Performance and Occasion

    One example of performance in my life is my gender performance as a female. As a female, I have been socially constructed to at, look, think, talk, and be a certain way. My audience is my peers, family and friends. As a female, I also perform differently in front of a group of all males, all females, or a group of males and females. I do not choose to act this way most of the time; it is subconscious because that is the way I was brought up. For example, some women may dumb themselves down subconsciously in front of men to make themselves seem more appealing because for some reason, girl think men find that attractive. Another example is if I were in a more sophisticated situation, I might be wearing a dress and heals, and cross my feet at my ankles, because this is how I was taught that a lady should act.

            Another example of performance in my life is my performance in my family as the youngest child. The youngest child in the family often acts differently than the older child, or an only child. Youngest children copy their older siblings or do the opposite of their older siblings, can be less independent, can be babied by their parents more, and use their older siblings as good or bad examples. Personally, I do the exact opposite of what my sister does, without even thinking about it. We couldn’t be more opposite. But also, I look up to her as a good role model for me because she is very smart and determined with her schoolwork. I try to perform well in school so my parents will be just as proud of me as they are of her. I am also slightly babied but I don’t complain about being babied because that is what society thinks is normal.

            The role of occasion plays a HUGE role concerning performance. People act differently depending on the occasion they are faced with. The occasion is much like the audience of the dramatistic pentad. A good performance depends on the understanding of the occasion of the current situation.