One can defend a public image with no authentic self behind it

Evidence

Julia is arguing the Julia Allison point. She is arguing the case for herself. And she doesn’t have to actually believe it. She is arguing that she is a good editor, which she’s not. She is arguing that she is a successful businesswoman, which she’s not. She’s arguing that she’s a caring individual, which she’s not. But, you know, it doesn’t matter that all these things aren’t true and that she may not actually believe them herself because she can argue the point. And that’s all that matters to her—arguing the point … And then you start defending the image rather than the authentic self. And … that is especially important when there is no authentic self. — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 403

Categorization

• DEFINE: Thomas’s formulation crystallizes the field’s core tension between performed image and lack of any underlying authentic self.
• XREF: connects to: People act to preserve a decent self-image above all; Anti-brand activism makes personal-brand defense self-contradictory — Naomi Klein, Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror…, 154; Called self-deception often is public pretense designed to head off social reproof — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 706 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Called self-deception often is public pretense designed to head off social reproof #corroborates (0.82) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 706
• People act to preserve a decent self-image above all #corroborates (0.80)
• A person can act virtuously and inhumanely at once while preserving self-image #corroborates (0.75) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 530
• Anti-brand activism makes personal-brand defense self-contradictory #complicates (0.70) — Naomi Klein, Doppelganger, 154