A Summary of The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life

In the work "The Presentation of Self Everyday" sociologist Erving Goffman explains how the world of theater and human portray are connected, and indeed they are, they also support Goffman's themes stated in  Codes of Gender.

The concepts that Goffman refers to as the "dramaturgical framework" are performance, setting, manner, appearance, front, and front stage, back stage, off stage. Many of them are concepts used when you're an actor on stage portraying a role. 

The concept that mostly determines what role we play begins with our appearance, do we appear to be a male or female? Then our life is ultimately geared to those characteristics of the gender that is placed upon us, whether those characteristics fit us or not. This explains the next theme and concept called "manner". Manner refers to "how the individual plays the role and functions to warn the audience of how the performer will act or seek to act in role (for example, dominant, aggressive, receptive,)" these are the kinds of characteristics and in other words stereotypes that are given to the different genders that Goffman talks about in Codes of Gender.  Goffman discusses those character differences and how they can detrimental to society. The remaining concepts fall into place such as front meaning what impression we make to our audience.

This all boils down to how humans are portrayed in media. In advertising the models are playing roles, and never as themselves, but how society thinks women and men should act. Women appear submissive and dependent and are sexualized. Men are also sexualized, but in a more dominant emotionless character. Women can't be anything except for beautiful and men must be handsome, basically the perfect being which is impossible to reach, because the models that aren't even that perfect. It's all a front that the creator of the advertisement puts forth. In reality or off-stage the models are never as thin or gorgeous as they appear; women aren't as dependent as media says they are and men don't have to be emotionless.  As Goffman stated we are always portraying some role and that role we play has much to do with our gender.