Ervine Goffman + Simone de Beauvoir

Question 1

What does Goffman think that social interaction is linked to?

Answer 1

A theatre, + people in everyday life are actors on a stage playing a variety of roles

Audience consists of other individuals who observe this + react

Question 2

What is the ‘front stage’ in Goffman’s theory?

Answer 2

Where actors are infront of an audience + their consciousness of the audience’s expectations for the role they should play influences their behaviour

Question 3

What is the ‘back stage’ in Goffman’s theory?

Answer 3

Where individuals can relax + be themselves

In our lives, the front stage is where we interact with the public + the backstage is our private space

Question 4

What does Simone de Beauvoir believe about the difference between gender + sex?

Answer 4

Our gender is constructed as a social role + isnt about biology

Biology doesnt determine gender differences, culture does