Everything else is subject to who you want to be that day. Body language, socio-economic status, sexual orientation, speech mannerisms and even race (depending on your own genetics) can be altered at your discretion. You tell yourself who you are and you can decide to change on a whim.
Others will see what they choose to, and they'll jump to conclusions about you that you lead them to.
I strongly disagree with your assessment of sexual orientation. That is not something a person can change from day to day or on a whim. I know a few gay people and can tell you that at least one has told me he would change if he could because it would make his life much easier.
ReplyDeleteI'll give you that on the orientation. However a person must decide for themselves who they are. Then in the case of your friend, several of my friends, and my late sister, they must decide who they want to be open about their orientation. By making that choice they affect their own perception of themselves, through the mechanisms of the generalized other.
ReplyDeleteThen you have the entire subset of potential identities within the LGBT community as well.