Identity 2.0

Written by Pierre Lipperheide

Sunday, 18 July 2010 00:00

Back in the twentieth century it was common that people created identities for themselves. They did not grow into someone else or changed slowly. They just thought: 'Hmm, I'd really like to be an artist'. And they'd start dressing like an artist, talking like an artist, thinking like an artist and living like an artist. They would even go out and find new friends to match this new personality.

The search for a new personal identity goes back a long way.

Benjamin Franklin conditioned himself to be a better, more productive human being in the era of Enlightenment.

Romantics like Emerson and Thoreau indentified with the thought that only a real genius could understand nature completely and created the thought of the genius to be the prototypical, perfect artist as a personality for themselves.

Later there were W.E.B. DuBois and Alain Locke who brought the concept of the "New Negro" to life - as a new persona for the surpressed Afro-Americans in America.

After WWII, the German people were burdened with an identity that the rest of the world created for them - even today, they still carry this load. Certain artists such as Anselm Kiefer refused to accept this given identity, and created works of art designed to directly confront the guilt that the Germans faced - so that they could move on and build a new start.

In the mid-twentieth century people wanted to recreate themselves all over again. A way to move on from the war era perhaps? Hippies, human rights activists and punks started to invent an image for a whole generation.

So, examples from the past: check.

But what about nowadays? Is it still possible to simply reinvent ourselves? Can we just create a new personality and try it out like it's the most natural thing in the world? Do we have to create a part-time personality because our society is so demanding that there is not enough time to fully act this new identity out? Or will we be judged for being totally ridiculous?

Today there should be more possibilities for reinvention than ever before, because in this globalized world we live in, it's so much easier to obtain all the props needed for your new self than in the past. The internet makes extensive research possible for almost everyone and eBay will help you to complete the wardrobe. So, information and tools: check.

Today people all over the world share common interests - as with centuries before us. They identify with each other through their tastes in music, art, food, sports and so on. They can connect with each other using the internet, can form groups and share their thoughts on their interests. But is it forming a new identity?

The closest you get with this approach is possibly through music. Even if you're open to listening to all of the genres available in music, there are still those that are considered extreme.

Let's take the example of country music. Singers and fans of this genre were originally inspired by the old Western movies, dressed like the cowboys used to and this kind of music is not only a personal but a regional if not even a national identity. Being a country musician means you have to follow a certain dress-code, your lyrics have to fit the scheme and you probably have to be from a certain part of the world - most likely a certain part of the US where country is most famous (I am explicitly excluding country-pop artists like Taylor Swift!).

Fans adopted this cultural lifestyle over the years and a specific image for the scene was created. Role-models and examples: check.

But what if one wants to change all over? What if I wanted a new taste in music, art, food and sport? What if I want to dress differently, talk differently, think and live differently? What if I want different friends? Am I free to do this? I mean, am I able to do this?

Isn't our society the primary obstacle? My first thought was that it might be totally ridiculous to just go ahead and change. "People are gonna laugh at me", "Wouldn't I miss my friends and lose my job?", "I'd have to get a new flat and spend a lot of money!", were the thoughts running through my head.

Doubts: check.

We are so dependent on our personal, economic and social environment that WE, ourselves, are not the primary subject of our life anymore. In our heads we have gone back to those pre-Enlightenment paradigms. The individual hides behind the community again.

It's not like there is any new way of thinking that I could create like Franklin and his contemporaries. I have to adopt existing ones and it all has to happen on purpose unlike with the early Romantics' visions for their lives. And I don't want to give up on me forever. Maybe it sounds weak but at least I know now that it is worth trying. I am certainly going to. But first I'll get out my scrapbook and put my future part-time me on paper.

Defiance, curiosity and desire for an experiment: CHECK!

Written by Pierre Lipperheide