How Restrictive Environments Influence Identity

Student’s Name
Professor’s Name
Course
Date
How Restrictive Environments Influence Identity
Identity, which encompasses personality traits, beliefs, appearance, and expressions that characterize an individual, is a paramount component in anyone's life. Indeed, it is an indispensable cog that influences almost all facets of an individual's life since it accords one a sense of belonging or a lack of it. Identity is a double-pronged element involving inherent characteristics beyond human control, such as height or race. It also involves acquired characteristics, such as hobbies, political opinions, and religious beliefs. In essence, identity plays a critical role in determining the kind of life any given individual leads. Several factors are instrumental in influencing identity, including external and internal factors. Two essays, The Naked Citadel and Solomon's Home highlight in detail how a restrictive environment forces individuals to adopt characteristics that are not compatible with their real identities, which have negative effects on them and their communities.
One of the most conspicuous negative effects of a restrictive environment is that it goads individuals into having a sense of entitlement and regarding others disdainfully. Such individuals believe some people, owing to their status, gender, and background, should not enjoy particular privileges. For instance, the Naked Citadel explores the negative effects the restrictive environment of a military college has on cadets. It is set in a public military college that boasted of a rather dubious distinction of exclusively admitting male cadets for 150 years. The story revolves around Shannon Faulker, who makes history as the first-ever female cadet in the military college. Her unexpected admission happens by default after deliberately omitting reference to her gender while applying for admission. After the college administrators discover their gross error, they rescind the decision to admit her, which constrains Faulkner to seek legal redress. Most cadets mentioned in the story explicitly exhibit how the culture of the citadel has negatively altered their true identities. They articulate their feelings without the slightest misgivings because that is how the college has conditioned them. Some argue that the admission of a female cadet would inevitably intrude and compromise the sanctity of the Citadel. In other words, they hold a rather negative attitude toward women. They categorically assert that the presence of female cadets would have a deleterious effect on the Corps of Cadets (Faludi 75). The sentiments of others contain a tinge of mediocrity as they claim that studies show the presence of women considerably jeopardizes the learning capabilities of men. In other words, the cadets favor the absence of women since not having to impress them is a source of profound autonomy. In the same vein, preserving an all-male communal bathroom in the college weighs heavily on the cadets. They contend that bathing together without the slightest inhibitions is an integral part of the college that consolidates their mutual trust, something that would be shunted into oblivion with the entry of female cadets (Faludi 72). In short, the restrictive environment of the Citadel appears to limit the reasoning capacities of many male cadets. They seem to think along the constricted line of thought that masculinity should and must always have dominion over femininity. The same effect is evident in Solomon's Home, which touches briefly on the author's mother's battles with her identity as a Jew. Solomon intimates that his mother entertained the feeling of being undesirable since she had grown up in a restrictive environment where people regarded Jews as second-class citizens. For instance, Solomon's grandfather, from whom his mother acquired the feeling of being undesirable, had been forced to conceal his religion. He held a high-level job in a company that did not employ Jews, and revealing his real identity would have meant losing the job (Solomon 370). This shows that circumstances had forced him to abandon attributes that defined who he was and embrace spurious ones, like being a member of a suburban club that looked down upon Jews. In the same vein, Solomon’s mother suffered a sobering ordeal in her early twenties after the family of her Texan boyfriend threatened to disinherit him if he did not break ranks with her. The Texan family would never enter into marriage allian...