1. Identities: gender & ethnicity
Lecture 02

2. Concepts and Theories: Mead
Concepts • Ideas, images and symbols
are used to create
Theories • Individuals use images and symbols
are used to create in a process of visualising themselves
• Identity emerges from the
Explanations individual’s ability to think of
him/herself in terms of the
community into which s/he has been
socialised. This is a
conscious, creative and reflective
ability

3. A test …
• How is a sense of self linked to communication
• I am … 15 terms

4. The results
• think about the elements as a whole
• nouns tend to indicate components of identity
• adjectives indicate components of self-esteem
• when did you begin to associate this word
with yourself?
• How was this association created? What role
did communication play in creating the link
between the term and you?

5. Symbolic interaction
• Communication through symbols; people
talking to each other
– Mead disciple Herbert Blumer coined term
symbolic interactionism
• Meaning
• Language
• Thought

6. Meaning: the construction of reality
• Humans act toward people or things on the
basis of the meanings they assign to those
people or things (Blumer)
– Once people define a situation as real, it is very
real in its consequences

7. Try this …
• How would you explain the concept of
meaning as situated in people not things to a
group of children in primary school?
• Think of two objects that are important to you
for symbolic reasons. How would you explain
the meaning of these objects?

8. Language: the source of meaning
• Meaning arises out of social interactions people
have with each other (Blumer)
– Negotiated through the use of language
– Extent of knowing dependent on extent of naming
– Symbolic interactionism is the way we learn to
interpret the world
• Words have default assumptions

9. Thought: taking the role of the other
• An individual’s interpretation of symbols is
modified by his or her own thought processes
(Blumer)
– Thinking described as inner conversation
– Minding – inner dialogue used to test
alternatives, rehearse actions, and anticipate
reactions before responding

10. Thought: taking the role of the other
• Animals act instinctively; humans have brain
wired for thought
– “Humans require social stimulation
and exposure to abstract symbol systems to embark
upon conceptual thought processes”
• Humans have unique capacity to take role of the
other (Mead)

11. Reflections in the looking glass
• Looking-glass-self – mental self-image that results from taking
the role of the other
– Meaning, language, and thought tightly interconnected
– Self is a function of language
– I – spontaneous driving force that fosters all that is
novel, unpredictable, and unorganized in the self
– Me – Objective self; image of self seen when one takes the role of the
other
– The “me” is viewed as an object—the image of self seen in the
looking-glass of other people’s reactions

12. Reflections in the looking glass
• Looking-glass-self (continued)
– I – spontaneous driving force that fosters all that is
novel, unpredictable, and unorganized in the self
– Me – Objective self; image of self seen when one
takes the role of the other
– We can stand outside of our bodies and view
ourselves as objects

13. The socialising of others’ expectations
• Community consists of individual actors who make
their own choices (Mead)
– Align actions with what others are doing to
form alliances
– Generalized other – composite mental image person has
of his or her self based on community expectations and
responses
• Generalized other becomes conversational partner in ongoing
mental dialogue

14. Critique
• May suffer from overstatement and not
easy to summarize
– Fluid boundaries
– Vague concepts
– Undisciplined approach
• Offers insight into creation of symbolic
messages and their impact on one who
speaks and one who hears