Isabelle's Post 2

The concept that I chose was the idea of social image and identity, and how people can and do have that front stage and back stage self. I chose this concept because not only have I studied it in more than one class now, but I also find it relevant to myself and many of my peers. The idea of social identity and image is that people build a personal image or impression of themselves for themselves and other people. To break it down, it’s about how people want others to them as well as how they view themselves. That concept ties in to the idea of frontstage and backstage, which is when people have a public self that they present to the world and a private self that they present to only themselves and close peers. Overall, those mixed concepts have to do with the self and how we function around others and in different situations.
I personally connect to this, as would many others, because I have been in situations where I am two completely different people. To make it more clear, let’s dive in a little. I had a job over the summer where I was required to dress up in somewhat formal attire. Because I was dressing a certain way, it caused me to present myself in a certain way as well. Which was clean cut, professional and business oriented. However, now that I am back in school I do more personal things. One of them being rock climbing, which is a lot different than being a professional business woman. Though we are dedicated, rock climbers are generally less clean cut and more on-edge, let’s call it. The point is, those are two types of the self that are completely different but relatable. I am generally more composed when I am around strangers compared to when I am doing my hobby around people I know, it’s different.
This concept is important because it’s real and relatable. No matter what, every person has a personal self and a public self. Many people do not recognize it as just that because it’s in our nature to think like this.