SELF, SOCIETY AND
CULTURE
MA’AM JANINE CAMACHO, LPT., RPm.
LESSON OBJECTIVES
• EXPLAIN THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE SELF
• COMPARE AND CONTRAST HOW SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS
AND CULTURE AFFECTED THE FORMATION OF THE SELF;
AND
• EXAMINE ONE’S “SELF” AGAINST THE DIFFERENT
PERSPECTIVES IN THIS LESSON AND VARIOUS EXPERIENCES
OF YOUR CLASSMATES
WHAT IS THE SELF?
• Self is always unique and has its own identity
• Self is self contained and independent
• Self is unitary and that is the center of all experiences
and thoughts that run through a certain person
• Self is private
Social Constructionist Perspective
• Argue that the self should not be seen as a
static entity that stay constant through and
through. Rather, the self has to be seen as
something that is in constant struggle with
external reality and is malleable in its dealing
with society
Social
Constructionist
Perspective
• Self is always in
participation
with social life
and its dealing
society
Social Constructionist
Perspective
It supports the idea of
NO MAN IS AN ISLAND
The Self and Culture
• Jon is a math professor in a Catholic
University for more than a decade now. Jon
also has a wife, Joan. Apart from being
husband, he is also blessed with two doting
kids, a son and a daughter. He also serves as
a lector and commentator inside the
church. When Jon is in the university, he
conducts himself in a matter that befits his
title as a professor.
• Are we hypocritical by
doing so?
• Is the behavior of Jon
acceptable and
expected?
According to Marcel
Mauss, every self has
two faces:
• Moi refers to a person
sense of who he is, his
body and his basic
identity; his biological
givenness. This is a
person’s basic identity.
• Personne is composed of
the social concepts of
what it means to be who
he is. It means to live
with a particular
institution, particular
family, religion and
nationality and how to
behave given the
expectations and
influences of others.
Personne cross culturally
Culture + Environment
Others
Self
• Language is another interesting aspect
of this social constructivism
• If a self is born into a particular society
or culture, the self will have to adjust
according to its exposure.
The self and the development of
the social world
• How do children grow
up and become social
beings?
• How do twins turn out
to be terribly different
if given up for
adoption?
Mead and Vygotsky
• Human persons develop with the use of
language acquisition and interaction with
others. The way that we process information is
normally a form of an internal dialogues in our
head.
George Herbert
Mead
Lev Vygotsky
Mead and Vygotsky
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.
• Human mind that is something that is made, constituted through
language as experienced in the external world and as encountered in
dialogues with others
• Notice how little children are fond of playing with their toys. They
make scripts and dialogues
Self in Families
The kind of family that we
are born in and the
resources available to us
(human, spiritual,
economic) will certainly
affect us and the kind of
development that we will
have as we go through life
• Human person learn the way of living and therefore
their selfhood by being in a family.
• Without a family biologically and sociologically a
person may not even survive or become a human
person.
Gender
and the
Self
Sex: categorized as
female or male
Gender: socially
constructed roles,
behaviors, expressions
and identities of girls,
women, boys, men, and
gender diverse people.
• Gender is one of the loci
of the self that is subject
to alteration change and
development
• People fought hard for
the right to express,
validate and assert their
gender expressions
• Society forces a particular
identity unto us
depending on our sex
and/ or gender
• Husband is expected to
provide for the family and
mothers to take care of
the children
• Eldest are expected to
head the family and hold
it in.
• Men are taught to hold
their emotions
• The sense of self that is being
taught makes sure that an
individual fits in particular
environment. This is dangerous and
detrimental. Gender has to
personally discovered and asserted
and not dictated by culture and
society.
END OF LESSON
