Who am I?
Through watching the video Missrepresentation, we learn all about how women, and to a much lesser extent men, are seen throughout media, ans by extent, the world. The film detailed how women feel pressured to act, look, and be a certain way, all because of the images that we see on TV shows, in movies and in ads. So this all raises the question of who i, as a teenage girl, really am. Am I the person that I feel I am when I'm alone or hanging out with friends? Or am I the person I feel I have to be when I'm in public, either on social media or in the real world? The answer isn't an easy one to find, and chances are, we won't be completely happy with it.
See, we can't truly be someone that is not commercialized, not affected by the public eye, because in this era, everything we do is not private. A video can be uploaded to Snapchat or Instagram in a second, and things can be seen by all of your friends, and thousands of people you don't know in just a few more. So, because of this constant set of eyes on our being, we can't truly not be affected, and we haven't even addressed the other media we see. With the combination of ads, shows, and social media, along with the desire that we all have to be like the people we see around us, we can't truly leave this commercial world behind. We all have a persona we show to the outside world, one that says, hey, look a me, I'm pretty, strong, smart, whatever. But is that the real us?
Not on its own. This commercial persona isn't the defining characteristic of us as we exist all the time. But, we are also not completely separate from it at any point. We are always conscious of this persona that we feel we need to have on social media and the other places we feel we need to fit in. Even when we are alone, we consider how we need to change to fit in, and when we are with friends, we still consider how we need to act to make sure they think that we are cool. While we do act differently than we do on social media, and act more like our so called true selves, we are never truly separated from our commercial entity. So, overall, the realest version of ourselves is the commercialization of us, as that is the identity we are always subconsciously thinking of, and working towards, no matter the time or what we are doing.
Not on its own. This commercial persona isn't the defining characteristic of us as we exist all the time. But, we are also not completely separate from it at any point. We are always conscious of this persona that we feel we need to have on social media and the other places we feel we need to fit in. Even when we are alone, we consider how we need to change to fit in, and when we are with friends, we still consider how we need to act to make sure they think that we are cool. While we do act differently than we do on social media, and act more like our so called true selves, we are never truly separated from our commercial entity. So, overall, the realest version of ourselves is the commercialization of us, as that is the identity we are always subconsciously thinking of, and working towards, no matter the time or what we are doing.
I disagree with the commercialization of us being more real than ourselves because the commercialization of us can be separated from ourselves. Though it takes a great deal of thought and effort, we can recognize the parts of ourselves that are forced upon us and isolate them from the real us that remains. Furthermore, without the influence of media, our true identities would exist. However, the commercialization of us relies on building off of and changing an existing identity. I would argue that, since it is the base identity, we are more real than the commercialization of ourselves.
ReplyDeletei honestly agree you with mae. the thing that we allow people to see of ourselves is something so real. we don't recognize how much of an impact that our commercialization of us really is. in society, its hard to battle what society wants us to be, therefore we conform to what standards and trends there are out in the world. though the commercialization is a part of us, we let people see an unrealistic expectation that we have on our own created. i think that by growing up in a world where social media has a huge impact on us, it's hard to differentiate the commercialization of ourselves and our real selves, even though there is still a very fine line in between the two.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree that the commercialization of us is far more prevalent in society, it cannot be the most real version of ourselves. To me, the most real version of ourselves is how we act when we are completely alone, both physically and mentally. The problem is that this almost never happens. Like you said, at some level, the media and society are always affecting what we think about ourselves and others. We are never alone, so the realest versions of us never get to shine through. It is quite sad to think about how millions and millions of people are stuck not living out the most true versions of their lives because of the influence of the media. So while the commercialization of us is not the truest version of ourselves, it is by far the most prominent version of ourselves, leaving our true selves to make only a few appearances, if any, throughout our lifetime.
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