Identity: Our Secret Superhero Costume.

The idea of being a superhero is one that has always fascinated me. Through my childhood and beyond, stories of Superman and Supergirl always caught my attention. I liked that they could have a hidden identity that no one knew about. It added an element of mystery and intrigue. Other superheroes that have since sparked my attention have been Batman, Spiderman and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

I’ve never been a huge fan of space exploration or sci-fi entertainment, but Buffy was different. Although it falls under the sci-fi genre it was more than that. It was about being a superhero on a pretty normal level. Buffy never had a uniform to confirm her superhero identity. She always looked and dressed like herself.

When she first realised her higher calling and purpose she had to give up her life as she had known it. Her mission in life defined who she was and she could not escape it. Just like our own inner identities are concealed deep inside of us. From there she found friends and a whole new life that complimented her inner identity. That is pretty much what we as individuals are trying to achieve. To surround ourselves socially with the people and things that best support and define whom we are within.

Our identities change depending on our social surroundings, when we are alone we behave differently than how we do around our families, and we would never associate with clients or colleagues the same way we do around our families. Every person knows us differently, and it’s not because of the way we externally appear it is because of the personality that we demonstrate. We might not be conscious of it, but it does occur. Do we honestly know who we are?

Just like superman and wonder woman we don a costume every day. We wear what we think best describes what we are capable of inside, just like the superheroes do – they dress to reflect their inner strength and identity.

Buffy, will always be my favourite hero because she never changed her appearance to suit. She just kept being herself, because what she was inside was whom she was outside. She never made the conscious decision to consume products that confirmed her calling in life.

We are defined by our life-style, our careers, our beliefs, and our aspirations in life. We are told that in the consumer world the only way to demonstrate our inner selves is by surrounding ourselves with products that compliment our identities. This is true, and this is the way to survive in society. We have social constraints placed upon us that put us on trial every second of the day. We are judged constantly by strangers, and associates. Just like Buffy the Vampire Slayer we have an inner identity that not many people know about, we choose what to tell people, and what to conceal. Our identities will never really be known by anyone, and we will continually don our costumes every single day to conceal that which we want no one to know, and to advertise that which we want people to believe about ourselves.