I have always thought of myself as a free spirit who is not limited or restricted by a particular identity or character profile, until I came across the idea of a “public persona”. It turns out, I was wrong.
What is “public persona”?
Typically, “public persona” is the image of yourself that you present to the outside world, which may be different to who you actually are in private. In the world of online gaming, which I have been exploring more recently, the term refers to your character design/setting, including things such as name, age, height, appearance, personality, etc., as well as background, experience, interests and hobbies. In short, it is to create a complete and lively online character.
Where we most commonly hear about and see public personas is with celebrities. Each of them very intentionally has a corresponding public persona so as to attract their target audience (their fans). However, not only celebrities, but in fact all of us, will create our own persona, so that we can present a character to make us more likeable to our “audience”.
A variety of “public personas”
There are many kinds of public personas. I have searched online and a series of keywords about common female personas are revealed: super sister, tough girl, girly girl, Angelic bitch, Scheming bitch, gold digger, cougar, phony girl, American sweetheart, “Paris Hilton”, “Fujoshi”, power woman, etc. In addition, there are other key female personas such as independent woman, successful woman, female chauvinist, good woman, good girl, modern woman and so on, all of which are often mentioned on the Internet and in the media. We can present different “public personas” according to different occasions and different target audiences.
Now I realize that I also manage my various “public personas”. Since I have all kinds of people, including family members, friends, customers, students, teachers, etc. in my WeChat account, I have chosen a quite satisfying persona, that of a modern independent woman. I only post positive things such as the successful events I organize, awards I receive, articles I publish, or my travel views, gathering photos with great people, etc. However, I have only close friends on my Instagram, so there I can show my crazy persona, posting emotions, status, complaints and even sexy photos.
In the workplace, I deliberately build myself up as a strong career woman. Though I don’t feel like my skills are always enough, I try to shape my image by matching outfits such as pantsuits, blazers with shoulder-pads and high heels, to give the impression of a strong and powerful image to customers and clients. I may have felt forced to create all these public personas in the very beginning, but somehow I have actually started to enjoy the fun of switching from one to another.
Public personas & Another self
I used to think that when we create our own personas, we want to be someone we dream to be or someone similar to our real self. However, this is not the case. Actually, many people are willing to or even hope to create an image that is completely different from themselves.
Role-play mobile games have been very popular recently, allowing the players to unfold the storyline through various settings of the game character. Every choice the player makes including the change of outfits, makeup, friends, actions and paths, will lead to a completely different storyline. In these games, the players can create their own characters and control their lives, acting like a god. More and more female players have joined these games. Whether it is the life story of a palace maid in an ancient palace drama, an inspirational plot of a nameless actress who tries to get to the top of the industry, or the transformation of an ugly woman to get a hot boyfriend, these games are extremely attractive to female players .
“Unfortunately”, I have also started to play these games, enjoying the excitement of transforming from a maid at the lowest level into a distinguished imperial concubine. These games give the player a chance to immerse themselves in the characters and experience a different version of themselves. We may need to be cautious and careful in real life, but we can be bold and fearless in the game; we are passionate and active in real life, but we can pretend to be cool and icy in the story. I have always wondered, if I became … what kind of life would I experience? If I had … how would I live?
Paradoxically, there are actions and choices that are inconsistent with what my character is supposed to be doing, but if I know it will make my character “rise” faster, I will take those actions. So here is the question, ‘am I controlling the character, or am I being manipulated by it?’
Good or bad public personas
In the entertainment industry, a good public image is very important to a celebrity, because it can make the celebrity more likable. The love and support from fans can help the career development of a celebrity get twice the result with half the effort.
However, we ordinary people in real life do not need to worry about being liked by our fans. Instead, we need to focus on liking ourselves. I think, in fact, there are no good or bad personas, but just different expectations of people. You might have thought that the “Chosen One” Tibetan Boy Ding Zhen was pure and simple as social media depicts him, but then the video of him puffing a cigarette in real life surprised everyone. Is his public persona not good enough? Of course not, it is just that the public tried to impose an image that they believe on him, but the contrast between the real him and his public persona disappointed people.
There are really no good or bad public personas. But different people have different ideas of what it is good and bad. My peers respect the persona of an ‘independent woman’, but for my parents and their generation, the persona of ‘a good wife and good mother’ will always be preferable.”
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I believe that every woman has created a perfect persona in her mind, and in order to get close to this goal, each of us is working hard to become better. I hope that all of us can create our own personas without getting in over our heads. Also, take “making yourself happy” as the goal, so that we can control and manage different personas we make. Then, even if something interferes with our public image, we can just laugh it off calmly.
