People have always had the need to make groups part of their identity. Today, groups just try to influence everything, writes Hallamaa.
I had to get new tights for the party. It was a surprisingly emotional trip.
It was a shame that I had to buy the accessory in question, which was sure to break, in the first place. It was annoying that men didn’t have such a problem. It angered me how the market made tights unsustainable, even though in the middle of an eco-catastrophe the direction should be different.
I tried to be a conscious and ecological advocate for women’s issues, but once again I found myself at the pantyhose rack of a fast fashion chain comparing deniers instead of coming up with an alternative. Acquired, for example, a timeless trouser suit. Or dug out the old, linty party socks from the closet.
When did even this small choice become so difficult?
I think that the phenomenon is even slightly broader and more personal. Even completely insignificant things have become part of social identity.
According to social psychologists, social identity is the part of the minute that is built through our groups. For example, citizenship, gender, profession and hobbies shape the minute.
Then came social media and harsh profile work. In social media, everyone was able to choose what they brought out about themselves and what groups they belonged to. The groups did a little the same as the selections. They became ideological and political.
A post about an expensive domestic design sofa reflects socioeconomic status. Posing in a vintage dress, on the other hand, gave a glimpse of the nature of an environmentally conscious recycler.
And what’s the point, you can bring up things and values \u200b\u200bthat are important to you and communicate them to your followers.
Social identities, which used to be activated in the respective group, have started to be activated always and everywhere. It takes our little mind to the edge of contradictions.
Can a vocal opponent of racism feel suspicious of a threatening foreigner? What about a feminist thinking that a fellow sister is behaving stupidly?
Can an ecological mother buy disposable diapers if they make everyday life smoother? Did anyone see that I poured regular milk into my coffee?
Is this how you are allowed to act, feel or think? And what happens if I say my thoughts out loud?
When the issues pursued by the groups become too big a part of the identity, the objections hit me directly. Dissenting opinion is no longer just something that can be discussed and shared. It is an attack on the individual and thus on the whole group he represents.
It feels like the groups have taken over me and our thinking. At the same time, people have shrunk. You don’t really feel mercy towards anyone, neither yourself nor others.
And at the same time, we are only human. Individuals who, due to their own personality traits, sometimes slip from the role they created.
A self-proclaimed vegetarian might order a ham and pineapple pizza in the wee hours of the night. How annoyingly human.
*Laura Hallamaa*
*The author is a freelance journalist who surprisingly sometimes misses the time when social media was full of food pictures instead of ideological speeches.*
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