presentation on Doniger article

In her article, "Many masks, many selves," Wendy Doniger explores the importance of self-imitation and of masquerading both in politics and in gender. According to Doniger, people are driven to such self-impersonation through the pressure of public expectations, but masquerading as ourselves also helps to reaffirm "an enduring network of selves inside us." Doniger provides the reader with multiple examples of people in double drag or even triple cross dressers, theorizing as to why such masquerading can be found with such ease. In the end, Doniger concludes that all people have several selves or personae; the masks we use are necessary, vital components of life, for it takes a mixture of resembling selves in order to create an enduring, stable sense of self.