Do You Let Others Shape Your Identity?
There are three things extremely hard: steel, a diamond, and to know one's self. - Benjamin Franklin
The "looking-glass self" is a concept that explains how individuals form their sense of self based on their perception of how others see them. Social media is now the penultimate illustration of how the perception of self has become about what others perceive us to be. Selfies are not really taken for the self but for prime texting material to impress others. Memory-hoarding photos are not for self-consumption but rather to promulgate to others. Is how we see ourselves about other people’s perception of who we are, or is it about how we see ourselves? When we are so dependent on other people’s opinions of who we are, how does this connect to “self” esteem? What happens to the “self” when it is not derived from one’s self?
When we watch a foreign film, we are getting a portrayal of the identity of that foreign culture. The film depicts what it is like to be Greek, Italian, or French. The films are about sharing a cultural identity with the world. The world does not tell us what it is like to be Greek, the........
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