In the case Study " The Whole Package" Ashley and her friends are discussing what they are going to wear to their fisrt homecoming dance. Even though Ashley and her friends are all different they have been bestfriends since the sixth grade. Suzie is the sporty conservative one of the group, Heather is the boy crazy one, and Brittney is the "fashionista." Ashley feels like all her friends have found there identities and she compares herself to them and starts to question her own identity.
Ashley and her friends all form their identities based on what they read and see. They read magazines and look at websites such as Seventeen,Cosmo, and gURL.com. These magazines and websites give the girls tips on ways to a healthier hotter body, how to kiss better, and secret celebrity beauty tips.It gives them a certain pressure to live up to the standards of all these tips. Instead of just making their own decisions based on what they like they make their decisions based on what celebrities like in hopes that they will be more "popular" and that more boys will like them.
In chapter two of the book Close Encounters It explains the Principles of Identity Management and states that" identity affects how we perceive ourselves, how others perceive us, how we behave, and how we evaluate our behavior and relationships" There are two out of the six principles that I think apply really well to Ashley and her friends. These two principles are Identity and the Looking-Glass Self and Identity, Expectations, and Behavior. Identity and the Looking-Glass Self says that " the feedback we receive from others helps shape our identities." Ashley's friends give her suggestions on how she can make her hair look better for the school dance and how she should dress to impress a boy that she likes. Ashley takes all these suggestions in consideration because she feels that her friends know best. Her friends feedback helps her shape her identity. The next principle Identity, Expectations, and Behavior specifies that "identity incorporates expectations and guides behavior." Since Ashleys friends feedback helps her form an identity she now feels that she has to live up to the identity which means she has to behave in a certain manner.
In conclusion although Ashley and her friends are all so different she loves how their differences don't pull them apart. The two principles the Looking-Glass Self and Identity, Expectations, and Behavior go well with this case study because it explains how Ashley forms her identity and how she has to live up to this identity. Most girls in high school feel pressured to meet the expectations of being popular and beautiful and Im sure that Ashley and her friends identities will be changing throughout thier lives.
