What are you looking at?: Self-Representation/Regulation in Public

Presumably we dress ourselves on our own accord, perhaps preoccupied by taste and weather. But it is all informed by outside sources – we must buy our clothes from somewhere. Someone must design the clothing, someone must create it, and someone must distribute it. Appearance (dress, attitude, movement etc.) can be seen as a form of self-representation. The focus here is on the surface. Postmodern notions see the surface as an important site to decipher meaning and negotiate identity. The majority of my people-watching experience occurs on my commute to school. Buses and subways are plastered with uninteresting ads, and yet passengers become enthralled in staring at them in order to avoid looking at (or being caught looking at) fellow passengers. Phones are another thing passengers stare at during their ride to avoid one another or any potential awkwardness. The effects of a panopticon culture can be witnessed here, in this self-regulation in public space. The way passengers sit is gendered: women tend to take up much less space compared to male travellers. This is informed by gender inequality, more so than size and physical need for space. Younger, teenage passengers tend to dress very similarly to one another: girls often wearing leggings with a comfortable boot, and boys wearing sneakers and a cap. When the teenagers are in a group they are much more open about having a conversation and speak more loudly than when they are alone or with one other person. Passengers with activist pins attached to their bags, or laptops tend to exit at York University on my particular bus route. Increasing popularity and use of mobile devices, I would argue, contribute to this panopticon culture. At any time someone could take a photo or video of you and upload it onto the internet. In my observation, people regulate their behaviour in public as if they are under constant surveillance. This notion is not new, but it is interesting especially considering the increasing means of surveillance available to a vast amount of people.