How we construct ourselves

Something that intrigues me and that I’m taking away from this class is the concept of narrative-telling in terms of when generating a brand or when trying to advertise or sell something. For example, I read about this idea in Economix when the author describes how different companies might all sell soap, but what is important is the kind of story that they tell about their particular brand of soap (hence the “narratives” being told through advertising). I also witnessed this when reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma in the chapter about industrial organic food and how people are allured to “organic” because of its narrative involving “small” and “local” farming practices regardless of the difference between organic and non-organic produce. I found it very interesting how narrative could therefore work as a way to distort or enhance the truth , thus evoking this interplay between culture and science.

            This idea of narrative-telling, specifically when we talk about marketing a product or a kind of practice, is something that has changed the way I see things. I’ve started to reflect and reconsider my own purchasing practices: when do I fall for the narrative? Why is it that I buy such and such product or partake in such and such practice? I kind of saw this playing out in class during our poster presentations on Monday while discussing how even nurses, with all their scientific background, fall for dieting fads. I think that part of the reason they might is because of the narratives inherent in these fads—“what does it say about me to do the paleo diet or the keto diet?” These narratives that we choose to partake in or not ultimately construct how we see ourselves and situate ourselves within our culture and society.