In the introduction of her book Post-Feminist Digital Cultures: Femininity Social Media and Self Representation, Amy Shields Dobson – whose postdoctoral research “focuses on gender and sexuality in digital cultures and social media in particular”— studies girls and young women as online cultural producers (Dobson, 2016, p.1; The University of Queensland, 2017). Her goal is to examine they perform “young femininity” in ways that are seen or constructed as wrong or problematic, such as sexting and making “Am I pretty or Ugly” videos (Dobson, 2016, p.2).
In her essay Negotiating Identities/Queering Desires: Coming out online and the Remediation of the Coming-Out Story, Mary L. Gray – a “Senior Researcher at Microsoft Research and Fellow at Harvard
…show more content…
Dobson describes identities—and gendered bodies— “not as inherent properties of bodily matter, but as constituted and produced in concert with performative and discursive acts of self-articulation that give rise to the illusion of stable and bounded material bodies with stable ‘inner cores’” (2016, p.12). The author recognizes that there are power and social struggles at play that influence identity construction and that identities, such as gender identity, are often constructed “through symbolic, repetitive, and normative expression” (Dobson, 2016, p.12). Identity is performed online using visuals, sounds, and texts in a way that is similar to the way people express themselves through their choice of clothing, what they say, etc. (Dobson, 2016, …show more content…
She notably uses the example of Amy, a bisexual girl from a small town in Kentucky, to explain how identity comes to be developed (Gray, 2014, p.169). Indeed, she states that Amy’s sexual discovery did not emerge from spontaneous self-discovery, but rather from reading coming out and sexuality stories and talking to people from the LGBTQ community online (Gray, 2014, p.169). Following Gray’s train of thoughts, identity, has it has also been suggested by Dobson, is not so much biological as it is socially constructed; one comes to adhere to an identity or to see themselves as belonging to one group based on the way the group has constructed itself (Gray, 2014, p.169). For Gray, the concept of identity is inherently linked to another concept: authenticity (2014,
In “Modern Romance,” Celeste Biever describes romantic relationships in the Internet community. She describes how people can romantically be involved on the Internet and how the Internet teaches one to learn about a person from the inside out.In “Cyberspace and Identity,” Sherry Turkle also expresses her interest in the Internet and how it allows for the act of self-exploration. Even though their focus on what the Internet is used for are different from the perspective of one another, Biever and Turkle both see the Internet as a place for exploration in a general sense.
In "Where the girls are: Growing Up Female With the Mass Media," Susan Douglas analyses the effects of mass media on women of the nineteen fifties, and more importantly on the teenage girls of the baby boom era. Douglas explains why women have been torn in conflicting directions and are still struggling today to identify themselves and their roles. Douglas recounts and dissects the ambiguous messages imprinted on the feminine psyche via the media. Douglas maintains that feminism is a direct result of the realization that mass media is a deliberate and calculated aggression against women. While the media seemingly begins to acknowledge the power of women, it purposely sets out to redefine women and the qualities by which they should define themselves. The contradictory messages received by women leave women not only in a love/hate relationship with the media, but also in a love/hate relationship with themselves.
