Who are we after all? “In Defense of Mask,” by Kenneth Gergen he states that it is not possible for humans to find a coherent self identity without having a solution. The idea of developing a “coherent sense of identity” makes us act a certain way to please the wish of others. Gergen wants to find intentions of an individual 's choice of mask and how outward appearances and inward feelings we all come across. The author proves his statement by experimenting on people who had a positive and negative reaction from an interviewer.Therefore, the “coherent identity” versus “multiple identities” is detrimental to many individuals when they are trying to perceive into someone that they wish to become. I agree with Gergen, because having a mask hides …show more content…
Masks are a way an individual expresses themselves with various types of people. We are given different occasions and have to act a certain way to do so. Gergen states that the cause of having a mask is “When an individual seeks approval from this diverse range of personalities,he or she adopts a wholly different mask or public identities.” (197) Each person has a different personality when they are with certain people, based on actions and reactions. For instance, when having a guest visiting for the first time, we tend to look our best and choose the best way to make them feel welcome. We tend to hide things that don 't seem “appropriate” and take out things that seem new. We probably don’t notice, but we create a mask based on appearance since we are hiding the reality based on their first …show more content…
Modifying a mask with new people may be different than actually communicating with people we’ve been knowing for years. For example, Gergen experimented with a group of eighteen girls and based on the interviews and self-evaluation their reactions would seem to be positive however once it was more than expected then they would try to avoid the comments. It demonstrated that its easy to modify a mask, now we that we have social media we expect more. Everyone is guilty of doing such action, by just observing and listening to the change of someone’s voice compared to a friend of
On the other hand, ideally one should be true to one’s heart, if Disney’s Mulan is to be believed. But these are neither solid pieces of advice nor wise counsel; they are at best hand-wavy, wishy-washy statements that offer no guidance on traveling the minefield that is remaining true to oneself. In fact, given the wide swath of human experiences, it is difficult to imagine a panacea effective for each and every trial and tribulation people may encounter in maintaining the integrity of their identities; personally, I don't think one exists. Just as there are myriad events, emotions, and memories from which one’s identity develops, it surely follows that there are just as many ways social norms act to compromise one’s individuality, ostensibly for the worse. Therefore, it seems that an indirect solution would best serve individuals filled and bombarded with doubt about who they really are; namely, the unwavering support of a community would allow individuals to resolve, on their own terms, their inner conflicts stemming from outward
In the essay “In Defense of Masks,” by Kenneth Gergen, he states how people do not “normally develop a coherent sense of identity” (Gergen 2). Gergen talks about how we as people may “experience severe emotional distress,” (Gergen 2) instead of having a set identity. The difference between the idea of multiple identities that are represented by masks and having a coherent sense of identity of one’s true self, is that having a coherent sense of identity means that a person stays the same in every situation and never changes. On the other hand, having multiple identities that are represented by masks means that one’s identity is ever changing and shifting depending on the situation that they are in and the people who surround them. However, even
In William Golding’s “Lord Of The Flies”, a group of boys is stranded on an island that completely changes them. The boys turn totally different from how they act from society as if they were putting on masks. It’s not just the boys that wear masks, but a lot of people try to hide from other people. What a mask does is that it hides a person’s trait and shows something completely different. I have made a mask like one of the boys, Ralph, that tries to show that he’s a leader, but hides a different personality. Here are some of the qualities of my mask.
...le knowing their identity, so that they do not have to face the judgments of others. "Man is least himself when he talks in his own person! Give him a mask and he'll tell you the truth!" (Velvet Goldmine).
Maus is a biographical story that revolves around Vladek Spiegelman’s involvements in the Holocaust, but masks and manipulation is one of the few themes of the book that has a greater picture of what the book entails. Vladek’s experiences during World War II are brutal vivid detail of the persecution of Jews by German soldiers as well as by Polish citizens. Author Art Spiegelman leads the reader through the usage of varying points of view as Spiegelman structures several pieces of stories into a large story. Spiegelman does this in order to portray Vladek’s history as well as his experiences with his father while writing the book. Nonetheless, Maus deals with this issue in a more delicate way through the use of different animal faces to
George Orwell quote, “He wears a mask, and his face grows to fit it.” The documentary, “The Mask You Live In”, directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom shows different ages of males who struggle to be themselves while battling America’s limited meaning of manliness. George Orwell quote, “He wears a mask, and his face grows to fit it.” Influenced by the media, among their age group, and the grown-ups in their lives, adolescents dissociate their emotions, disrespect women, and is aggressive. Society gender stereotypes affect young males to change to fit into the societal norm as they characterize “real” men.
