By nature, human beings are social creatures who need interactions with other people in order to survive and thrive. Because the tendency to desire connections and relationships with other individuals is a characteristic that is so deeply embedded in human nature, it is inevitable that the consequences of such interactions will profoundly impact one’s self, or the combined beliefs and experiences of an individual that frame how one views and interacts with the world. Leslie Bell’s “Hard to Get: Twenty-Something Women and the Paradox of Sexual Freedom,” Martha Stout’s “When I Woke Up Tuesday Morning, It Was Friday,” and Andrew Solomon’s “Son” collectively address the idea that one of the consequences of individuals’ interactions with others
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Jayanthi, in Leslie Bell’s essay “Hard to Get,” chose to employ this technique when she decided that she no longer wanted to experience the world with a set of values, experiences, and beliefs that her parents dictated for her and instead chose to produce her own. Bell describes Jayanthi’s creation of a redefined sense of self when Bell states, “Jayanthi worked hard to give herself a history that differed from her family’s expectations—she needed sexual experiences…to create that history. Prior to [this], she felt herself to be meeting all her parents’ expectations of a good Indian girl…Being a bad girl allowed Jayanthi to control her identity, rather than having it controlled by…her family” (34). Although Jayanthi met “all her parents’ expectations of a good Indian girl” prior to adopting a “bad girl” strategy, she was unhappy because her identity and her sense of self were completely “controlled by…her family.” Because she wanted to define her own self, Jayanthi took control over her identity by becoming a “bad girl,” shedding the history that her parents created for her and using her new sexual experiences in order to produce “a history that differed from her family’s expectations” and construct a sense of self that she created on her own terms. …show more content…
In addition to discussing the manner in which Jayanthi defined her sense of self in response to her relationship with her parents, Bell describes how stereotypes impact Jayanthi’s definition of her sense of self when Bell states, “With American men, Jayanthi had felt stereotyped as naïve, passive, innocent, shy, submissive, and virginal because she was an Indian woman. Indian men also expected her to be a nice, virginal girl…By having extensive sexual experiences, Jayanthi could feel herself to be different from these stereotypes” (35). Because both Indian and American men typecast Jayanthi as “a nice, virginal girl” due to the fact that “she was an Indian woman,” Jayanthi attempted to unshackle herself from these stereotypes and define her self on her own terms by “having extensive sexual experiences.” This was her attempt to define herself in response to society’s views of Indian women, which she could not accept. Stout acknowledges the impact that current outside influences have on individuals’ definitions of their selves in addition to past experiences as well. Stout does so by alluding to the effect that the newfound knowledge of Julia’s childhood trauma has had on Julia’s definition of her self when Stout states, “‘The idea [of hypnosis] scares
Jayanthi, in Leslie Bell’s essay “Hard to Get,” chose to employ this technique when she decided that she no longer wanted to experience the world with a set of values, experiences, and beliefs that her parents dictated for her and instead chose to produce her own. Bell describes Jayanthi’s creation of a redefined sense of self when Bell states, “Jayanthi worked hard to give herself a history that differed from her family’s expectations—she needed sexual experiences…to create that history. Prior to [this], she felt herself to be meeting all her parents’ expectations of a good Indian girl…Being a bad girl allowed Jayanthi to control her identity, rather than having it controlled by…her family” (34). Although Jayanthi met “all her parents’ expectations of a good Indian girl” prior to adopting a “bad girl” strategy, she was unhappy because her identity and her sense of self were completely “controlled by…her family.” Because she wanted to define her own self, Jayanthi took control over her identity by becoming a “bad girl,” shedding the history that her parents created for her and using her new sexual experiences in order to produce “a history that differed from her family’s expectations” and construct a sense of self that she created on her own terms. …show more content…
In addition to discussing the manner in which Jayanthi defined her sense of self in response to her relationship with her parents, Bell describes how stereotypes impact Jayanthi’s definition of her sense of self when Bell states, “With American men, Jayanthi had felt stereotyped as naïve, passive, innocent, shy, submissive, and virginal because she was an Indian woman. Indian men also expected her to be a nice, virginal girl…By having extensive sexual experiences, Jayanthi could feel herself to be different from these stereotypes” (35). Because both Indian and American men typecast Jayanthi as “a nice, virginal girl” due to the fact that “she was an Indian woman,” Jayanthi attempted to unshackle herself from these stereotypes and define her self on her own terms by “having extensive sexual experiences.” This was her attempt to define herself in response to society’s views of Indian women, which she could not accept. Stout acknowledges the impact that current outside influences have on individuals’ definitions of their selves in addition to past experiences as well. Stout does so by alluding to the effect that the newfound knowledge of Julia’s childhood trauma has had on Julia’s definition of her self when Stout states, “‘The idea [of hypnosis] scares