The concept of race and gender as an interaction between multiple people is highlighted in “Putting Gender Into Context: An Interactive Model of Gender-Related Behavior” by Kay Deaux and Brenda Major as well as “We Wear the Mask: Performance, Social Dramas, and Race” by Harry Elam Jr.
Deaux and Major describe a model for gender-related behavior that is based on an interaction between individuals—based on this interaction, the self acts in a particular way. Additionally, Elam describes race as a performance, or in other words, an interaction between the self and an audience. We are continuously performing a particular role.
Both race and gender are, then, socially constructed. Does this mean that one’s self is also a social construction? Is there a true/authentic self, or are we completely the products of our societies?
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