Integrating Identities + Compartmentalization
Today we’re going to talk about marginalized identities and the ways in which we might cope with the trauma of hate, discrimination, and bullying. Let’s start off by defining what a marginalized identity is.
Marginalized identities are “groups and communities that experience discrimination and exclusion (social, political and economic) because of unequal power relationships across economic, political, social and cultural dimensions.” - The National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health
Many people with marginalized identities face hate, discrimination, and bullying related to those identities. Some of this hate is external, but there can also be internalized hate against these identities that have been learned from other people or society. One common way people may cope in response to hate, discrimination, and bullying, is by compartmentalizing their marginalized identities.
One helpful model that I like to use when thinking about compartmentalizing marginalized identities is the ADDRESSING Model by Pamela Hays. This model identifies nine areas of diversity which are:
Age
Development disabilities & acquired disabilities
Religion
Ethnicity/race
Socioeconomic status
Sexual orientation
Indigenous heritage
National origin
Gender
These are some of the identities that make up who you are as a whole person.
One way to think of compartmentalizing is by imagining yourself as a closet full of all your favorite things. Compartmentalizing identities is like putting each identity such as your religion or sexuality in a different shoebox, shutting the lid, and putting it on a shelf. You might take out one or a few at a time, but for the most part, everything is kept separately. You haven’t really unpacked the contents of these boxes and settled into this space, and because everything is kept separately, you cannot integrate these identities together.
Holding our identities in these boxes is what happens when we compartmentalize or disintegrate our identities. Disintegration or compartmentalization of identities is a coping skill or method of survival. When things are really difficult, sometimes survival is the best we can hope for. If it is not safe to be authentic, it makes sense that someone would compartmentalize an identity or try to be less of that identity.
For example: If a teen is being bullied for identifying as lesbian, they may try to compartmentalize that identity by not publicly dating people of the same gender, not talking about their identity, or not expressing their gender in a way that is authentic to them. We also see this type of behavior if two or more identities are poised as incompatible or if you experience discrimination for one marginalized identity in a space affiliated with another identity.
An example of this might be an individual experiencing discrimination in a religious setting because of their identity as LGBTQIA+. Maybe you’ve experienced racism in LGBTQIA+ settings, perhaps you’ve experienced ableism in academic settings. Spaces that feel safe for one identity may not be safe for another identity. This is why intersectionality is important. Intersectionality is a way of looking at how your identities are connected and the ways in which they interact with each other. Many different identities make up who you are, and they are all intertwined.
Therapy can provide corrective emotional experiences that allow you to integrate your identities by creating space for you to process past events in a space that is safer and more supportive. What is a corrective emotional experience? APA (n.d.) identifies it as “an experience through which one comes to understand an event or relationship in a different or unexpected way.” Ideally, a therapist creates a safe environment for a client to bring up, explore and process experiences where their identities were marginalized or discriminated against.
These corrective emotional experiences can help you change the way you feel about your identities and the events you’ve gone through. Maybe you have internalized events that happened to you, experiencing internalized attitudes like homophobia, transphobia, or racism. Being able to process these experiences in a new setting allows you to look at ways that individual people and systems have harmed you, and create space for you to attribute responsibility to outside parties and finally take the weight off your shoulders.
You deserve to exist as a whole person, with all of your identities valued and integrated. If you think that therapy would be helpful as you work on integrating identities, you can set up a 30-minute consultation with our therapist matchmaker to find the therapist who’s the best fit for you.
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