MODULE 2
Lesson 2: The Self, Society, and Culture
Lesson Objectives
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
1. Explain the relationship between and among the self, society, and culture;
2. Describe and discuss the different ways by which society and culture shape the self;
3. Compare and contrast how the self can be influenced by the different institutions in the society;
and
4. Examine one’s self against the different views of self that were discussed in the class.
INTRODUCTION
What is the relationship between external reality and
the self? In the famous Tarzan story, the little boy named
Tarzan was left in the middle of the forest. Growing up, he
never had an interaction with any other human being but apes
and other animals. Tarzan grew up acting strangely like apes
and unlike human persons. Tarzan became an animal, in effect.
His sole interaction with them made him just like one of them.
Disappointedly, human persons will not develop as human
persons without intervention. This story, which was supposed
to be based on real life, challenges the long-standing notion of
human persons being special and being a particular king of
being in the spectrum of living entities. After all, our selves. We
may be gifted with intellect and the capacity to rationalize
things but at the end of the day, our growth and development
and consequently, our selves are truly products of our
interaction with external reality.
How much of you are essential? How much of who you are now a product of your society,
community, and family? Has your choice of school affected yourself now? Had you been born into a
different family and schooled in a different college, how much of who you are now would change?
ABSTRACTION
What is the Self?
The self, in contemporary literature and even common sense, is commonly defined by the
following characteristics: “separate, self-contained, independent, consistent, unitary, and private”
(Stevens 1996). By separate, it is meant that the self is distinct from other selves. The self is always
unique and has its own identity. One cannot be another person. Even twins are distinct from each
other.
Second, self is also self-contained and
independent because in itself it can exist. Its
distinctness allows it to be self-contained with
its own thoughts, characteristics, and volition. It
does not require any other self for it to exist.
It is consistent because it has a
personality that is enduring and therefore can be
expected to persist for quite some time. Its
consistency allows it to be studied, described,
and measured. Consistency also means that a particular self’s traits, characteristics, tendencies, and
potentialities are more or less the same.
Self is unitary in that it is the center of all experiences and thoughts that run through a certain
person. It is like the chief command post in an individual where all processes, emotions, and thoughts
converge. Finally, the self is private. Each person sorts out information, feelings and emotions, and
thought processes within the self. This is whole process is never accessible to anyone but the self. This
last characteristic of the self being private suggests that the self is isolated from the external world. It
lives within its own world
SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONIST PERSPECTIVE
It Is the study of understanding the vibrant relationship between the self and external reality., Social
constructivists argue that the self should not be seen as a static entity that stays constant through and
through Rather, the self has to be seen as something that is in unceasing flux, in a constant struggle with
external reality and is malleable in its dealings with society. The self is always in participation with social
life and its identity subjected to influences here and there.
(Basically In this theory it suggests that the self is adapting to the needs of everyday dealing, ang sarili
ay, palaging inaayos ang sarili base sa sitwasyon nan a ikinakaharap niya)
Example situation
The self is capable of morphing and fitting itself into any
circumstances it finds itself in.
Consider a girl named Joan. Joan is a math professor at a
Catholic university for more than a decade now. Joan has a
handsome husband whom she met in college, Jon. Jon was
Joan’s first and last boyfriend. Apart from being a wife,
Joan is also blessed with two doting kids, a son and a
daughter. She also sometimes serves in the church too as
a lector and a commentator. As a woman of different
roles, one can expect Joan to change and adjust her
behaviors, ways, and even language depending on his
social situation. When Joan is in the university, she
conducts herself in a matter that benefits his title as a
professor. As a wife, Jon can be intimate and touchy. Jon considers her sweet, something that his
students will never conceive her to be. Her kids fear her. As a mother, Joan can be stern. As a lector and
commentator, on the other hand, her church mates knew her as someone who is calm, all-smiles, and
always ready to lend a helping hand to anyone in need. This story in not new to most of us. We
ourselves play different roles, act in different ways depending on our circumstances.
