Firm establishment of culture is what Jean Twenge critiques in her essay “An army of one: Me.” Throughout the text, Twenge divides this analysis into several parts, where she identifies a common theme emphasized by our society. Merriam Webster defines self-esteem as a confidence and satisfaction in oneself. In a world where educators and parents place self-regard and the preservation of a child’s feelings in the highest regard, we often shape inauthentic experiences and set up unrealistic realities. Twenge goes on and makes distinctions between “true” self-esteem and “self-esteem, without basis” where true self-esteem is defined as a genuine feeling of confidence in one’s ability rather than self-esteem without basis, where tangible experiences lack; giving false validation to this favorable impression of oneself. These distinctions form a dichotomy between the two types of esteem and forces the readers to form an understanding of her argument on the basis of good vs bad. Twenge elaborates her ideas through the use of data comparison, tone, examples, and imagery.
Our society is constantly evolving and adapting to a more modern take on civil aspects. As we excel in our knowledge production, we begin to explore the sociology behind many phenomena. These understandings are sometimes manipulated to be portrayed in a certain way, and can often be simply accepted. Through the early 50’s and 60’s society focused mostly on others rather than on the importance of one. “For the Boomers who grew up in the 1950s and 1960s, self-focus was a new concept, individualism an uncharted territory. In his 1981 book New Rules: Searching for Self-Fulfillment in a World Turned Upside Down, Daniel Yanukovych describes young Boomers struggling with new questions: How do you make decisions in a marriage with two equal partners? How do you focus on yourself when your parents don’t even know what that means?” (Twenge 488) Jean Twenge highlights a vulnerability in this generation, in which they are depicted as confused and struggling. The contrast between Generation Me and the Boomer generation starts here. Twenge takes us through a journey, structured as a timeline, where we see an evolution in the context of self-esteem. She portrays the young Boomers as oblivious individuals with many questions.
We have been taught to believe that self-regard is a crucial part in personal development. Twenge recognizes that her readers will have this understanding as well, and so she uses it to her advantage. By setting up her writing in this way, we reinforce ideas and preconceived notions that have been fed to us our whole lives. We believe that because of the lack of exposure to self-esteem this generation is left puzzled and fighting constriction. She wants us to initially be under the impression that self-esteem is good after all, and that even the author points that out in the beginning of this essay. This is crucial since her goal is to eventually deconstruct ideas of self-esteem. She can then turn our perception on “self-esteem good” and reveal them as flawed. We build up all these great ideas in the back of our minds about self-esteem, only to have it collapsed by later evidence.
As of now, it seems as though Twenge is portraying the Boomer generation in the negative and the Generation Me as the good. At this point, we can also assume that because self-esteem is so new to baby boomers that their self-development isn’t where it should be in comparison to Generation Me. “If boomers were making their way in the uncharted world of the self, Gen Me has printed step-by-step direction from Yahoo Maps—and most of the time we don’t even need them since the culture of the self is our hometown.” (Twenge 490) This shows how over time we begin to adopt new ideas that are accentuated across an entire generation through outlets like media, school, and even in the homes. It is these outlets that fuel the distinction Twenge attempts to make apparent. In her example Generation Me are experts in everything to do with the self. This message has been constantly reinforced since a young age. Those adopted ideas are now specific to what Twenge is actually examining.
Self-esteem without basis is a result of ideas that are accentuated across whole generations through practices in school and upheld values at home. Because this type of self-esteem was introduced to all children at such a young age, they began to internalize these messages and developed a false sense of accomplishment. In the text, Jean Twenge elaborates on some statistical data showing how academic performances began to worsen. “Grade inflation has also reached record highs. In 2004, 48% of American college freshman – almost half – reported earning an A average in high school, compared to only 18% in 1968, even though SAT scores decreased over this time period. “each year we think [the number with an A average] can’t inflate anymore, and then it does again. The ‘C’ grade is almost a thing of the past, “noted Andrew Astin, the lead researcher of the study.” (Twenge 500) Twenge’s use of statistics helps drive home the distinction she carefully makes to her readers regarding self-esteem. Through this literary use of evidence, we are able to make a comparison of real data that registers in our minds as real facts. These facts help us understand observations. In this case, we observe that what Twenge contends about self-esteem translates into academic performance. This is yet another piece of evidence Twenge has to support a variance in the self-esteem.
