The most obvious of these moments when you may curb your nature is at the office. Political correctness and modern corporate culture aims to take the more inflammatory parts of ourselves out of the office. All though it may seem like a good idea to slap your female coworker on the ass the same way you do your female friends (as I do), this isn't the 50's and you'd have some tough conversations in your future (if it were the 50's, I'd be lucky to even be in that situation, as most janitors didn't have female coworkers...if I did & it happened to be a white woman...let's just say I'd get a view to die for at the next lynching). Cursing, crude jokes, politics, and personal beliefs are all things that have been removed from the office environment so that it can be more palatable by a larger group of people. This makes sense to me, as I also limit the extent of the insanity that I show while at work or around coworkers.
This issue has more cultural significance to African-Americans/Canadians (the blacks, as Donald Trump likes to refer to us as). W.E.B. Du Bois spoke of blacks developing a "Double Consciousness" in his book "The Souls of Black Folk" (of which I read the first third of...I need to circle back around and finish it off, but it's definitely high level stuff, I felt stupid the first time I tried reading it). At the time, I interpreted that as blacks developing two different ways to handle themselves; one for mixed company & one for when only around other blacks (after revisiting this topic, it seems my interpretation might have been skewed slightly, but I still see it being very applicable even in today's society). This is something that I've thought about for the majority of my life. I've noticed that I don't show certain aspects of my personality with different social groups. I'm still not quite sure if it's something that I'm doing or if it's just what that atmosphere brings out of me, but I'm leaning towards the latter.
What about social media? As I've mentioned in previous posts, social media has taken root as a vital part of social interaction, not just an extension of it, with some people. The line between privacy & publication can be accidentally over-stepped very easily, if the user is even aware of there being a difference. Let's look at two approaches: Duplicity & Keeping it Real.
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| Chappelle's Show...classic |
In the setting of social media, duplicity often manifests itself by taking ones (often inflated) self image and using that as your persona. The man behind the curtain could be a soft spoken wallflower, but the avatar on Twitter could be an arrogant ladies man that claims to "only fuck bad bitches" (Quote via @oneflynicca). People might post pictures with a few hundred dollars spread out on their baby or at the local rim shop standing in front of somebody's wheels. Maybe they are a scripture quoting, missionary online & a pole swinging fan of missionary in real life. All of this is in an effort to make the internet believe that they have more than they actually do or are somebody they aren't.
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| Diaper money on deck! |
Keeping it real is at the other end of the spectrum. They say everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) that's on their mind, they air out their dirty laundry, & share their private fantasies. They don't believe in limiting themselves for fear of being seen as fake. They don't see the difference in being fake and keeping the finer details of their coke fueled, Asian porn marathon off of the internet (whoops). They have immense self confidence, borderline arrogance (often inflated), and want to be seen as they are. However, the constant posts about sexual desires, conquests, requirements, & fetishes leaves them in a constant argument to prove they aren't irresponsibly promiscuous (often referred to as a ho, scallywag, heffer, he-hah, or hooley-hoo...respectively, of course). The flame war they had with their recently estranged significant other has not only shared intimate details that shouldn't have seen the light of day, but also labeled them as messy or a drama queen (drama queen also applies to males if they do this). Whether these stigmas reflect who they are in real life or not, they will have these labels applied by those that see their online activity.
**For an example of the aforementioned traits & other reckless shenanigans, check out Cool Kids - GTB**
The struggle of participating in duplicity is trying to convince people that you are what you project on the internet. The struggle of keeping it too real is trying to convince people that you aren't what you project on the internet. It's the perfect social media Yin & Yang.
| Pirates keep it real, Ninjas use duplicity |
Ultimately, it's up to each of us to choose how we govern ourselves, both in real life and on the internet. Some people insist on being transparent, even when it's to their detriment. Others project who the want to be and hope that the life that they tell the world about will one day become their reality. I try to present myself as I am, while not disclosing anything too personal about my life. This approach has worked well for me, but I feel like the people that think as I do are dropping like flies in the fall (...because it gets cold in the fall...insects don't survive the cold weather...they die...maybe not as they are flying to drop out of the sky...but, damn it, it sounded good at the time).
So...yeah...thoughts & shit?
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