Description
(The moving image shows a cartoon young man looking in a full-length mirror. He is the character drawn by Lev Yilmaz that we have drawn upon extensively in this module. In the mirror, the man’s image and clothes keep changing to depict the many different performances of self in his repertoire. The text at the bottom of the image reads: “The more I think about it, the more I think that I’ve always tried to determine who I was by playing some kind of a role.”)
For this assignment you are asked to write a roughly 1-2 page essay in response to this prompt:
Have I ever failed in my efforts to “improve” my presentation of self? This question can be hard to think about, but it’s good for us to do so! In his cartoons, some of which are embedded in this module, Lev Yilmaz (Tales of Mere Existence) describes how he has tried to be a hipster, a “cool guy” and an ideal boyfriend at various times in his life. In each instance, he begins to reconsider the performance he is portraying. Consider a time when you adapted your behavior to encourage more positive judgments of yourself by others, especially other people who you thought were cool. Has this ever backfired for you? Have you regretted changing yourself to mesh better with others? Why or why not?
In your answer, incorporate at least two key concepts (see p. 255 and p.281 for lists of key concepts) from this module. They can come from any of the theories of this module–symbolic interactionism, dramaturgy or social constructionism– but they must be clearly defined as the theory defines them but in your own words and applied carefully to your own example. Note that many of the terms you see on these lists also have a layperson’s everyday meaning, but that is not the meaning they have for the theorists who use them. You will need to read the chapters and modules and view our videos to understand the specific use of these terms in sociological theories.
If you just CANNOT think of ANY time when this has happened to you, pick a character from a movie, TV show or from celebrity culture and use their story to demonstrate your points.
