SumBlog9

Erving Goffman's ideas of the "presentation of self" are very intriguing to me. Goffman likens our lives to the theater; we are the performers on a stage. There can be multiple performers, performances and stages as well as props. He says that we give ourselves a "self label" which is an identity that we represent. This gives power to the individual, rather than solely to society. In our theater, there is also the audience (or others) and they have expectations of each of the performers and their roles. We can try to understand culture better by studying individual's performances, roles and the stage. Goffman's theatrical metaphor was important to the fields of sociology and communication because it made identity more tangible through an idea almost everyone knows (the theater) and it gave power to individual roles without losing sight of the culture as a whole or the "audience". Despite this, the performance metaphor is also weak because of its simplicity.
         A few examples of performance as culture come to mind for me. For example, I think law enforcement officers are a good example. They assume a role of authority and have a huge audience critiquing them. Even if his or her backstage or off-stage self is quite different, the officer role must be performed while on duty and in the public eye.
      I just watched an episode of the TV series Frasier that I think also applies to the presentation of self idea of Goffman. In this clip, Frasier and his brother, both sophisticated psychiatrists, find themselves on the wrong stage. They are refined men who dress well, have an eye for taste and would choose to go to an antiques store or wine tasting instead of a sporting event. Put them on the "wrong" stage and they could seem (stereo-typically) homosexual. In a case of mixed identities... see the clip below (skip ahead to about the 2:00 min mark):