Epilogue

The effect Art and Culture have on the Selfhood of an Individual: How a Self is formed through their Contextual Society.

At the beginning of life, a baby does not know anything of the world it is going into, or of itself; therefore does not seek validation from external factors to obtain society’s image of traditional functionality. Without a strict set of social rules associated to the binary of this representation, children would grow up offering preference based on taste and self discovery rather than fear of judgment; judgement which has resulted in the death and hazing of queer people for hundreds of years as a mode of conforming to normative ways of being. Beyond all contextual factors of different cultural belief or traditionalism, something common to all of humanity is the innate feeling of wanting to be loved and never feeling alone. To provide this, and therefore receive gratification from loving, is the greatest need of all children to stop the formation of unstable adults (as referenced) and problematic cycles that cater to power exchange, not emotional fulfilment.

I leave you with this quote:

“Loving is to give what one does not have"

- Jacques Marie Émile Lacan