Impression Management
Impression Management
Impressions are made every day by every person on this world. We are one huge reality show called The Real World: Earth. All jokes aside, we are all real, along with our selves. When I include our “selves” I’m talking about our self that interacts with one or many other persons on this world. Our self is a real thing! Ervin Goffman helped us see self interaction in a different way. To better the idea of his view of interaction, the Thomas Theorem says that “if people define situations as real, they are real in their consequences.” For example, if I were to see an action made by a person, the person may receive consequence from me or any others in the audience.
On the 1st of November, I went to exercise at 24-hr Fitness. To analyze this exercise session, I used Goffman’s dramaturgy idea to elaborate on my “self”. It was three in the afternoon, I was feeling great to head to the gym. In this case, the gym is “front”. The gym is located in Rancho Penasquitos which is a very good neighborhood. Just like the neighborhood, the gym was also very nice and organized. With weights being everywhere, people on treadmills, people in the pool, and people playing basketball, this all helps establish the definition of the situation. Also this gym is well funded. It has nice weights, machines, a pool, and a basketball court. This makes a huge difference because this would not compare to a gym in jail, or a low funded gym. This makes a very good region. My props are the dumbbells, treadmill, bench, and the other exercising machines. The gym does have a backstage. The locker room is where I got dressed in the right attire and placed my valuables. The front stage was just outside the locker room, where I had to seize my props and perform, in this case exercise.
I began to perform and observe myself. I looked at my attire. I wore quarter length socks, a tight white dri-fit shirt from Nike, black shorts, and black shoes. I looked like a college basketball superstar. The tight dri-fit shirt made me feel buff. I caught a couple eyes glancing. My manner was not aggressive, yet. The first workout was the bench press. I put up 205 pounds with five sets of five. For my size, that is pretty good. I’m sure the audience around me can agree. I forgot to mention that I was there with my partner, who is ridiciously ripped. Could he be a fighter? Does he take steroids? I’m sure he stirred many questions through the audience’s heads. A fellow comes up to him and asks him if he takes any pre-workouts, which he then replied no. My partner sure puts on a different act than me. I may come off as a small but strong fellow. My self is being more aggressive. I began to be hyped up by the music, so I bobbed my head a couple times to get in the zone before my next set. Ten minutes later, an old friend approaches me. I haven’t seen him since high school. Since I have transformed by