(Kung binasa ang halimbawa sa itaas, at medyo nalilito pa rin, eto yung maiksi na bersyon, Si Joan ay
kumikilos or umaasal deipende kung ano ang pinapakita niyang sarili, halimbawa pag Guro siya dapat
medyo strikto, pag sa anak niya naman mabait siya, inaayos niya ang sarili niya sa kung ano na wasto
para sa oras na iyon, ganun ang sarili, halimbawa naman sa sarili ninyo, pag nasa paaralan kayo lalo na
pag unang araw ng pasukan, mababait pa at nag’a’adjust, di tulad pag nasa bahay, maingay na at medyo
“lively” kasi sa paaralan inaayos natin ang sarili natin sa kailngan
ng lugar na iyon)
Sabi nga , ang paaralan ang pangalawang bahay ng mga
studyante, at ang guro ang pangalawang magulang, kaya minsan
nadadala ng mga studyante iyong mga ugali nila sa bahay nila
papunta sa paaralan at vice-versa
The Self and Culture
According to Mauss, every self has two faces; personne and moi. Moi refers to a person’s sense of who
he is, his body, and his basic identity, his biological givenness. Moi is a person’s basic identity. Personne,
on the other hand, is composed of the social concepts of what it means to be who he is. Personne has
much to do with what it means to live in a particular institution, a particular family, a particular religion,
a particular nationality, and how to behave given expectations and influences from others.
Moi (mwuah, Frecnh pronunciation) ito yung kung sino ka talaga, Ako si Pedro, si pedro na may kulay
asul ang mata “basic identity” ang bagay na makakapapgpakilala sayo
Personne naman ang sarili na na kinakailangan ng oras na iyon or lugar, si Pedro na sobrang strikto pag
nagtuturo, at sobrang mapagmahal naman pag kasama ang mga kapatid
In the story above, Joan might have a moi but certainly, she has to shift personne from time to time to
adapt to her social situation. She knows who she is and more or less, she is confident that she has a
unified, coherent self. However, at some point, she has to sport his stern professional look. Another day,
she has to be the doting but strict mother that she is. Inside her bedroom, she can play goofy with her
husband, Jon. In all this and more, Joan retains who she is, her being Joan – her moi – that part of him
that is stable and static all throughout.
In the Philippines, Filipinos tend to consider their territory as a part of who they are. This includes
considering their immediate surrounding as a part of them thus the perennial “tapat ko, linis ko.”
Filipinos most probably do not consider national roads as something external to who they are. It is a part
of them and they are a part of it, thus crossing the road whenever and wherever becomes a no-brainer.
In another country, however, the Filipino recognizes that he is in a foreign territory where nothing
technically belongs to him. He has to follow the rules or else he will be apprehended.
The Self and the Development of the Social World
So how do people actively produce their social worlds? How do children growing up become
social beings? How can a boy turn out to just be like an ape? How do twins coming out from the same
mother turn out to be terribly different when given up for adoption? More that his givenness
(personality, tendencies, and propensities, among others), one is believed to be in active participation in
the shaping of the self. Most often, we think that human persons are just passive actors in the whole
process of the shaping of selves
Mead and Vygotsky
For Mead and Vygotsky, the way that
human persons develop is with the use
of language acquisition and interaction
with others. The way that we process
information is normally a form of an
internal dialogue in our head. Those who deliberate about moral dilemmas undergo this internal dialog.
“Should I do this or that?” “But if I do this, it will be like this.” “Don’t I want the other option?” And so
cognitive and emotional development of a child is always a mimicry of how it is done in the social
world, in the external reality where he is in.
Both Vygotsky and Mead treat the human mind as something that is made, constituted through
language as experienced in the external world and as encountered in dialogs with others. A young child
internalizes values, norms, practices, and social beliefs and more through exposure to these dialogs that
will eventually become part of his individual world.
For Mead, this takes place as a child assumes the “other” through language and role-play.
Vygotsky, for his part, a child internalizes real-life dialogs that he has had with others, with his family,
his primary caregiver, or his playmates. They apply this to their mental and practical problems along
with the social and cultural infusions brought about by the said dialogs.
Para sakanilang dalawa, na didevelop ang sarili sa pamamgitan ng salita at pakikisalamuha sa kapwa,
una na rito ang pamilya,ditto na papasok ang pag gaya gaya natin sa mga nakikita natin na ginagawa ng
mga kapamilya natin o yung mga nakikita natin sa paligid lalo na sa telebisyon
Kung maalala niyo nung mga bata pa kayo, pag nanunuod kayo ng mga super hero sa tv o mga pelikula
na aksyon, ginagaya natin kung ano ginagawa nila, yun na ang umpisa ng pagdevelop ng sarili natin
Self in Families
While every child is born with certain givenness, disposition coming from his parents’ genes and
general condition of lie, the impact of one’s family is still deemed as a given in understanding the self.
The kind of family that we are born in, the resources available to us (human, spiritual, economic), and
the kind of development that we will have will certainly affect us as we go through life.
