You Can’t Buy an Authentic Self

[BackToLurk]

I’ve long held the view that much of identity politics, including gender identity politics, owes a lot to late stage capitalism. It’s often very much about the primacy of the individual. I found this interesting in relation to the role of corporations in selling ‘authentic selves’ to transpeople, and packaging it as inclusivity.

Freya is apparently a ‘voice of Gen Z feminism.’

https://www.freyaindia.co.uk/p/you-cant-buy-an-authentic-self

There probably is a way you could have got more of the wrong end of the stick, I’m just not sure how.

What’s all that got to do with reading? None of it is needed. pure revenue-generating, performative consumerism.

Rather like something else we’re discussing…

I have only a short time tonight but posting so i can follow tomorrow.

I have often thought about this, having listened to Dr P Dionne Joseph, clinical psychologist on “incitefulsisters” podbean provoked me to think some more on this very subject.

The podbean is well worth a visit.

I was a counsellor and a developer of services specifically in the field of sexual and domestic violence.

In working with trauma, i developed a method of helping a person recognise their “authentic” self.

The naked being both physically and emotionally was something to be explored. The mirror was an important place to talk about, as we all look in it. Looking at ones naked self can often be hard.

My work often involved looking at all life experiences, on being a child, trauma, bullying, isolation, addiction, loss of relationships, struggles to “fit in”. Reactions to troubling situations, etc. And everything that made them feel worthless and othered.

The key was two fold:

integration of all of that that in to sense of self and embracing that in the moment. I am who and what i encounter.

Secondly once integrated the real self is “reclothed” so to speak. How then to relate to other people, now self intact, and negotiate this difficult life without falling to bits, when a challenge or difficulty occurs.

Such as friendships hobbies communities, and work.

And finally a question was, how often did you look in the mirror today and why?

The mirror gets put away except for occasional grooming.

Capitalism in the sale of products to improve oneself, or ones body, has generated an endless supply of customers because they can never be satisfied.

The selfie culture in its infancy, and facebook as it has become feeds in to causing further insecurities.

Its like capitalism stole a generations mirror and it follows them around.

They just wasn't trying hard enough.

This YouTuber does some interesting videos analysing the effects of modern capitalism on women:

Being one's 'authentic' self is the self expression of personality traits of which encompass personal individual preferences. It's an alignment of inner experience/self awareness & outward expression.

And yes, personal preferences often cost money. A 'butch' female wanting to express her inner 'masculinity' traits might need to purchase more masculine coded clothing as an expression of herself. Or conversely, a more 'effeminate' male might purchase eye make up.

Expression & authenticity go hand in hand. And just because the business world encourages such consumerism doesn't change this fact. If anything they are successful because human psychology demands it.

The idea that humans are otherwise empty vessels who lack individuality & a desire to express said individuality is argy bargy woohoo nonsense that defies common sense…except when there's a trans 'demon' to hunt.

This article happens to focus on transpeople. Shared here as this is a feminist board talking largely about gender. A board focussed on racial identity might have considered a similar piece about the selling of 'Blackness'.

There is a substantial and well-documented body of literature regarding how identities are repackaged, marketed and sold. Most of it comes from a Marxist perspective. As others have touched on, it's not a particularly new argument. I saw this, wasn't sure it had been shared before and found it interesting as it came from a younger writer than normal.

It's interesting how many trans activists manage to suspend any critical faculties in relation to the impact and influence of capitalism when transgender people are part of the conversation. Of course, a smarter commentator might have said something along the lines of "Well, obviously this is what is happening, 'all women' are subject to this" and then we could have explored that. I guess Reddit still aren't sending us their finest.

How different is this to women with labia plasty, breast implants, multiple surgeries? The Kardashians, Joan Rivers, Lil' Kim.

There is a difference in the fact that in these cases 'womanhood' is being sold back to women, who already possess it. The wider analyses around 'marketing identity' apply in much the same way.

A woman wanting a mastectomy for aesthetic reasons may be no different to other women having breast implants for aesthetic reasons. Its the opposite side of the same coin.

Its extreme, dangerous consumerism.

If a woman is sold the idea that a mastectomy makes her less of a woman or more of a man is being sold a lie. I dont think women see having breast implants as making themselves more 'woman' than the already are.

When mastectomies for trans surgeries are sold as 'healthcare', similar to a women with breast cancer having mastectomies. Its another lie. One saves lives, the other is cosmetic.

Perhaps you lack basic marketing 101 which requires a consumer connection.

Marketing to personality traits means shaping brand message to match how different people think, feel, and act. By using psychology models like the Big Five or classic personality types, brands can build make their ads feel personal.

So its not as if consumers purchase because they have been 'conned' but rather because they personally connect with the message.

It's interesting how many anti trans activist infantilise people because they don't agree with their choices.

Thanks, OP, I enjoyed reading this and whilst her observations may not be ground-breaking, it is good to see them from, and shared with, the younger generation. It makes me so angry when I see young mums at the school gates with lip filler and all the rest in an area where many people don't really have money. These companies preying on insecurities and society goes along with it. One of the most feminist acts a woman can do in this day and age is to love herself as she is. And it is ridiculous that that should be so hard now.

I think it was Gandhi who said, 'The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others' and I do believe he was right on that.

Bloody capitalist patriarcy.

As I said " trans activists manage to suspend any critical faculties in relation to the impact and influence of capitalism when transgender people are part of the conversation." Or maybe you are just a neoliberal, which people are allowed to be if they want.

Agree.

Advertising campaigns of the past created insecurities in women such as telling them they needed to douche with Lysol to be 'fresh', telling them they needed to shave their body hair to be feminine, telling them to use radium-containing products on their skin or in their eyes to look 'glowing'.

And, today, advertising tells women to use fillers, botox, have BBL surgery, have eye and brow lifts, contour their faces with makeup, remove buccal fat in their cheeks, create 12 step skincare routines, encourages them to have 'everything' showers. A lot of these new 'elements of being a woman' didn't exist even 20 years ago, they were created and marketed to young women by businesses that wanted to make money.

Capitalism creates categories of product and then undermines the confidence of a group of people it wants to develop as a market. It has nothing to do with meeting unmet needs or personality types.

I'm not convinced that my authentic self has to be happy – at least, not all the time, and not necessarily even most of the time. Indeed, I'm not sure it's healthy to have very high expectations of happiness. Life includes grief, loss, loneliness, pain, as well as joy, gain, companionship, health. I don't think a life without the hard stuff is necessarily a better life. "It's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." That resonates with my experience, even though I will almost certainly experience the grief of loss again and again. It sometimes seems that being emotionless is the worst fate of all.

Today's society sometimes looks to me like one in which people think something is wrong with them if they are unhappy, whereas to me it is part of life to be accepted, but with the hope of better things to come. Following a sports team can teach this life lesson, and yet there are fans who have an extraordinarily entitled outlook in which they seem to think that their team's continual success is owed to them.

Totally agree with all of that @RapidOnsetGenderCritic. There is a general feeling in modern times that everyone needs and deserves happiness. ‘Treat yourself’ etc. None of us are owed happiness or joy- they’re just emotions that hopefully most of us will be lucky enough to experience from time to time. I guess it just goes to show how easy our lives are now compared to many around the world and throughout history who are/were just trying to survive.

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The honourable and dignified aims of the American Constitution have been taken to such extremes that they are distorted beyond recognition.

1 Anything taken to extreme becomes so distorted that it harms the very people it is supposed to serve.

2 Just because you can, just because you have the right to, doesn’t mean you should.