Authenticity is judged by others against demographic norms, not by inner voice

Evidence

All of this leads us to the central paradox of authenticity: we are supposed to listen to the voice in our hearts, to “discover and articulate our own identity”—and yet, only others can judge whether we are authentic. Appraisers compare our taste with our demographic profile, and where there is a suspicious mismatch, they deny us status. — W. David Marx, Status and Culture, 272

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes sociological work on the social construction of the self (e.g., Goffman, impression management) and previous chapters of Status and Culture. — connects to: Authenticity is a socially constructed ideal defined only against what it is not. — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 651; The imprecision of ‘authenticity’ conceals class hierarchies in aspirational labor — Brooke Erin Duffy, (Not) Getting Paid to Do What You Love:…, 357; The self is not a real self sealed off from social influence. — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 293 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Appeals to authenticity can police and exclude insiders as insufficiently authentic. #expands (0.88) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 119
• Homosexuality is judged by authenticity, not by its normality. #exemplifies (0.86) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1034
• The self is not a real self sealed off from social influence. #corroborates (0.85) — W. David Marx, Status and Culture, 293
• Authenticity is a socially constructed ideal defined only against what it is not. #expands (0.82) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 651
• The demand to be a self is culturally constructed, not innate #corroborates (0.80) — Grant Bollmer, Katherine Guinness, The Influencer Factory, 106
• The imprecision of ‘authenticity’ conceals class hierarchies in aspirational labor #expands (0.78) — Brooke Erin Duffy, (Not) Getting Paid to Do What You Love, 357