A man does not have to fear not being attractive, a “good guy,” or an “asshole,” and women do not have to be viewed as “whores”or “virgins” and seen as prey. Serano argues for a world that “women are allowed and encouraged to be sexual without having to be nonconsensually sexualized...and men can be respectful of women without be desexualized”(421). Most adults are using their smart devices on an everyday basis, and social media has proven itself to be a key player in the spread of information. With the advent of social media, adults can raise awareness for and promote equal roles in society for men and women through popular pages like those of celebrities. The local and national government can also promote such a lifestyle. Conventions and seminars are often used to raise awareness for a certain cause. Such events can be sponsored by the state to help adults change their perspective, leading to a change in mindset. As long
Ever since the dawn of time, people have been communicating with others around them and with today’s technology people can interconnect with people across the globe. They have access to a wider range of peers and colleagues like no other time period and the possibilities continue to advance these communications. Yet as those in the world continue to make new friends and hear the opinions of more people they slowly develop a dual personality. Though people have always had parallel identities, one for family and friend, and another for acquaints and strangers, as Barbara Mellix points out in her essay. Mellix is a writer and educator who’s essay “From the Outside, In” tells how she grew up learning two identities so she could function in both her personal world with close family and friends, and her world that dealt with others. Now as the world of the others has expanded with the help of technology so has the use of the second identity and it has taken the form of the online identity. People’s second online identity is always on an aggressive defense, paranoid to the point of any wrong thing said or unsaid could lead to a fight, and they tend to only be happy when there is someone to attack. In the physical world where people are surrounded by true friends and people they trust with their emotions and they are more caring and sympathetic of others’ pain. However the online identity poses a threat to the personal identity as people begin to pull traits from one identity to the next. Although not having an online identity Mellix can relate to this with an experience that involved confusing her identities. Mellix describes how when her personalities become mixed, she was puzzled about who she was and who belonged in her personal iden...
In an article called “Relationships, community, and Identity in the New Virtual Society” Arnold Brown explains two different identities, one that he calls “found identity” and the other “made identity” (34). The found identity is one that is created by one true self, it’s based off your background, your religion, your sexuality, everything that truly defines who you really are. And then there’s your made identity, the one you make for yourself and how you wish to be seen. As technology advances, the easier it will be for young girls to create these made identity’s of these famous celebrities, having them focus on things that don’t matter instead of valuing who they really are. As an older sister, I can say that I’ve seen change in my own sister.
In a study by the American Psychology Association, secularization is defined as “a person whose value comes from his or her sexual appeal or behavior” (Zurbiggen: pg1 para.3). One example of the various ways popular culture is targeting young girls is through social media sites. In this day and age, many young girls spend several hours on the computer on social media sites. In the documentary “Sexy Baby” the writers Bauer and Gradus tell the stories of three young women and how secularization has affected their lives. One of the main characters twelve year old Winifred, “changes from a gymnastics loving little girl to a moody young woman who post pictures of her cleavage on Facebook” (Wilmore: para.6).
In discussing the subject of male identity, especially as compared to female identity, Farrell is very careful to remain very objective throughout his rhetoric. Part of his balanced approach to proving his argument, is the use of an objective point of view. Farrell’s deliberate objectivity can be seen in aspects of his piece such as his word choice, free of denotative language, his lack of any first hand anecdotes, a removal of any indication of his gender (except his name), and a strict third person style throughout his piece. All of these characteristics combine to make his argument effective to a large demographic of people, unlike many pieces on gender identity, whose audience is usually limited to at most a spe...
Douglas, Susan J. Where the Girls Are: Growing Up Female with the Mass Media. New York: Random House Publishing, 1994, 278.
Imagining if I transformed into the opposite sex for a week, my experiences of truth and reality would be quite different, yet strikingly similar to my life as a woman. Although my peers would accept me the same and know nothing altered, my mindset would have done a complete 180 degree flip. Although it is the expectation that humans identify with a single gender, multitudes of modern Americans refuse to succumb to this idea and prefer to identify with a sense gender fluidity. “The term "gender identity” . . . refers to a person's innate, deeply felt psychological identification as a man, woman or some other gender, which may or may not correspond to the sex assigned to them at birth” (par. 2). Some refuse to accept that gender is as one may say black or white, male or female. However, if I transfigured into a man, I would need to adjust my sense of reality in regards to the new expectations that come with the given gender.
“All the world 's a stage, and all the men and women merely player… ” (2.7.146-47). Shakespeare’s poem pointed out everyone is only actors on the stage of this world. Goffman (1959) has a similar theory with Shakespeare that everyone is a performance; at any given moment, we play different roles. Through social media, everyone can carefully select what role that we want to project on virtual sphere.I argue that my identity changed varies different platform. In this essay, I discovered who am I online, what roles I was playing and how did I manage the impression I crave to give others on Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Line.
