Do You Identify Yourself More By Your Race Or Your Gender?

When you look at yourself, do you see a human being who is either a man or a woman, or a white person or a person of color?

In these times, when we have a white woman and a black man running, I'm interested in seeing what people identify themselves with more - or if not more, at least first, when they think about it.

If I asked you to identify yourself in the most basic, general way - would you first name your gender or your race - and what do you see yourself as?

A man who happens to be white. Or a caucasion who happens to be a man. Or a woman who happens to be black. Or a black person who happens to be a woman?

I know who you are is connected with both your race and your gender, but when you think about it, what instantly comes into your mind first, your race, or your gender?

I'm geninely curious how we see ourselves between those two options.

I know we're all human.

and I can choose among 3 artificial racial constructs.

Therefore, I am my gender.

I am mixed race, as we all are, and I'm not sexist. Just another human.

Though sometimes I wonder about the sapiens part.

from time to time I'll ask somebody if they believe in equal rights for homo sapiens and almost always get a negative reply.

interesting poll though.

all things being equal, how are people going to view our two candidates - by their race, or by their gender?

Between Clinton and Obama, there isn't much daylight between them on policy issues. All you can compare is their past history, their temperment, their views of the world - and, at the most basic level, whether more people are comfortable with a man or a woman - or a white person or a black person.

So I posited the question - without thinking, what aspect of yourself do you identify with most.

And it's very interesting how the poll numbers have been reflected so far. Overwhelmingly for gender, even those the responses here seem to indicate those who would respond would take the PC route and say 'neither'.

respondents.

Race and gender.

Perhaps a majority of caucasians view themselves by gender- because they don't view their race as a unique identifier.

Perhaps a majority of non-caucasians would vote that race is paramount.

For your poll to mean something to me, I would want to know the answer by race as well.

For example: X % of caucasians view themselves by race vs. gender and X% of non-caucasians views themselves by race vs. gender.

I am a human first. Gender and race are secondary as they are definitions that
divide as does nationality and religion. We need to focus on what brings us
together not what keeps us apart.

That is why I support Obama. It has nothing to do with race or gender.

Unity matters.

Not that it is that simple, by any means.

If I wake up tomorrow another race I may not even notice unless the color of my skin changed. Even if that happened it doesn't change who I am at the core. If I wake up tomorrow and I am no longer a man well thats a change that changes everything about who I am and how I live. So I choose Gender as its more fundamental as it effects more how you live your life.

I'd say gender. But I identify myself primarily as a thoughtful, passionate, open-minded human being.

so that kinda gives it away. :)

It's just my statement of being an average American. No BS, no fluff, just me. :)

Race, ethnicity, gender and age because I wonder if younger people don't tend to relate via gender where older people might relate via family, culture-> ethnicity because those earlier questions of individual identity are mostly resolved?

/oops

My work.

And my gender only really matters in the sense that I can stand up to take a piss.

just Richard : nothing else.

and everything else is secondary. That does not mean I do not take pride in my femininity or my fighting Irish roots....

I voted "gender." But only because the choice is forced, the number of non-whites I actually interact with to any significant extent in any given month is small, and I'm around a fair number of women that I do interact with. So the gender contrast is more salient than the race contrast--and it is a decontextualized contrast you're after, which usually just means the most common contrast.

But since most of the people I'm around are non-linguists and I have to interact with them on that basis, I often think of myself primarily as a linguist, it's "what I do." When around linguists, I go in the "Slavist" or "generative linguistics" or even the "syntax" camp. But when at home, I'm usually primarily just "parent".


But there's a flaw: Just because I see myself primarily as 'male' and not 'white' or even 'Irish-American' doesn't entail that I have any tendency to vote in accordance with that perception. I suspect many people do, especially when there's a sense of group solidarity and a sharp in/out-group boundary, and that boundary's been reinforced and highlighted; but for me there hasn't been a meaningful boundary brought into relief, although some candidate's supporters are getting close to doing precisely that.

that's why i like it.

It is obvious that most voters in SC, at least, voted for Obama because he is black.

Several months ago Jesse Jackson praised Edwards' attack on poverty, yet he would not endorse him, was "waiting" for Obama to come with something similar.

So it is clear that a lot more black vote for Obama than women for Clinton. On DU, there are a lot more posts of "I am a women and I do not support Hillary" than there are "I am black and I do not support Obama."

So the results of the poll, so far, are the opposite of what we actually "see" in the streets and on DU.

No, I did not vote. My reply would be "neither." I am upset with how much leeway Obama gets, because of his skin, and how much flak Hillary gets, because of her gender.

I think-
How would Spencer Wells answer

and usually say-
Why do you ask ME?