OUGD 501 - Identity and 'Otherness'

At the start of this session, we discussed and recapped the lecture that we had on identity:

• Essentialism - People are born with certain characteristics, no matter what you do this cannot be changed.
• Anti-Essentialism - This is about the way that society shapes who we are, not our genetics.
• Social classes and the way that they are portrayed and perceived, looking at the work of photographers such as Martin Parr.

Otherness in visual representations:

• Creation of identities
• Concepts of 'Otherness'
• Analysis of visual example

Identity is all about who we think we are and how others perceive who we are. Sometimes, these two perspectives are different which results in people being perceived differently to how they perceive themselves. We discussed the idea of factors that make you, you. This is linked to the idea of Nature vs Nurture, which is an argument between whether it is you genetics that make you who you are, or whether it is your surroundings that shape you as an individual. These are what we came up with as a group:

• Appearance
• Friends
• Family
• Visual Culture
• Morals and beliefs
• Society
• Social Networks
• Physical attributes
• DNA
• Clothing
• Fears
• Sense of humour
• Skills and attributes
• Religion and beliefs
• Background/Upbringing
• Gender
• Sexuality

Is identity more involved with the way in which others perceive who you are, as opposed to your actual genetics; or is it to do with your personality and human characteristics instead of these superficial things. We then began discussing the different ways in which people express their identities, this is the list that we compiled:

• Clothes (Subculture)
• Music (Subculture)
• Behaviour/Attitude
• Occupation
• Body Modification
• Hobbies
• Lifestyle Choices
• Conspicuous consumption
• Job (different to career/profession)
• Emotional availability
• Social Networking
• Reality vs Projected identity

We then had a debate about 'Essentialism vs Anti-Essentialism'. However, we quickly realised that there is no simple answer to this discussion. Within this discussion, we talked about Stuart Hall's 'Circuit of Culture', in which he describes being British yet not being perceived as British by everyone else. This is a visual interpretation of identity from 'Circuit of Culture', each of these categories are separate yet all relate and are inseparable:

Looking at identity formation, we began talking about a process from psychoanalysis by Jacques Lacan. In this process, he derived that there were two stages: the 'hommelette' stage and the 'mirror' stage. When you are born, you have no concept of self and no self awareness; this is referred to as the 'hommelette' stage. When a baby see's itself in a mirror, it realises that it is a whole thing, a sentient being. Along with this realisation comes great elation, and this is known as the 'mirror stage'. This leads to a conflict between how we see ourselves and what we want to be. We are always trying to affirm our sense of self and everything we do is an attempt to secure a solid identity.

Sense of self built on subjectivity:

• An illusion of wholeness - not to communicate with the world, but with ourselves.
• Receiving views from others - 'you are only a Goth when other people recognise you as a Goth'.

A result of this is that our own subjectivity is fragile.

'Otherness' and constructing the 'other':

There are many problems with this way of thinking, such as we measure ourselves against others. 'I am a man because I am not a woman'. We reduce others in order to secure our own identities: 'I am a cowboy, and everyone else who isn't is therefore less of a man'. We end up securing own our identities at the expense of others. In the same way that we create our identities, so does the rest of society. Examples of 'othering' in society include:

• Hooligans gain stable identities by becoming part of something and radically 'othering' everyone else.
• Homophobia is a very good example of the way in which society 'others' various groups of people. The fear that we are not heterosexual enough causes people to 'other' those that are homosexual in an attempt to secure their identity.

TASK: Find an example of 'othering' - Securing our identities at the expense of some other peoples identity (500 words). For this task, I have chosen to look at the 'Get A Girlfriend' campaign by Axe:

Lynx, or Axe as it is known across the world, is a multinational corporation that reaches a global audience every day.  Within many of their campaigns, they employ certain techniques and methods in order to secure the identities of their clients. To do this, they have made a conscious decision to actively ‘other’ various groups of people as an attempt to persuade a wider audience to buy into their product and the lifestyle that comes along with it.

‘Othering’ is a technique in which a certain group of people are portrayed in a negative way in order to secure the identity of the target audience. In this case, the group that is being ‘othered’, made to seem inferior, is represented as being the geek, which is done so that the target audience feel as though they are more valuable by purchasing this product. This example of othering focuses on the relationships that we have with those around us, implying that by purchasing this product you are increasing your sexual attraction and enabling yourself to get a girlfriend and find love. ‘If you are able to buy this product you will be loveable. If you cannot buy it, you will be less lovable.’ (Berger, Page 144). It states that these people do not use this product and these people do not have a girlfriend, and in order for you to get a girlfriend you must purchase this product. It employs this method of othering in order to persuade you to purchase this product and therefore secure your identity as an attractive alpha male.

When thinking about the process of psychoanalysis by Jacques Lacan, and the two stages of identity formation, the idea of othering is based around the mirror stage and the way in which our sense of self, our subjectivity, is built on receiving views from others. ‘One can only see oneself as one thinks others see one’ (Sarup, Page 13). In order for us to feel secure within ourselves, we must first feel secure within society; othering is a way in which people can solidify their place within the social hierarchy and in turn secure their own identities. This example shows the way that advertising is used in order for people to buy into a system in which those who buy certain products are seen as being more valuable, important parts of society; those who do not purchase these products are therefore othered and shown to be inferior.

Harvard Referencing:

Sarup, M (1993) Post-Structuralism and Postmodernism, Harvester, Hemel Hempstead.

Berger, J. (1972) 'Ways of Seeing', 1^st Edition, Penguin Books.