Though a mask may just be a paper cut out, a molded piece of plastic, or in the Lord of the Flies, a painted face, they all have the same ability to create a feeling of freedom from responsibility. They may make they wearer feel more important or powerful and too good for work, leading to a lack of fulfillment of their responsibility. This belief in freedom from responsibility is best exemplified by Jack, the first one on the island to begin wearing a mask. He used a mask because he felt it gave him power and skill, giving him reason to take up hunting as a prime responsibility, opposed to keeping the fire going. In their...
The mask is a form of deception or illusion. Sometimes, it can be worn as both. It hides the true emotions of slaves, keeping the slave master from knowing what is going on in their minds. The mask also allows the slave to have an identity without the master’s detection. The mask gives the illusion that the slave is exactly how the masters believe, ignorant, incapable of true emotion, and unable to think for themselves.
And hiding behind our stereotypical labels is our way of disguising who we truly are. By hiding behind the known traits we feel more confident because we do not have to risk people knowing our imperfections. The real fear is not what others think of us, but of what we think of ourselves. One could go through life concerned with how other people perceive them, when in reality a person should concentrate on themselves in terms of self identity. Who cares if others feel you are a nerd, if you are happy with yourself, this is what counts. Nevertheless, we will never find out who we are until we unlock our inner insecurities and use them to conquer our
“Be a man”, is on of the most destructive phrases to tell boys and men. The Mask You Live In explains the struggles boys and men have growing up in a patriarchal society. I chose to watch this to understand how men feel oppressed. All year, I became aware of females and their struggles in the patriarchy. It is interesting to see that men are affected too. The documentary should have had more personal stories because it allows the audience to connect with and have empathy for men. On the other hand, the movie thoroughly demonstrated the inner conflict boys and men face in society. Men feel they must be strong and dominate. They feel they need to hide emotion and empathy in order to fit in. They must be manly in order to
Furthermore, emotional masks typically covers how others really feels on the inside. Some people be having a rough time, and they do not want everyone to know what is happening with them. So, they place a mask on and continue to smile to cover their real feelings. Everyone can not relate to people situations, and they can say things that are hurtful to others. Wearing the mask only shows the outside of someone, not the inside. To bring to light, most children commits suicide because they keep their feelings balled up inside, which can cause them to eventually break down. Their mask be super strong in public, but they can be
By attempting to imitate the expected forms of expression of mainstream identities, the person is choosing to diminish part of their self. While Blackmore suggests that, “What makes us different is our ability to imitate (Blackmore p. 3),” covering can have strongly negative effects upon an individual and ostracized groups. By choosing to cover, an individual internalizes and upholds the ideology that some identities are better than others. Some people argue against a negative view of covering, suggesting that it is product of nurture and not fully a person’s conscious decision. Excusing covering by simply explaining it as a byproduct of a person’s upbringing is harmful because it does not hold the person accountable for their own actions. However, once the excuse behind explaining covering as an unconscious decision, the factor of consciousness is important to consider. Due to the
Lines 14 and 15, “But let the world dream otherwise, we wear the mask!” shows us that the worldly responsibilities of these people are just being brushed to the side and are being dreamed upon like it doesn’t matter. The speaker is showing us once again that it is easier for them to just accept the mask and avoid the truth rather than just facing them and accepting them as who they are unselfishly. Whereas the people wearing the masks are not dreaming at all, they are more so in a nightmare than a peaceful dream.
I say Tartuffe wears a mask because that masks are personas that individuals engage in certain roles in society in such a way that one situation may be approached with one type of persona while another situation may be approached with a different type of persona. The objective--whether it be conscious or unconscious--is to protect the authentic
A person can have more than one identity to be recognized as but when identity are thought of, people will mostly focus on the external markers of identity; what we can see on our self, physically.