**2. What do we understand by identity?**

Throughout history, the concept of identity has been understood in various ways: In ancient times, identity was considered as an essential substance that was not subject to changes or transformations, without cracks or contradictions [2], so it consisted of something stable and permanent [3].

In Modernity, identity was considered as something that the individual develops in his relationship with the environment, especially with significant others. Consequently, identity is considered as the product of the socio-communicative processes that are established between the individual and his or her environment [2]. In this perspective, identity is something that is built through relationships with others

#### *Perspective Chapter: Considerations about Sexual and Gender Identities and Their Influence… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108686*

and with the world around us. It is not something that belongs only to the individual, but is created by people in their interaction with the environment.

Postmodernity considers that identity is fluid, unstable, and fragmented, in which multiple unresolved contradictions are produced [2]. Therefore, it is something temporary and temporary. According to postmodernism, identity is not something fixed or stable, but something that is constantly changing and often contradictory. Postmodernists believe that there are multiple unresolved contradictions within identity. This means that identity is not something unitary, but something fragmentary. Furthermore, postmodernists believe that identity is temporary and can be changed.

These conceptions of identity should not be considered exclusive or contradictory, rather they can be understood as complementary since they all provide something essential to understand this difficult concept. It is necessary that there is an invariable, stable part that allows us to recognize ourselves and that others recognize us at different chronological moments and different situations. Obviously, people, as social beings that we are, we are built as individuals in relation to our environment and we are strongly influenced by the social categories established in the construction of our identity, therefore, identity is, at the same time, dynamic and varies throughout our life and in different situations. In addition, it must also be taken into account that there is a more or less important part in that construction, which depends on the individual's will as being able to make decisions about his own life [4].

The first time this concept was used from a psycho-sociological perspective was in 1946 by Erik Erikson [5]. In its most basic form, identity is a set of principles, beliefs, and values that define who we are. These principles, beliefs, and values help determine our actions and procedures. We all have different identities, but we also have a set of shared identities. These shared identities are based on the general belief in the same set of principles, beliefs, and values.

Hall considers that identity is the "meeting point" between the discourses and social practices that place individuals in a place within society and the very subjectivities of individuals who have the ability to make decisions [5]. Álvarez-Muñariz, meanwhile, understands that identity is "the awareness and assumption of ways of being, thinking and acting that give meaning and meaning to a person's life" [6]. Personal identity is the concept that an individual has about himself, while social identity is definitions or categorizations made by the environment "the others" about the individual. That is, how others see us. Therefore, we can consider that identity has two dimensions: one individual and one social. Or, as Álvarez Munárriz points out, an interpersonal dimension and an extrapersonal dimension [6]. These two dimensions are inseparable, they form a unit.

For Giddens, identities are the product of a reflexive process that occurs throughout life and that connects the individual with himself and with social norms [7]. While Duggan considers that:

"Identities cross the space between the social world and subjective experience, constituting a central organizing principle that connects the 'I' and the world. Multiple and contradictory individual identities structure and give meaning to personal experience. Collective identities -of gender, class or nation- forge connections between individuals and provide links between past and present, constituting the basis of the cultural representation of political action" [8].

Therefore, individual identity is the way a person defines himself. It is what makes a person unique and different from everyone else. Social identity is the way a person is perceived by others. It is what makes a person identify with a social or cultural group. Individual and social identities are interconnected, so that a person's social identity is

conditioned by her personal identity and, to a large extent, it is built based on social identity.

In general, identity refers to the unique characteristics and attributes that make up an individual. This can include things such as ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and even personal preferences and interests. Everyone has their own unique identity that makes them who they are. However, these criteria on which that individual identity is based are usually socially defined. Therefore, we can say that it is created and recreated daily, through relationships with others and with the world [3]. Identity is not something that belongs only to the individual, but is created by the individual through relationships with others and with the world around him. It is said to be something social [3].

From these definitions, we can conclude that identity is something that concerns both the individual and the collective, that it implies, at the same time, inclusion and exclusion, and that its function is to endow a person's life with meaning and connect individuals with the world. Environment.
