September Blog-Taylor Schellenger

For my September blog post, I am going to focus on stereotypes and Goffman’s Impression Management. We are all well aware of what stereotypes are, but for those who don’t know, they are defined as conclusions about people that reduce them from unique individuals to predictable types. Most people stereotype without even realizing it because it is so easy and common to do so. Goffman’s Impression Management is probably something many people haven’t heard of, but often without thinking about it or realizing there is a name for it. It’s an impression of ourselves for ourselves and others. My own personal definition of stereotype is judging someone based on preconceived notions. My interpretation of Goffman’s Impression Management is the way we view ourselves and how we think other people view us. 

An example of common stereotyping in today’s society is based on people who don’t fit the mold of what is socially acceptable to wear or look like in public. We have preconceived notions of what we think are “good looking” versus “not so-good looking” people. If we see someone wearing a floral printed shirt with striped shorts, some of us would automatically stereotype them as weird or different for their outfit they are wearing. This goes for Goffman’s Impression Management as well.

An example of this is how we perceive the world, is how we are going to make ourselves be perceived to the world around us as well. If we see a repeat of different people wearing black pants and a white t-shirt we may wear that same outfit too because we know it is socially acceptable based on the people around us. Celebrities are a very good example of this, in magazines and online articles, there are always people like Gigi Hadid or Kendall Jenner being photographed in different outfits. Girl around their age look up to them and automatically want to dress the same way. These celebrities establish social norms for us as a society. Attached is an article of different outfits of Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner. If you look at some of the outfits they are wearing, many girls have tried and replicated the same looks. This is where stereotyping and Goffman’s theory come into play.

https://www.teenvogue.com/gallery/kendall-jenner-gigi-hadid-matching-outfits-twinning