Rhetoric and IDENTITY...if there is such a thing

Ok, so reading this sort of made me depressed. I feel what he is saying and agree with most of it, but it crapped all over my image of myself as unique individual. The text, to me, seemed to be leaning toward the idea that no one really has a unique identity. Even the "constructed identity" which is the one we have the most "control" over is limited to "available models". The whole chapter made me think about how my entire life has been dictated by other people. Not cool.
I took Culture and Media with Dr. Schwartz a few semesters ago and I really wish I could remember more about that class, but anyway, it had a lot to do with the consumer readymades that Ramage discusses. By the way if you have not taken it, you should, it is freaking interesting. I really hate advertising and all the b.s. subliminal messaging and I especially hate how it actually works. I also really like propaganda, so I found the consumer readymade section most intriguing. I really liked when Ramage talked about how advertisements sort of satirize themselves so that critics really have nothing to criticize. It's like self-deprecation for ads. Make fun of yourself first and then people won't make fun of you. I also found his discussion on ads and association interesting. It immediately made me think of those Axe commercials. The commercial never directly says, "Hey wear this stuff and multiple women will have sex with you" but it might as well. I really freaking hope that no guy actually thinks a body spray will make them more attractive to women. I also found it interesting when Ramage brought up the fact that sales people and people in general with categorize you in terms of what you purchase. Ramage mentions cars and I was totally on board with that. Every time I see a mini-van I think soccer mom, or at the very least parent. When I see a really nice car I think either retired guy, or stuck up yuppie who is overcompensating for an area cough cough in which he lacks. Ramage talks about how people who buy practical cars are lumped into the practical people category and that really savvy salespeople can tell what other kinds of product you would like based on that one purchase. That is freaky. People cannot really be that predictable, can they? I guess.
I personally found the "given identity" the most depressing of the bunch. It seems like the killer of all dreams. I know that a lot of statistics will tell you that most people deviate a step or two either up or down from the class in which they were born. That sucks. It makes me feel helpless that something I had absolutely no control over will have such an impact on my life. Not that my parents do bad for themselves, I just hate the idea of not having every available option at my disposal.
As I was reading I really started to think about the idea of the "self-made man" really is ridiculous. Is it even possible? If you want to get technical about it you can't be self made because your parents "made" you, and I am sure people who claim to be self-made actually have a trust fun they don't tell anyone about (Donald Trump) or have screwed a lot of people over to get where they are. When it comes down to it you can only get as far as other people let you. If people did not buy your products you would go bankrupt. No one is self-made because you need other people to define yourself, you need someone to measure yourself against.
Since I am going to be an educator I really related to Ramage's section on education and testing. Despite the OVERWHELMING evidence that standardized tests do not give an accurate measure of intelligence, they are still the way we measure intelligence. It is so ridiculous. With NCLB teachers aren't even teaching anymore, they are simply teaching how to take a test, so say goodbye to critical thinking. Grrrrrr.
Honestly while reading this chapter I started thinking that I can understand why people have identity crises all time. At work you are supposed to be one way, at home another, at school another, you buy what people tell you and measure your appearance against unattainable lies, and put your SELF worth in the hands of others. I am surprised we don't all have breakdowns right now. My biggest issue is the workplace readymade. I have left jobs because I refuse to compromise my identity. Which I am not sure if that is a good or bad thing. But I will be damned if I end up like Willy Loman. I think Ramage is pretty accurate with his "multidimensional" identities, but I still have to think that people are slightly more complicated.