to base my ideas off of. Along with being part of the middle class, I'm an 18 year old American male, which affects my views a lot as well. I'm technically in one of the most privileged positions that I could possibly be in in the world. So, being an 18 year old, middle class, American, male, I view things based on experiences I've had so far in my life. Being an 18 year old, my views on identity are very different than those of say a 50 year old. I'm trying to define my identity right now and figure out who I want to be for the rest of my life, while a 50 year old might be just keeping true to the personality they decided fit them best 30 years ago. Being a male in this society/culture also affects my views. As a male, we're pushed to be more aggressive, masculine, successful, etc. We're supposed to be the bread winners and the leaders of the world (yes it's sexist, but we have a patriarchal society). Being from the middle class also gives me access to opportunities to better myself and give myself chances to make something of myself through furthering my education that people of other classes may not have access to.  So my views on society can be similar to those of people of all races, ages and genders around me because the society as a whole puts similar pressures on and gives similar chances to everyone within certain categories. Our culture is also very focused on independence and being successful of your own accord. So, the pressures to make it on your own are almost universal in America and my views on how cultures should push people can again be very similar to those around me.