In Erving Goffman’s, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, Goffman uses dramaturgical appeals to define how individuals use roles and performances within their daily interactions with other people. Goffman’s notions are important to consider because it causes the reader to wonder how, why or what is motivating the play of the performance. From a social perspective, terms have been created to define people who do not subscribe to the ideals that Goffman addresses. For example, if someone says they are not a fake person, they are saying they are not allowing play roles that will cause them to code switch or participate in audience segregation. Of these individuals that subscribe to this notion of not faking their interactions with members of society, they believe they are being their true self not allowing social conformity to dictate their actions or reactions. By conforming to the standard of not being a performer, are these individuals essentially playing a role?
From what I have gathered from Goffman’s reading, despite whether we are aware or not, we have different performances for different situations.
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For example, at my church, I hold the senior level position as audio/visual technician. Additionally, I am a Sunday School instructor for pre-school aged children. While holding these positions, I am expected to maintain some form of decorum when exercising my roles. Any mishap in my performance can create a problem for the patrons attending the services or for the children present in class. Thus, in order to maintain my role, I am expected to dress in a very particular manner, manage the interactions the children have within the services, coordinate with each department and ministry to make sure the special announcements are promptly available for the general population to view on the main screen, and give praise and thanks to God for his