by adamovic@uoregon.edu -

Video One: I try to talk about the Women’s Suffrage. In Malay.


(From Singapore. By Nabilah Husna. Available here.)

The ways in which we choose to identity ourselves and the communities and values with which we align ourselves are not always outwardly obvious and often we must explain who we are. In this video, a girl tries to describe how she is a feminist and what it means to be a feminist in a language that is not her own—Malay. The frustrations of not being able to express who you are comes through as she searches for the right words. Perhaps the perfect metaphor for the slipperiness of identity and how, even when you do have the language, you may not have the right words or ability to make all the aspects of your identity clear.

by adamovic@uoregon.edu -

Video Two: Antara Cinta dan Bangsa (Between Love and Race)


(From Malaysia. By Pusat Komas. Available here.)

Similar to the frustrations of not being able to most accurately explain your identity is the issue of others viewing your identity in one particular, immutable way and not being able to look beyond it. In this video, a Chinese girl is dating a Malay boy, much to the dismay of both of their families and some friends. The way we navigate our relationships and connect them with our identities can create negative experiences. Sometimes we must choose which part of our identity we find most important to us and maneuver our relationships from that perspective.

by adamovic@uoregon.edu -

Video Three: Singapore Families Speak Out For LGBT


(From Singapore. By theonlinecitizen. Available here.)

Because no one creates their own identity around a singular trait or community, those differing ways of explaining who we are can often collide, sometimes in opposition. In this video we see Singaporean LGBT identified people and their families coming together in a positive way. Different aspects of our identities are constantly intersecting. In this case, the two pieces of one person’s identity coming together are their sexuality and family identities and both of these are unchangeable. You are born to a certain family and you are born with a certain sexuality. Perhaps that makes these two so difficult to reconcile. Here, however, in the space of this video, these families are able to accept all parts of each other’s personas.

by adamovic@uoregon.edu -

Video Four: Confused—My Religion is My Business


(From Indonesia. By Kampung Halaman. Available here.)

Religion tends to be an significant identifier for many people, but it is also something we have control over and can change. You may be born into one religion and over time, grow to associate more strongly and believe in a different faith. In this video, the girl’s parents are each a part of different religions and she is trying to figure out which belief system is best for her. Ultimately, she takes ownership of it her religion and the option to keep it private. Identity is very personal and having the courage to be who you are often means going against what others expect of you. Both her parents hoped she would choose to follow their religions, but because she is secure enough to make her own decision, she can be secure in her religious identity, as well.

by adamovic@uoregon.edu -

Video Five: Slutwalk Singapore: Because We’ve Had Enough


(From Singapore. By yerry. Available here.)

Words are frequently the easiest way to explain and describe the identity of ourselves and others. These words can have positive, neutral or negative connotations. This video about Slutwalk Singapore is about taking back a word. By reclaiming the use of the word “slut”, this group does not allow the negative connotation of it to define them. They are attempting to destroy the negative use of the word “slut” while exploring the inherent sexism in it and promoting feminist ideals. Through reclaiming and staking ownership over this generally negative word, they can also challenge the status quo by use of their identity.

by adamovic@uoregon.edu -

Video Six: World’s Next Super Model


(From International. By GlobalDevMatters. Available here.)

There are clearly many ways to define oneself, but the world also chooses to define people as one way or another. In this video, this Super Model reclaims her own identity and refuses to be subjected to the stereotypes of a disease. Though HIV+ is an important aspect of who she is, it is not the only part. She is a mother, an activist, a friend, a role model (a super model), and more. The fact that she is HIV+ spills over into the other pieces of her identity to help her become the person she is. She is not defined by her disease, but allows the disease to be be a part of her whole self. She owns the disease as a way of explaining who she is, not the other way around.

by adamovic@uoregon.edu -

Video Seven: The Bridge


(From Australia. By Anonymous. Available here.)

This final video in our series looks to the hopeful future. Identity blurs the boundaries between people and communities and can cause rifts between them. But the ability to look past all of the individual pieces of a person to see the whole person is really important. In this video, it is a couple of children who are able to look past race and clothing and cultural differences and just see another human. So often identity can divide us and we look at what is so different from one person to another, but it can also be used to explore just how similar we all are.