The Effects of Borderwork

Gender characteristics are established at a very young age; these characteristics and gender views then follow us throughout our lifetime.  As children, we are taught to act, dress, and view the opposite gender in a particular way.  In my sociology of sport class, it was made apparent that the rather stereotypical views of gender we learn at a young age are prevalent as we age.  This process is known as borderwork, or “interaction based on and even strengthening gender boundaries” (Thorne, 344).   This borderwork creates memorable gender views that were evident in my sociology of sport class.

As children we are influenced by an “exaggeration of gender difference and disregard for the presence of crosscutting variation and sources of commonality” (Thorne, 349).  In other words, we are taught that girls and boys should be separated from one another in activities because they “are separate and fundamentally different, as individuals and as groups” (Thorne, 350).  In my sociology of sport class we discussed the idea of girls and boys playing on the same team together, and the reaction was very negative, especially from the boys in my class.  They stated that girls and boys should not be mixed with one another when playing sports because girls are not as athletic as boys.  This view most likely stems from their childhood and the involvement of boys in sports, while girls participated in other “female appropriate” activities.

This superiority of males over females is a common power dynamic in gender, and was also present when the males in my class interacted with my female teacher.  When dealing with gender “the masculine is often valued over the feminine,” and many boys in my class believed this to be true.  When my female teacher made comments about equality between men and women, her statements were often challenged by my male classmates, even if she had legitimate proof and evidence to back them up.  This disrespect of her teaching ability and legitimacy as a teacher was also called into question throughout the entire semester, no matter what the topic was.  In past years, a male professor taught this class and, even though he taught the same material, his statements were never questioned.  This occurrence makes evident that, even when dealing with an authority figured, gender discrimination and power differences are still prevalent.  Thus, the gender borderwork we experience as children can have a great effect on our views as adults.

Halloween Sadism, Paranoia, & The Loss of Community

The development of the Halloween Sadist has grown largely over the past few years as people’s fears about Halloween continue to grow.  As stated by Horiuchi and Best, “Halloween sadism is thought to involve random, vicious, unprovoked attacks against small children” (488).  I knew the prevalence of the fear of the Halloween Sadist was growing; however, I didn’t witness its true effect until this Halloween.  A friend of mine works at a daycare and was shocked when she discovered the plans of many of the children at the daycare center.  Instead of trick-or-treating, as most kids did when I was a child, many of the children were having small Halloween parties at their house because their parents didn’t want them out at night.  The causes and effects of this fear can be attributed to societal changes as well as the influence of the media.

The past years have brought about stories of children finding razor blades in their apples or poison in their candy on Halloween night.  These stories have inflicted fear in many parents around the world, largely due to the media’s portrayal of these stories.  Although the few incidents that have occurred were done by family members of these children, the media portrays these stories as strangers attacking young children for no apparent reason.  Due to the media’s portrayal of this, societal views have greatly changed.  People are now becoming more paranoid of others around them and feel as though they can no longer trust their neighbors; this has resulted in a decrease of community feeling amongst neighbors.  Due to the fact that “holiday celebrations reflect the larger culture,” Halloween traditions have been negatively affected by this growing societal paranoia (Best & Horiuchi).  Parents now fear to allow their children to trick-or-treat, times for trick-or-treating have continued to be moved back so that children will only be out in the daylight, and, in the case of the children at the daycare, some parents are keeping their children inside at all times on Halloween.  This paranoia not only negatively affects children’s Halloween traditions, but it can lead to larger social consequences.

If members of this society continue to fear those around them, communities in general will become obsolete.  The trend to become “neighborly” with those around us has already began to decrease; if this continues, people will fail to know those around them, thus resulting in an even greater paranoia.  This cyclical pattern of avoidance and the resulting paranoia will only bring members of today’s society further apart.  In order to avoid this, members of a community must not solely depend on the media’s portrayal of occurrences in today’s world, but rather depend on each other and rebuild this lost sense of community.

