COMM 10: Module 3
Activity 4
According to Davies & Harré (1999), Positioning is “the discursive process whereby people are located in conversations as observably and subjectively coherent participants in jointly produced storylines”. People produce their own positions and as well as for others to present them and themselves. Thus, when people have their own positions, an identity of how they perceive of who they are is made. Given this idea, we can say that in many ways, Positioning may pave the way for the emergence of common societal problems. For instance, prejudice and discrimination are based on gender, age, religion, ethnicity, or even based on race, and it often begins with stereotyping. People tend to overlook the totality using a single perception and that is when Positioning is used. They create a “role” for other people based on their own definition and it affects the latter because they start to view themselves by how others view them. For example, the prejudiced conception towards older adults is that they are slow and incompetent (Cuddy, Norton, & Fiske, 2005; Nelson, 2004). The negative belief is being generalized to all even though many individuals of that group may differ, and whether we like it or not, this thinking towards older adults is commonly used by our society. The same is true with the basis of sex. People may believe that one sex is superior than the other, and it creates a collective thinking that for example, women are meant to do chores, or making fun of men who play “feminine” sports. Positions that are made to create identities are made in relation to social representations, and both men and women are affected by these beliefs. Even so, positioning could also lead to the emergence of ethnocentrism or the notion that one may see his/her own culture as the correct way of living (LumenLearning, 2020). Since it is said that people may position themselves and others, they tend to see their own culture as appropriate while other cultures are not. In Asia, where chopsticks are widely used, nonAsians may deem it as unnecessary and inappropriate since in their own culture, they only use spoon and fork in eating. This notion could also be traced in the history where colonialism occurred. Some countries see themselves and their culture superior and so they want to dominate by colonizing other countries.
Based from the given examples, position may indeed pave the way for the emergence of prejudice and discrimination, ethnocentrism, sexism, racism, and other problems in the society. These are still used despite a number of evidences contrary to the prejudiced beliefs. This is why, people must learn to respect these indifferences and these created positions must be truest to the one who holds it.
Listening to Siyanda Mohutsiwa’s TED Talk on “How young Africans found a voice on Twitter”, we can say the social media has a role in creating racial and regional identities. It only started with the hashtag #IfAfricawasabar, and people started to see a different side of Africa that is far from their perception. Because of social media, people who never had a taste of the real African culture, or know the real Africa, got to learn from the perspectives, opinions, and experiences of those who are from Africa. If the simple #IfAfricawasabar made it this far, then others can do the same. Through social media, we can show other people who we are and how we live. No one knows our race and identity more than us; therefore, we can conform or counter their beliefs towards ours if we let it be known to them- and social media is a huge platform for making this possible.
References:
Andreouli, E. (2010). Identity, Positioning and Self-Other Relations, 19, 14,.1–14.13. Retrieved from http://www.psych.lse.ac.uk/psr/
LumenLearning. (2020). Ethnocentrism. Retrieved from https://socialsci.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Anthropology/Cultural_Anthropology/Book%3A_Cultural_Anthropology_(Evans)
