Unit 1: Identity and Self-Presentation

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Verbal/Non-verbal

Group Communication

Reading Images and products

Identity

In the exam you will be expected to discuss the following ideas:

• the self
• self-disclosure and feedback
• self-presentation
• relationship between intra and inter (e.g. Transactional Analysis - Berne)

What is identity?

According to Jenkins "Identity is a negotiable concept". Perhaps the simplest way to explain it would be to say it is the aspect of our self image which we wish to present to the outside world.

The Chief Examiner says:

• IDENTITY is best understood perhaps as a person’s social meaning
  
• IDENTITY is a representation of who we are

IDENTITY is subject to two sets of influences/pressures:

• THE SELF-CONCEPT: self-image, self-esteem, ideal self etc
• IDEOLOGY: the various pressures to be ‘safe’, to conform

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Identity: Constructed or not?

We don't have a free choice when constructing an identity to present to others - we negotiate or agree with others in our culture and society how far or close to the norms of our society we wish to be. What sort of woman or man do we want to be and what sort of man or woman will our society allow us to be?

If we are Muslim and living in Saudi Arabia, our female identity will be constructed differently and reflected to others differently than if we are Christian and living in the UK. This reflection of our gender identity will be done through clothing, language and personal possessions.

The pictures below show the idealised Western 'norms' for male and female identity in terms of desirable body shape. Women are supposed to have ridiculously tiny waists, over-long legs and big breasts. Men are supposed to have triangular shaped torsos, a six pack and broad shoulders.

It gets even trickier to negotiate our identities when we add clothing, jewellery and body adornment to the requirements. Look at Barbie and Ken below. Are we 'girlie' girls in dresses or tomboys in trousers? Are we 'surf dudes' or 'emos? Every choice we make communicates something about ourselves to other people. Something that will either mean we are accepted or rejected by others.

The sexual revolution... in cartoon form

Seventy-five years before the Spice Girls coined the term girl power, Betty Boop struck a blow for just such a cause. Ever since, cartoons and animations have challenged our traditional perceptions of femininity, says Stephen Garner.

Who do we think we are? Website exploring identity, diversity and citizenship....

Ted Polhemus' site on a variety of issues around identity and self - well worth a look!

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The Chief Examiner asks us to consider the following opinions:

Geertz: “Man is an animal suspended in webs he himself has spun…These webs constitute culture”

Are these ‘webs’ individually or collectively/socially ‘spun’?

Chambers: “in the communication membrane of the metropolis… the realisation of yourself slips into the construction of an image, a style, a set of theatrical gestures”

There is a very good unit on Identity in the Open University resource on the Internet - click on the link above.

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Who are you?

This is one young woman's way of defining herself. Miss Peaches - click here and have a look.

ACTIVITY: Try defining yourself in the same way, through your photos, but not just of yourself, but as she has done.

Self Presentation

We use our self-presentation to project our identities to the people around us - we do this in all sorts of different ways depending on whether we are face-to-face or online, using text, pictures or language (spoken or written) to communicate.

Many of you spend a lot of your time presenting yourself in online environments such as MSN, Facebook and maybe even Second Life. (If you are not sure what Second Life is click here to watch an introduction to the virtual world).

Use the tutorial below to look at some aspects of the way we present ourselves online. Simply click the arrow at the top of the screen to move through it.

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N.B Influences on youth identity - the Beatles - counterculture or capitalists - read this article and find out!!

Goffman argues: “In our own Anglo-American culture there seem to be two commonsense models…: the real, sincere or honest performance and the false one”
i.e. other cultures may see this differently: we may be being ‘sold’ these ideas of individuality as ‘commonsense’

Gramsci called this process of ‘naturalisation’ “hegemony”
This may be why we are antagonistic to those who we consider to be obviously fake such as ‘plastic’ pop performers like Will Young and Gareth Gates

Goffman would argue that we are all playing a version of this game in our own ‘demonstrations’ of identity)
Often pop performers simply(and perhaps in an exaggerated way) activate the very paradigms which are instrumental in the constructions of our own identities .  They also explore these paradigms on our behalf.

ACTIVITY 1(courtesy of Chief Examiner)
Consider your online presentation, as the guided image above does, (in MSN or Facebook) in Goffman’s terms (self-presentation):

Persona:

Role:

Performance:

Staging:

Teams:

Personal Style:

‘Read’ yourself as a text/syntagm:

What are the dominant signifiers?

What are the messages?

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Fill in the following table:

ACTIVITY 2 (courtesy of Chief Examiner)

The construction of identity: consider the following:

1. The Simpson™ family:

2. A Popstar™/Fame Academy/Big Brother contestant
   
   

2. Your teacher/ Boss/ parent

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