When people take measures to ensure that a child doesn’t face these types of obstacle or mistakes in fear that they will hinder a child’s self-esteem, you are preventing character building. Such tactics were often observed by many teachers across the United States. Twenge points out that When you make this normal, “self-esteem without basis” continues to be upheld. As a result, children are no longer being molded into individuals capable of overcoming obstacles and developing authentic character, but rather being kept from the harsh realities of life and having that bar be set at a lower level. Twenge explores this when she states, “So should kids feel bad about themselves if here not good at school or sports? No. They should feel bad if they didn’t work hard and try. And even if they don’t succeed, sometimes negative feelings can be a motivator. Trying something challenging and learning from the experience is better than feeling good about oneself for no reason” (Twenge 502) This type of mentality is what should instead be adopted rather than this inauthentic self-esteem. When Twenge makes these points, it adds a layer to her argument, where she strengthens it and influences your perspective.
When describing self-esteem Jean Twenge discusses the foundation behind developing this high regard for oneself. Twenge has not opposed to self-esteem altogether. Instead, she believes that “self-esteem is an outcome, not a cause,” (Twenge 502) It is a mistake to believe that because one individual may possess high levels of self-esteem that she or he will excel at a task. Instead, self-esteem should derive from the successes one has in their life. It should come from accomplishments achieved in any aspect of our lives. “In other words, it doesn’t do much good to encourage a child to feel good about himself just to feel good; this doesn’t mean anything, children develop true self-esteem from behaving well and accomplishing things, what the self-esteem movement really says to students is that their achievement is not important and their minds are not worth developing.” Writes Maureen Stout. It’s clearly better for children to value learning rather than simply feeling good” (Twenge 502) Twenge’s tone shows how strong her feelings are towards true self-esteems and self-esteem without basis. It reveals how she prefers authentic self-esteem. Describing characteristics attached to each of them helps make the differences clearer. Instead of upholding a culture in which healthy self-esteem is promoted through good behavior and hard work, life is being sugar coated and exposure to hardship is never seen. These are the greater ideas that Twenge alludes to in her writing. We are cultivating a generation of people who will not be able to handle the realities of the workforce or outside the walls of a school that has been trained to preserve the feelings of their pupil at all cost.
The author calls for a more realistic approach to self-esteem and degrades this current model for the harm it really is. She goes on to state that “Kids can do many things to feel good about themselves, so self-esteem can be based on something. If a child feels great about himself even when he does nothing, why do anything? Self-esteem without basis encourages laziness rather than hard work. On the other hand, we shouldn’t go too far and hinge our self-worth entirely on one external goal, like getting good grades. As Psychologist Crocker documents, the seesaw of self-esteem this produces can lead to poor physical and mental health.” (Twenge 502) The author's tone here appears to be sincere, revealing genuine feelings towards real change in the way we see self-esteem. In turn, this also appeals to readers, inclining them to agree to the author's overall argument.
Jean Twenge helps highlight an often-overlooked distinction between “true” self-esteem and “self-esteem, without basis.” With her use of examples, and stats, as well as imagery she is able to appeal to the reader and influence their feelings towards the distinctions she points out. In the end, Twenge has helped me influence my perspective. Twenge’s use of evidence has helped me see that true self-esteem is defined by one’s accomplishments alternately to self-esteem without basis, where tangible experiences lack. Twenge ultimately deconstructs notions that this culture of self-esteem is good for our youth through her use of narratives and statistics.