Traving Goffman Analysis
Using examples from everyday life explain and discuss how theorists understand gender as something we do.
This essay is going to explain and discuss theorist’s understandings of gender as something we do rather than being a fixed part of who we are. Firstly, it is important to define the difference between sex and gender, bringing in Judith Butler’s views. Then the essay will explain and discuss Erving Goffman’s ‘dramaturgical approach’ to social interaction, and Judith Butler’s understandings of gender as performativity, using various academic sources. Both these two theorists view gender as a kind of performance. Performance as an explanation of the self or identity is an interactionist idea, which was first put forward by Erving Goffman …show more content…
“This perspective relies on the symbolic meaning that people develop and rely upon in the process of social interaction” (Crossman), which was influenced by George Herbert Meads work. Goffman’s focus was in human interaction and the presentation of people in everyday settings, especially public places (Monnier). Goffman developed Mead’s work by still focusing on the importance of the symbolic, on the self and on the idea of roles, rather than implying the word identity as such, Goffman discusses how roles are performed (Woodward 2002: 9). Because our social identities are shaped by our roles and interactions within society, Goffman uses the metaphor of the theatre to analyse social life as dramaturgy (Monnier). Dramaturgy is the analysis of human behaviour, where people put on a show, with the people being the actors (Abercrombie et al 2006), although the interactions are not rehearsed they are the individuality’s own expressions which can change depending on the social …show more content…
He believed we use front and backstage situations to determine how we play our role and how we manage these in our ability to respond (Lawler 2008). According to Goffman the aim of our act is to create and control certain impressions that we choose to pass over to our audience, or family and friends. Goffman believed that individuals have many different roles, which involve presenting yourself differently, and negotiating different forms of social interaction, however, these can change depending on who they were with (Punch et al). For example, this shows when playing the role of a son or daughter because it is very different compared to playing the role of a husband, wife or work colleague. Furthermore, when interacting with others, dress, language and gestures are used to influence how others see our behaviour, for example wearing a suit for a job interview, which makes you look respectable, wearing spectacles can make you look intelligent, and a solicitor carrying a briefcase can make you look professional and sophisticated. This shows that we are all aware of how to behave depending on the type of interaction we find ourselves in. This part of the theory could be related to gender as use of props that is seen as belonging to either gender group, an example of this would be long hair is a sign of femininity, the media portrays
This essay is going to explain and discuss theorist’s understandings of gender as something we do rather than being a fixed part of who we are. Firstly, it is important to define the difference between sex and gender, bringing in Judith Butler’s views. Then the essay will explain and discuss Erving Goffman’s ‘dramaturgical approach’ to social interaction, and Judith Butler’s understandings of gender as performativity, using various academic sources. Both these two theorists view gender as a kind of performance. Performance as an explanation of the self or identity is an interactionist idea, which was first put forward by Erving Goffman …show more content…
“This perspective relies on the symbolic meaning that people develop and rely upon in the process of social interaction” (Crossman), which was influenced by George Herbert Meads work. Goffman’s focus was in human interaction and the presentation of people in everyday settings, especially public places (Monnier). Goffman developed Mead’s work by still focusing on the importance of the symbolic, on the self and on the idea of roles, rather than implying the word identity as such, Goffman discusses how roles are performed (Woodward 2002: 9). Because our social identities are shaped by our roles and interactions within society, Goffman uses the metaphor of the theatre to analyse social life as dramaturgy (Monnier). Dramaturgy is the analysis of human behaviour, where people put on a show, with the people being the actors (Abercrombie et al 2006), although the interactions are not rehearsed they are the individuality’s own expressions which can change depending on the social …show more content…
He believed we use front and backstage situations to determine how we play our role and how we manage these in our ability to respond (Lawler 2008). According to Goffman the aim of our act is to create and control certain impressions that we choose to pass over to our audience, or family and friends. Goffman believed that individuals have many different roles, which involve presenting yourself differently, and negotiating different forms of social interaction, however, these can change depending on who they were with (Punch et al). For example, this shows when playing the role of a son or daughter because it is very different compared to playing the role of a husband, wife or work colleague. Furthermore, when interacting with others, dress, language and gestures are used to influence how others see our behaviour, for example wearing a suit for a job interview, which makes you look respectable, wearing spectacles can make you look intelligent, and a solicitor carrying a briefcase can make you look professional and sophisticated. This shows that we are all aware of how to behave depending on the type of interaction we find ourselves in. This part of the theory could be related to gender as use of props that is seen as belonging to either gender group, an example of this would be long hair is a sign of femininity, the media portrays