Appearance, identity, and power are all important aspects of the human being in society. This paper, first of all, defines the three aspects and looks into the relationships between appearance, identity, and power and how they influence life.
Appearance can be defined as the physical outlook of a person as observed by other people in the environment that person finds himself or herself in. It also can refer to the action of being viewed by other people. This term can be used to point out how an individual looks from the face or the kind of clothes he or she is putting on.
Identity is a broader term that is normally used to refer to the ability or aspect of an individual being able to comprehend himself as a different or discrete entity from the others in a group. Identity can come in different dimensions for instance gender identity is the ability of someone to understand that he is either male or female. From a race point of view, identity can be described in a way to refer to the process of an individual acknowledging the fact that he is African, American, or Asian. In a psychological circle, the term identity refers to the process of someone finding the unique attributes that make himself or herself different from the rest. In sociology, this term can be taken to mean the process by which people label themselves as members of particular groups for instance gender, social class, religious culture, and many more others.
Power refers to the measure of an individual’s capability to change the surrounding them and also exercise influence over the behavior of other people. The word authority is quite often used to refer to power basing on society’s structures. Power can be viewed both from the evil part and the good part and the exercise of it is accepted worldwide as to have started a long time ago since ancient civilizations. The manifestation of power in society is rational in the sense that there is no power without mentioning the role of other people in society. The appearance of an individual in society determines his or her personal identity within the same society. Appearance is also vital in bringing together individuals with similar characteristics. For instance, those individuals who share one name can be put together into one family and this would form their personal identity. People with similar looks and appearances in society have a common identity that can be used to unite them together.
Appearance is fundamental in shaping an individuals’ identity. People who appear not to be having good looks in their facial expressions tend not to have a strong self-identity concept and they would like to appear like others. This is expressed in the modern world whereby some people do not want to associate with the winner for instance in politics. Appearance also influences one’s authority and power while interacting with the rest in terms of influence. An individual who appears with an alit bit of decency would be powerful or authoritative than the opposite. According to the standards of a particular society appearance of a person can give him or her identity in terms of things like age, sex. This is so because appearance would clearly bring out the important distinguishing features between individuals. For instance, if the person is female, it would be by appearance when looked at the mode of dressing or the size of the breasts and it would be clearly depicted that the person can be given the identity of female. In the case of somebody who is aged his appearance would also bring out his identity. This is because of the observable features that distinguish old age and other ages like grey hair.
Appearance can also be associated with power in some other unique way. We shall take a good example of a classroom situation whereby the teacher is the most powerful person besides the prefects. In such a scenario power is felt by the students in class when the teacher makes his appearance in that particular class, Without such a presence the power is not felt in the class. Since power signifies the overall agent of influence on everybody, without power then instability instances arise. This is because in some sense power is supposed to bring out harmony between individuals. For instance, let’s take the case of government as the central power in a country, Without government as the power, the country can be plunged into turmoil because of lawlessness. This also follows that power can be said to be a unifying factor in society. This is so because, in the case of disputes between different identities, power becomes available to provide jurisdiction and would hear both sides of the story before determining who is guilty and who is innocent so as to restore harmony and peace in the society.
Identity and power interact in society in a very unique way. Different entities can become powerful by virtue of their uniqueness or outstanding performance in society. It is this uniqueness that normally brings out the power in individuals. For instance, when somebody is recognized as a Nobel peace prize winner, this can be just the beginning of power emanating from such an individual. In case such a Nobel price winner appears before other people who have not been able to achieve it then power is felt by them.
When someone has achieved important things in life like education in an exceptional way the society gives power and identity to that particular individual. By appearance alone, the power of such an individual cannot be felt but when conceptualized differently it comes out that such an individual is powerful in society.
Possession of wealth in society can also be used as a determinant of power and identity. By the virtue of the fact that someone is exceptionally in possession of more wealth than others, he can earn the identity of being called rich or in some African countries like Nigeria, Chief. This also means that an individual falling in this category also becomes powerful in society. The appearance of an individual with wealth in the society symbolizes power and such an individual becomes influential over the rest especially when it comes to matters of decision making and stockholding. The appearance of the wealthy people gives them an identity in their own respects by the virtue of the fact that they have more than the rest of the members of the society.
Power at the individual level is influenced by a number of characteristics. For instance, the personality of an individual really matters if at all that particular individual would have power or no. This is why people with a weak personality and low self-esteem cannot be viewed to be powerful even in their physical or psychological behavior. Self-image is a very important aspect of one’s power and to some extent, it has a relationship with someone’s power. People with a good self-image are the ones who are powerful in society and they are the ones who make up the leadership of the society. Their appearance before the public eye gives them identity and they are quite often exemplified by their outstanding character in terms of oratory skills and other attributes. This, therefore, means that power also contributes towards the identity of individuals in the society whereby we can find people who are powerful in the society receiving their status and identity because of what they uphold.
In conclusion, the terms appearance, identity, and power are all interrelated in many respects. Appearance determines so many things in the course of human interactions with the environment and with one another in society. The relationships between appearance, identity, and power are very essential in the life of humans and for the sake of harmony and peace of everybody in the environment. People who possess the three aspects in society are well recognized because of their uniqueness.
All three features are essential for the human being and in the course of development in all aspects of life. Their relationship in society brings so many advantages to society for the benefit of all.