Alex later goes on to says: “One of the most impressive features of being a student is how aware you are of a 24 hour work schedule cycle. mes have When you conceive of what you have to do for school, it’s not in terms of nine to five but in terms of what you can physically do in a week while still achieving a variety of goals in a variety of realms…”(Talbot) These quotes are significant because it showcases Alex’s view of himself through the social constructed roles that have been assigned to him. Alex sees himself as young man and therefore, feels obligated to fulfill these aspects of himself. Alex tries to do this through partying and venturing into various social relationships however; he also recognizes his identity as a student. By recognizing himself as a student, Alex sees the need to keep pace with his high demands of class. For Alex, working has taken on more than the “nine –five” timeline as he describes, by saying what you physically can do in a week. So we can see here that if Alex is to fulfill both of his socially constructed roles, enhancing his state of mind is the been lost, this has of course had an affect on our senses of self. only way to do so.
The natural self, itself is simply an ideology enforced by our individual societies. This blank canvas is represented by the mannequins below. In our contemporary American society the natural self has come to represent the ideal and normal human being. We have idealized
the natural self by constantly framing the idea that while others are natural beings we personally are not. Beliefs that one individual is born perfectly while others are not, is simply incorrect. The idea of a natural person is appealing because, of biology’s heavy influence in our society; if one can believe that some individuals merely genetically perfect, this justifies segregation among our societies and thus creates social higher arches. In Better then Well Elliott says: “We take the pills, but we brood about it. We try and hide the tablets from our friends. We worry that taking them is a sign of weakness. We try and convince ourselves that our friends take them too. We fret that if we don’t take them, others will outshine us.” (Elliott 297).
This really captures the American experience when it comes to taking pills. Taking the pills is seen as something to be secretive and cautious about. As we can see back in Talbot when she describes that Alex had his name changed for the interview as to not make employers aware of his prescription use. Admitting to ourselves that our natural self doesn’t live up to the idealized version is hard, but admitting it to others is impossible. But the fact is in our increasingly competitive society we are seeing more and more that most people believe that their “natural self” it is simply not good enough.
As I have stated before I believe that the natural self, and our views of ourselves in general is a socially constructed idea. Therefore we can see differences in the experience of self between cultures. For instance, as we saw in class with the two videos presented we saw just how Japan and America’s elderly view themselves. While it can be noted in both films the elderly interviewed tended to view themselves as burdens on their families, differences can be noted in their views their new purposes of life. For instance, the Japanese elderly viewed themselves mainly as those needing to rediscover the purposes of their lives. Kido san, is the perfect example of this as she explained that she was in the bath house in hopes of healing to return home to help her family. Similarly in cultures where little literature is present, such as the Amerindian tribes of the Amazon, elderly see themselves as teachers of cultural values and traditions. While the American elderly depicted in the film all identified as burdens on those around them. The differences in these views are striking, as those who viewed a purpose in their existence showed an identity that was working towards yet another goal. In contrast the American’s depicted, saw themselves as inseparable from the care, and medicines they received.
The elderly Americans sense of self was to be this dying person, because there are no other niches for the elderly to fill in our society. Unlike Alex who has a role to be the productive and fun loving student, there is no longer a niche for the elderly in our society. Our literacy prevents the need for the passing of tradition through storytelling and teaching, and our households generally do not require the help of extended family to run it. Therefore, they are forced to fill the role society has allotted to them, which is to become a sick person or burden. As the old woman said in her video “ I want to be a burden to my family”.
The idea of ones self is largely based on societal expectations of ourselves. But as we can see through our experiences, remaining natural is elusive if not impossible. As Eliot points out “ Enhancement technologies, like cosmetics and hair coloring, have become a way for consumers to shape an identity” (Elliott 102). The temptation of fitting more perfectly into our desired models is often too much. While we want to appear natural we will continue to go through unnatural means (surgery, pills, make ups, perfumes) to do so. Because underlying everything we want to keep the social structures that have been effect for so long standing.
Works Cited
Elliot Carl. Better than Well. W.W. Norton and Company. New York. 2003
The Shaman’s apprentice.Miranda Productions inc. copyright 1195-2007.
Talbolt Margaret. Brain Gain. The New Yorker essays. 2007.
Picture credits.
boy and Ritalin
http://defencedebates.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/ritalin.jpg
Female Mannequins
http://www.global-b2b-network.com/direct/dbimage/50247239/Fashion_Female_Mannequins.jpg
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