Role conflict is a sociological concept that implies a person has many different roles, each which conflicts with another role they are required to play at some point in time if not always. When one plays a numerous amount of roles, it’s often impossible to avoid the upcoming role conflict that shall occur.
Among the roles I have been required to play over the last several years are that of mother, daughter, college student, friend, employee, server, co-worker, teammate, ex girlfriend, girlfriend, and young, single female among many others that are not mentioned. Many times, the main roles that conflict with others are those of mother, friend, employee, and college student.
At times, I find myself staring into my mirror of life, attempting to place myself in the perspective of the generalized other, trying to figure out how others expect me to react in different situations and within my many roles.
The figure showed itself aware of me, as I advanced. It had been
moving towards me, but it stood still. As I drew nearer, I saw it
to be the figure of a woman. As I drew nearer yet, it was about to turn away, when it stopped, and let me come up with it. As I realized that woman’s figure to be myself looking into my life’s mirror, I felt as if my life might be captured in time. I saw myself, taking on the role of the generalized other, and trying to see if the actions I played in each role matched what others saw of myself.
What I became aware of was a girl who was constantly trying to fit into each different role at the same time, which is near impossible. Yes, a mother can be a college student, but a mother cannot be the college student that others perceive her to be. A mother must be a mother before she allows her role of friend, employee, or college student to interfere. She can combine the roles, however with much difficulty, but must be aware of the difficulty the task presents and be able to acknowledge where her priorities lie.
However complicated this piece was to write, I accomplished all three goals which, when brought together, made absolutely no sense to me whatsoever. Happy new year! :)
Quote from Chapter 59 of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.
Blogophilia 44.2 Topic: "Mirrors of our Life"
Bonus points
(hard, 2 pts): use a quote from Charles Dickens novel
(easy, 1 pt): mention 'captured in time'
Final date to post Jan. 4th, 2010 midnight GMT
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