Identity And Symbolic Interaction

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My girlfriend is a hip hop dancer. I, for one have never been into dance culture, nor have I ever been acquainted with anyone from the “dance-circle”. Now that I am acquainted with the dance-circle, I am persuaded by my girlfriend to take dance classes. I know I’m not a dancer through my interaction with other dancers and by looking at my “original” social identity; a sociology student. It is clear that I am from a totally separate social group and social background from my friends. If you saw me standing with them, you could almost immediately tell that I am different. The fact that I am distinguishable is a form of symbolic interaction. According to Falk and Miller (1998), Symbolic Interactionism focuses on the symbolic nature of human communication and the development of self as a process involving communication. Furze et al (2009) also explains that how someone presents themself is a form of wordless language that allows us to inform others who we are. The reason you can tell me apart is because of the way I express myself internally and externally and I am therefore distinguishable from that “social group”. There exists a relationship between the self and ones society (Stryker, 1980). As much as I don’t regard myself as a dancer, the fact that I am in this new environment drives me to explore what else I can become, to acquire a new “self”, to become a dancer. The self is viewed as a continuous process that takes place in interaction with others (Falk and Miller 1998) and focuses on the creation of a personal identity through those interactions (Smit and Fritz 2008). In that sense, my idea of my “self” and my “identity” is always a work in progress (Davis 1992). My identity in this new environment is shaped and forged with a socially constructed group of people (dancers), and my position within a social structure (a dance studio). We define

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