Choices in Identity

All the talk of identity this week has made me reflect on the identities people choose for themselves, particularly what they prioritize. I'm female. I'm (as of today) nineteen years old, although most people tell me I look younger. I'm Jewish. I'm unusually short and a brunette. I enjoy reading and learning, particularly about politics and history. I'm an American University student. But if someone asked me who I am, which one of these things would come to mind first? Interesting, the first thing that comes to my mind wouldn't necessarily be what I chose to say. Being unusually short is a very important part of my identity, but I don't think that's something I'd mention if someone asked me to tell them a little bit about myself. Of course, it depends on the audience. I probably wouldn't want to emphasize my Jewish identity to a fundamentalist Christian if my goal was to get into their good graces. In a situation where I wanted to be taken seriously in a professional environment, I would want to deemphasize my age and try to make people focus on my knowledge.

Thinking along these lines has made me someone more inclined to believe Goffman's arguments, although I still feel that his viewpoint is overly cynical. There's a difference between trying to act appropriately for the situation and being outright deceptive. I think that a lot of behavior that Goffman would characterize as a "performance" is just people utilizing common sense and realizing different behaviors are appropriate in different situations. This is part of the natural process of growing up. Some people may take it a step too far and create "fronts" but I don't think that this is the norm.