Before the internet, our characteristics such as style, identity, and values were primarily exposed by our materialistic properties which psychologists define as the extended self. But people’s inferences to the idea of online self vs. offline self insisted a translation to these signals into a personality profile. In today’s generation, many of our dear possessions have been demolished. Psychologist Russell W belk suggest that: “until we choose to call them forth, our information, communications, photos, videos, music, and more are now largely invisible and immaterial.” Yet in terms of psychology there is no difference between the meaning of our “online selves” and “offline selves. They both assist us in expressing important parts of our identity to others and provide the key elements of our online reputation. Numerous scientific research has emphasized the mobility of our analogue selves to the online world. The consistent themes to these studies is, even though the internet may have possibly created an escape from everyday life, it is in some ways impersonating
For instance, while displaying one’s identity through gregarious media sanctions the utilization of different media than traditionally used such as status updates, photos, and videos to construct identity, the media does not always accurately portray our true selves. By posting specific photos and comments, individual's highlight certain characteristics of themselves while also omitting or hiding other facts and characteristics. In an example, if a college student posts only pictures of themselves attending bars and parties while also posting comments on friends’ walls about such activities, they will highlight their “identity” of partying and debauchery. Conversely, they would be debasing all other aspects of their lives that comprise their identities, such as schoolwork, family, and personal relationships. This use of social media can create a false identity, portraying a “person” to the outside world who may not truly exist or may be more complex than the “person” one portrays through their social media sites. This is how, as Roberts suggests, one ultimately creates an “empty identity
I can recall a time when the media was influencing my life and actions. The week after I graduated high school, my girlfriends and I took a trip to Cancun, Mexico, where the MTV beach house was located that summer. As I look back on the week of drunken partying and sexy guys, I can only wonder how I made it home alive. How could any young woman find this behavior acceptable? Every young woman there was flaunting their bodies to the young men around them. They were proud to be sexual objects. Where did they learn such debauchery? This is the kind of woman that is portrayed throughout MTV and various other aspects of the media. They have even coined the term “midriff”—the highly sexual character pitched at teenage girls that increasingly populates today’s television shows—in order to hook the teen customer. Teenage women increasingly look to the media to provide them with a ready-made identity predicated on today’s version of what’s “cool.” The media is always telling us that we are not thin enough, we’re not pretty enough, we don’t have the right friends, or we have the wrong friends… we’re losers unless we’re cool. We must follow their example and show as much skin as possible. The type of imagery depicted by MTV-- as well as people like Howard Stern, the famous “Girls Gone Wild” videos, and various Hip Hop songs—glorifies sex and the provocative woman.
Is information technology an identity technology? Over the past decade, the rapid advancement in technology has made a great impact human lives that questions the identity of individual. The following discussion will be about the reflections of Sherry Turkle on how online interaction and technology influence identity construction. For better understanding, it is important to analyze the analysis of Sherry Turkle of the computer as a reminiscent object and the human relationship with the object. Turkle’s observations on the identity online and its characteristics will be highlighted. Turkle discusses the impact of technology in human life through the young minds of students that she evidently observed. She further argues that the technology that embeds “in a culture that supports democracy, freedom of expression, tolerance, diversity, and complexity of opinion is one of the next decade’s greatest challenges” (Turkle, 2004). This paper will discuss whether the evocative object (i.e. computer) has helped to find the identity of the users or induced the users to lose their identity. Even though there are negative impacts from the advanced technology, Sherry Turkle proves that how technology has changed the way of leaning and thinking that helps to find the identity of individuals.
The Web. 11 Nov. 2013.. http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/teens-social-media_b50664> Floridi, Luciano. The Construction Of Personal Identities Online. Minds & Machines 21.4 (2011): 477-479.