September Blog Post

Very recently we as a class have learned about identity and how we as people portray ourselves. The given definition of identity is the totality of someone's self attributes at any given time. Individually, we all have a few different identities within us and it is a matter of what circumstances we are in in order for one of our identities to become salient. The given definition for saliency is the most utilized identity in one moment. I find these concepts so interesting because if you truly sit back and think about it, there are so many different identities within one person that could come out at any given time. This also makes me question if a certain identity comes out in a situation, am I truly being myself? Think about it again and I know I am being myself because it is one of my identities. Not only did identities and saliency interest me but so did the idea of performativity. Performativity is the continual repetition of performances that produce a 'series of effects'. Ones' performativity can go one way in their head while someone else may see their doings as something completely different. The best and most interesting example I can think of is in the reading of Andres Gomez and his fears of the world. He let fear drive his performance because it motivated him. He became this very brave guy who thought he was making manly decisions. When Gomez's father came to have a conversation with him, it was a completely different perspective of Andres' performativity. His father told him that he was selfish, not disciplined, and never followed through on anything. How can there be this big of a difference in perspective when they have been around each other for most of Andres' life? His repetition of performance caused this 'series of effects'. A decision to perform a certain way caused his father to talk to him about being a man even though Andres thought he was making grown-up decisions. Perspective is such a big deal when it comes to trying to understand someone's identities. That is what I took from these lectures in the past couple of days and I can see it in everyday actions.