Self, Identity and Agency

HUSO2164
♛

Assessment Task 2: A tale of two people

INTERVIEW Summary and Consent
Due Friday 11 September by 23:59

Name : Giang Duc Hai - s3699374

Class : Self, Identity and Agency
Course code : HUSO 2164

Introduction
To begin with an interview, there is an introduction about Long, an interviewee. Long,
who is my Vietnamese friend, is a junior at RMIT university. He is currently 22 years
old. However, his appearance looks older than he is, which is also his identity
marker. He appeared with the classic style of an elegant gentleman. He has a
fondness for suits and Oxford leather shoes. He started to form this fashion style two
years ago after watching the movie “The Great Gatsby”. He was fascinated by the
elegance of Leonardo DiCaprio in the movie with the fashion style of a true
gentleman. Besides, the reason he follows this style is that he wants to gain respect
from everyone and wants to be a real gentleman.

Regarding his personality, it is quite similar to his appearance a lot. Many people
consider him to be a much more mature person than he is, as I mentioned. Since he
was in middle school, his parents divorced, and he has lived with his father until now.
Unlike other friends, Long had a past that lacked love from his family. It was a
significant event in his life that changed his mind a lot. He lifted himself, didn't allow
himself to be soft. While his same-age friends are still busy running deadlines and
having fun with parties, he started planning his career by doing internships at
companies to gain experience. I have been teamed with Long a few times, he shows
the responsibility of the leader and wins the hearts of his teammates when teaming.
It can be said that Long is a man with a high will to progress and never gives up
when facing difficulties.

For the interview, it covers in 3 topics:

- Week 5: Social Class
- Week 7: Virtual selves
- Week 12: Adulthood, ageing and identity

Week 5: Social Class

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 1. One way to think about Australian society is to divide the population up
into different social classes (e.g., the working class, the middle class,
the upper class). Are categories like this meaningful to you? Can you
tell me about a time when you felt conscious of your class position-
either to help or hinder your actions?

Social class can be understood in three waves: the first is based on the theory of
Marxism, the second is to emphasize the role of the profession to influence the
social class, and the third is the combination of additional aspects of social and
cultural capital. According to the Marxist theory, to form class in society, it focuses
much on the roles of labour, capital and political power. This approach is understood
as a measure of "ethics" to evaluate an individual's position in society. In 1970, the
“Goldthorpe schema”, known as the second wave, was created and widely applied to
emphasize the professional status of the individual. The “Goldthorpe schema” also
influences the way class is analysed and measured in Australian society. Last but
not least, chronologically for the study of social class, the third and present wave is
based on the Bourdieu concept of class, which includes three types of capital:
economic, cultural and social. The difference between this wave from the previous
two waves is the orthogonality of the three capital forms.

Long felt it was sensible to divide society into different classes. Because he sees this
as the government's "divide and rule" policy to efficiently manage the population and
meet the right needs for each class, if society is not divided, society will not have
order and rules. Since Long became socially conscious, he felt like he was now in
the working class. The working class helped Long a lot. It made him more motivated
to develop himself and elevate his position to the next level.

Week 7: Virtual selves

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 1. Increasingly, many people are maintaining two versions of themselves:
one in the physical world, and another in online spaces. If this
distinction is meaningful to you, can you describe the challenges and
opportunities that come from existing in these two worlds?

Technology is evolving day by day. The virtual world is gradually becoming a new
version for everyone. Long thinks that when he's in the virtual world, it helps him
release stress after a tiring working day. The virtual world gives him a personal
space; Long can freely transform into any character of his choice. In addition, all
information and news are updated daily on social networks; a virtual world allows
people to speak more freely than the real world. However, the right to freedom of
expression on social networking sites is considered a double-edged sword that
causes users in many troubles.

According to the 2016 survey, more than 25% of companies admitted that an
employee was reprimanded and asked to quit because of the content of an online
post. 60% of companies use the virtual world as a tool to test candidates; they
prioritize checking a candidate's social media accounts like Facebook, Instagram
over their LinkedIn account to screen candidates (Duffy, B. E. and Chan, N. K.).

On the other hand, instead of chatting, interacting with each other through screens
and messages in the virtual world, people have a real face-to-face interaction when
in the physical world version. TLong highlights his version of himself in the real world
because it tells him what he is and where he is in the world. Only one word can
describe the real-world challenge that is harsh. It causes people to fight each other
for success and status in society. Because the ordeal was so harsh, many people
were unemployed and homeless.