The Unique Development & Traits of Electronic Identities

An electronic identity, whether it be a Facebook profile, chat screen name, etc, is unique in its development and traits.  Unlike other identities, with an electronic identity, “everything must be communicated; all elements of selfhood must be presented to others; one must literally write one’s self into existence” (Waskul, 204).  The development and traits of an electronic identity were perfectly portrayed through Ariel Schulman’s documentary Catfish.  In this documentary, Ariel documents his growing Facebook friendship with a girl, who he does not know outside of Facebook, named Megan.  Throughout this documentary, he comes to find out that Megan, her pictures, her family, and her friends were all false identities.  None of these people existed; rather, they were electronic identities created and managed by a woman named Angela Wesselman.  Wesselman’s ability to create hundreds of believable electronic identities can be explained through the unique traits of electronic identities.

An importance difference between an electronic identity and other identities is that “self-claims in online chat are much more difficult to verify” (Waskul, 204).  This lack of verification allows one to create false information about themselves, or on a much grander scale, in Wesselman’s case, create several false identities in which none of the information is true.  Due to the fact that Ariel only knew Megan and these other identities through Facebook, he could not disprove any of their information.  With an electronic identity, there is no face-to-face interaction, thus one must take others’ statements as true because they have no means of challenging their validity.

Angela Wesselman (right) and one of her many false electronic identities (left)

Wesselman’s ability to produce several false identities can be explained through the concept of hyperfluidity.  As pointed out by Waskul, “online chat dislocates selfhood from the constraints of the body; self is not contained or affixed to any physical form” (205).  In other words, those using electronic identities can become hyperfluid; this allows them to switch between several identities because these identities are not associated with their bodily self.  Wesselman’s actions heavily portray the prevalence of hyperfluidity in electronic identities; she was able to maintain several identities and rapidly switch between them.  This is not a novel concept, but rather, one that is used by several people with electronic identities, because “on the internet the art of the con is reduced to relatively simple techniques that most people can reasonably manage to use them” (Waskul, 206).  This concept of hyperfluidity, along with the diminished ability to challenge the validity of electronic identities, allows for the creation of a unique identity in which one can create several false selves.  

Disney World Per Goffman

Erving Goffman’s concept of dramaturgy, which he uses to explain the self and social interaction, largely applies to the operations of Disney World and its success.  Goffman’s view is that “all the world is not, of course, a stage, but the crucial ways in which it isn’t are not easy to specify.” Thus, people in social interaction put on various performances to control the impression they have on others in order to have smooth interactions; this is also known as impression management.  The employees of Disney World work very hard at impression management; the use of this concept is essential for the success of their business.  They must act in a certain manner, and sometimes even become a completely different person, in order to maintain Disney World’s visitors’ definition of the situation.  Visitors, especially children, come to Disney World expecting to meet various Disney characters and interact with others who are bright and cheerful, because it is, after all, the happiest place on earth. 

The use of an underground system in Disney World largely establishes this ability to put on a performance and successfully incorporate impression management.  Instead of walking to a nearby building to switch out characters or other workers, an underground town with hidden entrances into it has been built beneath Disney World.  Goffman points out that “the initial definition of the situation projected by an individual tends to provide a plan for the co-operative activity that follows” (Goffman, 196).  Thus, although several people, including employees and visitors of Disney World, may know of this underground town, they choose to dismiss this fact in order to maintain their definition of Disney World and have smooth interactions. 

This underground system also enables impression management by allowing those dressed up as Disney characters to appear real to visitors, especially children.  Goffman states “when an individual plays a part, he implicitly requests his observers to take seriously the impression that is fostered before them” (197).  When an employee of Disney World is dressed up as a Disney character, their goal is to make others believe that they are truly this character.  Also, they expect visitors to trust in this impression and to not question its validity.  This reciprocal interaction allows employees to become Disney characters and not just a man behind a mask.  Thus, the use of impression management and the definition of the situation maintain the magic and awe, and overall success, of Disney World.