Human persons learn the ways of living and therefore their selfhood by being in a family. It is
what a family initiates a person to become that serves as the basis for this person’s progress. Babies
internalize ways and styles that they observe from their family. By imitating, for example, the language
of its primary agents of rearing its family, babies learn the language.
Notice how kids reared in a respectful environment becomes respectful as well and the converse if
raised in a converse family
Without a family, biologically and sociologically, a person may not even survive or become a
human person. Go back to the Tarzan example. In more ways than one, the survival of Tarzan in the
midst of the forest is already a miracle.
Gaya sa ideya ni Mead at Vygotsky, ang pamilya natin ang unang mga indibidwal na nakakasalamuha
natin kaya sila ang naghuhulma saatin sa kung magiging sino tayo sa paglipas ng panahon, ginagaya ang
nakikita sa mga magulang o sa mas nakakatanda.
Ang halimbawa dito ay kapag pinalaki ka raw sa pamilyang meroong respeto lalaki kang isang batang
meroong respeto rin .
Babalik ulit sa halimbawa kay Tarzan ganoon ang pag uugali niya dahil mga gorilla ang nakasalamuha
niya noong sanggol pa lamang siya, at yun ang kanyang ginaya, para sa sarili niya ganun dapat mag asal
ang mga kapwa niya dahil sa gubat siya pinalaki.
Gender and the Self
Another important aspect of the self is gender.
Gender is one of those loci of the self that is
subject to alteration, change, and development.
We have seen in the past years how people
fought hard for the right to express, validate, and
assert their gender expression.
Nancy Chodorow, a feminist, argues that because mothers take the role of taking care of
children there is a tendency for girls to imitate the same and reproduce the same kind of mentality of
women as care providers in the family. The way that little girls are given dolls instead of guns or any
other toys are encouraged to play with makeshift kitchen also reinforces the notion of what roles they
should take and the selves they should develop. In boarding schools for girls, young women are
encouraged to act like fine ladies, are trained to behave in a fashion that befits their status as women in
society.
Men on the other hand, in the periphery of their own family, are taught early on how to behave like a
man. This normally includes holding in one’s emotion, being tough, fatalistic, not to worry about danger,
and admiration for hard physical labor. Masculinity is learned by integrating a young boy in a society.
In the Philippines, young boy had to undergo circumcision not just for the original, clinical purpose of
hygiene but also to assert their manliness in the society. Circumcision plays another social role by
initiating young boys into manhood.
The gendered self is then shaped within a context of time and space. The sense of self that is
being taught makes sure that an individual fit in a environment. This is dangerous and detrimental in the
goal of truly finding one’s self, self-determination, and growth of the self. Gender must be personally
discovered and asserted and not dictated by culture and society.
Ipinapakita dito ang role ng society sa kung ano at sino ka, Base sa halimbawa sa itaas na ang mga
batang babae ay pinapalaki na bilang mga taga alaga sa pamilya at ang mga batang lalake naman ay
pinapalaki maging mga taga protekta sa pamilya.
Ang pinaka importante ditto ay ang last line sa statement sa taas “truly finding one’s self, self-
determination, and growth of the self. Gender must be personally discovered and asserted and not
dictated by culture and society.” Sabi ditto ang “gender” ay dapat hinanap ng sarili at hindi ng kung ano
ang idinidikta saiyo ng kung sino man
Mas maganda sana to maexplain if meron tayong interaction o face to face na klase, mas ma
iexplore natin ang gender at ang epekto nito saatin bilang tayo.
ACTIVITY
My Self Through the Years
Paste a picture of you when you were in elementary, in high school, and now that you are in
college. Below the picture, list down your salient characteristics that you remember.
ANALYSIS
After having examined your “self” in its different stages, fill out the table below:
Similarities in all stages of my “self” Differences in my “self” across the three stages of my life
Possible reasons for the differences in me
APPLICATION AND ASSESSMENT
Answer the following questions cogently but honestly. Write your answers in the space
provided.
1. How would you describe your self?
2. What are the influences of family in your development as an individual?
3. Think of a time when you felt you were your “true self.” What made you think you were truly who
you are during this time of your life?
4. Following the question above, can you provide a time when you felt you were not living your “true
self”? Why did you have to live a life like that? What did you do about it?
5. What social pressures help shape your self? Would you have wanted it otherwise?
6. What aspects of your self do you think may be changed or you would like to change?
IMAGE 1
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