Sometimes these two worlds are linked together. Because the real world is so harsh
that people are under too much pressure, they look to the virtual world as a world of
their own. Nevertheless, when they are so immersed in the virtual world, they
accidentally forget who they are.

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Week 12: Adulthood, ageing and identity

1. While our chronological age progresses in a predictable way, it

sometimes feels like different parts of our lives “flew by” and others
“dragged along”. What do you think explains this feeling?

For Long, he feels that the two feelings "flew by" and "dragged along" are linked,
especially during adolescence. He explains that in some cases when we get caught
up in something, at the same time, we flip through what is supposed to be the right
age. He gives examples of children in families who do not have enough money to
keep them going with their studies. These kids, besides going to school, have to go
to work at a very young age to be able to help their families with money. That
inadvertently gets them caught up in work and glimpsed through their studies, which
they were supposed to be at the right age.

2. Do you think our society has expectations about “age appropriate

behaviour”? Can you share with me a time when you didn’t “act your
age”? What did that feel like?

From Long’s point of view, age-appropriate behaviour can be considered as the

expectation of all society in the world. This expectation in developed countries is
thriving with sound education systems; adolescents are well-informed and aware of
age-appropriate behaviour. In addition, governments in these countries strictly
control the law; anyone who violates the law will be punished with the level of the
error caused. In developing countries, for example, Vietnam, the education system is
not as developed as in high-income countries, so knowledge and awareness for
adolescents are still limited. In addition, the lack of strictness and laxity in the control
of the government has led to problems such as children under 18 years of age can
still buy and use alcohol, tobacco.

He shared about the first time he used alcohol; it was also the time when he did not
behave at the right age. It was around the time when he was 16, in the summer he

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went on a picnic away from home with his high school friends. Of course, the party is
indispensable for alcohol. He did realize that he is not old enough to drink alcohol
yet. As Long mentioned, in developing countries like Vietnam, the management of
alcohol consumption age is not strict, plus the temptation of friends. After his first
"rule-breaking" experience, he feels very delighted and safe when using alcohol
around close friends. However, alcohol is also a stimulant that should not be used
too much.

3. If you think back to yourself as a child, how much of that child is still
with you now? Similarly, in what ways might an older version of you be
different from how you are now?

He bluntly answered 0% when asked what percentage of the child is still with him, if
he thinks back to himself when he was a kid. Because when he was a child, he had
a life of an authentic family and had love from both his father and mother. However,
after the tragedy, it changed his mind into a different person, so he answered 0%.

If compared to the old version, Long is quite proud of himself. The new version has
positive changes from outside and inside the person of Long much more than the old
version. He felt himself growing up every day. He is still trying harder to perfect
himself into the role model he wishes to achieve.

4. Is ageing something you’re looking forward to or resisting? What is your

perspective of ageing? How do you feel about self-ageing? What does
this mean to you?

In Long's opinion, although aging is undesirable, it is also inevitable. Long thought

that aging is the process of becoming physically and mentally aging over time.
Despite the development of medicine, plastic surgery, they could not change the
time. He believes that the aging process goes hand in hand with human maturity.
Therefore, he is quite appreciative of his current aging, as it helps him grow a lot
more. Moreover, his current aging may cause him to achieve success earlier than
others.

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According to Crash Course Sociology, aging often increases the likelihood of many
chronic diseases, including heart disease or diabetes, which are the leading cause of
death in many developed countries. Senescence is understood as the process of
becoming old as the physical and mental deteriorates with age.

References:

 Chan, N. K & Duffy, B. E, ‘“You never really know who’s looking”: Imagined
surveillance across social media platforms’, New Media & Society, vol. 21,
issue 2, viewed 5 September 2020, <https://journals-sagepub-
com.ezproxy.lib.rmit.edu.au/doi/10.1177/1461444818791318>

 Biddle, N & Sheppard, J 2017, ‘Class, capital, and identity in Australian

society’, Australian Journal of Political Science, vol. 52, issue 4, viewed
5 September 2020, <https://www-tandfonline-
com.ezproxy.lib.rmit.edu.au/doi/full/10.1080/10361146.2017.1364342>

 CrashCourse 2017, Age & Aging: Crash Course Sociology #36,

YouTube, 4 December, CrashCourse, viewed 5 September 2020,
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ18whKduFo>

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