Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-07-17
Posing.

Now and then you meet man Win
so exalted a view of himself tnat ne
seems to be carrying a portable PED
estal which, on occasion, ne mounts
and poses as his own statue. POSING Is
a common temptation, passing yourseli
off as a glorified version OF what you
are, perhaps only of what you tnliK
you are. ,.,.,.
Young children are natural, which
means as Nature made them, Hehce
their charm. But soon they begin 70
pose a bit, innocently and lneVltaoly.
Posing is artificial, is required 10 nlees
the formal relations that every social
system develops. On occasion we mus
be on our good behavior, Whlcn anlpi.e G..
a little of a pose. Training IN the art
is part of social education, and mental
fitness includes social fitness.
We all maintain several selves ana
must do so. A man has his business OF
professional or official self, his sporting
self. his family self his public and pri-
vate self, his give-and-take gooo lei.
lowship self to his pals. his gallant sell
to the ladies. With all OF these serves
to care for, he may at times become
confused as to which self to release,
which to suppress. And the assignment
of parts for woman Is even more dell
cate. The amount of energy (and doi-
lars, tool spent in keeping up appear
ances in certain circles OF society may
be greater than the expenditure LOT any
other item of the budget.
1t isn't the first cost OF such sell,
It's the upkeep that is expensive. inc
reason why all the worlds stage Is
that we are all more or less actors
some pretty good actors, more pretty
bad ones. Social cleverness Is largely
peering through other peoples DIS
guises. discovering how much is make
lip. how much natural. If making up
your mind" hadn't different meaning
it would be useful to describe the teen
nique of posing. -.
So we all dramatic ourselves DIT,
exaggerate little. pretend little.
conceal lot and congratulate ourselves
that we are not as other folk whom
we have met but won't mention.
Therefore, we may reserve the term
posing" for those who overdo the
part-the person known as a shirt
front" or carrier of other defensive
armor to conceal the anatomy OF ms
underlying personality.
The pose is a revelation Of what you
would like to be and an unwilling con-
fession of what you are not. Freud has
SLTlppcC, OLA bic uAo50lSC AA"AA $500
nature by barring to themselves what
ueople are. He finds in dreams re-
pressed wishes when the censor (who
maintains the pose) is off guard. He
finds in slips Of speech and lapses OF
behavior a letting of the cat out OF the
bag, revealing what the pose corceais.
Have you ever met the ELUSIVE person
who invites you to tell him Tor Is IT
her?) frankly Just what you think OF
him? And have you ever done 1t? II
so, it Is to your lasting regret. The
Freudian system has been described as
unmasking the mind, but it is offered
as a scientific, not polite, vivisection.
Posing Is living up to what we are
supposed to be or desire the world to
consider us. This kind of pose Is
hardly bluff or a sham. The poser Is
not typically an imposer, certainly not
an impostor. He Is in way posing as
his own statue. The resemblance OF
features Is there, but nature and art
are not well used. Yet some pose SO
forgotten and the world never knows
what they really are.
The real poser, who displays a
shirt front instead of q heart. is the
type we unreservedly or with reserva-
ton condemn He Is really case Of
a maladjusted self He is out of adj
justment with himself and with his
world. And the pity OF 1t Is that in
some instances the poser would be more
worthy and attractive II he posed" as
what he Is than as what he pretends
to be.
A good deal of posing is more folly
than sin, and the sad part of the de-
ception Is that the poser deceiveS him.