Comparing and Shaping Identity Identifying and comparing identities is very important as it offers the opportunity to understand society, its different perspectives and the interpretation of behaviors and characters ( Woodward and Open University 9) . During the summer of 2008, I was invited to a party by my friend Dempsey who lived in North Carolina. The birthday party would be attended by many friends, most of whom I knew, although I found others who I didn't recognize. Upon arriving at the party location, I discovered that the party had already started and my first move was to look for the host. For many years my friend knew me as a shaggy person as my hair was always unkempt and so were my clothes. This day was no different, and as usual, I had left the house in a hurry for the party. The clothes I was wearing were not ironed and although my jeans didn't require much attention, they weren't in the best condition. After cleaning them I had stored them roughly and this had caused the trousers to crease. The shirt was also creased despite being forced daily by my mother to always tuck it in, I normally felt comfortable leaving it out. My hair was in the worst state, after washing it I always wrinkled it with a towel and let it dry without focusing on it again. This made my hair look rough and gave other people the wrong impression of me. The apparition gave those present a different idea of ​​who I was. Although it wasn't the first time people had gotten the wrong impression about me, it got worse during the party. When we met with my friend who was the host, he was in the company of three girls and one guy who already seemed drunk. The party should have been at… middle of paper… hatred of certain behaviors such as indulgence in drugs and crime is a common assumption made by people (Mills and Sen 45). My case was an example of how people associated my appearance with indulgence in alcohol and a love of punk music. Therefore, identities are shaped by appearance or character, which are interpreted in different ways by people. Comparing different identities and reshaping them to be properly understood is a task that many people fail to achieve. Works Cited Appiah, Kwame. Anthony. The State and the formation of identity. np, 2001. Web. 30 July 2011.Mills, James H and Satadru Sen. Confronting the Body: The Politics of Physicality in Colonial and Postcolonial India. London, UK: Anthem Press, 2004. Print.Woodward, Kath and Open University. Questioning identity: gender, class, ethnicity. London, UK: Routledge, 2004. Print.