A: This is a thoughtful question that touches on a critical distinction between two different levels of identity, which often get tangled: social identity and psychological identification.
Identity as a social coordinate and identity as psychological selfhood are two very different things.
Every character in the dream has descriptors. Male. Female. Trans. Straight. Black. White. American. Immigrant. Rich. Poor. Artist. Accountant. Etc., etc. These are coordinates in the social landscape. They affect how other characters treat you, what doors open or close, and what risks exist in the environment. None of that is imaginary. The dream has rules, and the characters move within them.
But when we talk about dismantling the false self, we’re not talking about erasing those coordinates. We’re talking about dropping the belief that any coordinate defines what you are.