Although many people do not often realize it, we are constantly seeing ourselves through other’s eyes. This is the main theme for Charles Horton Cooley’s the looking-glass self. Cooley states that "we imagine our appearance to others, imagine their judgments of us, and then have self-feelings resulting from those judgments." In Stretesky and Pogrebin’s “Gang-Related Gun Violence and the Self,” the ways in which other’s views influence the actions of gang members is observed. Gang members feel a need to become a certain type of male in order to be viewed a certain way by fellow gang members. I experienced a similar need to adopt a particular appearance when obtaining a job at Anytime Fitness.
Even though I am studying exercise physiology and have participated in athletics all of my life, I felt a need to be seen as an athletic fitness guru to the members of Anytime Fitness, in order to boost my confidence while working there and feel as though I “fit in.” Similarly, gang members felt a need to portray themselves as masculine, stating, “masculinity was constantly invoked in relation to self and identity” (176). In order to achieve this fitness status, I felt a need to dress in athletic apparel (e.g. Under Armour or Nike) so that those working out at Anytime Fitness would identify me as being knowledgeable in the fitness realm. Following Cooley’s the looking-glass self, I would imagine how I appeared to others in the fitness gear, imagine their judgments, and then have self-feelings that I was appropriate for the job. Even though many people state that they do not care what others think about them, viewing other’s judgments of us is part of everyday life. Its impact can even result in us changing or modifying our behavior in order to appear a particular way.
