Personal: Maya Angelou

“You alone are enough. You have nothing to prove to anybody” - Maya Angelou

I found this quote by Maya Angelou that I have heard many people say to loved ones. It speaks to me since I felt a connection to self and identity because using it as a mantra can influence the way people shift their identities. These transformations in identity using this idea that Maya Angelou proposed can occur because a person may ignore societal pressures and take actions that come from their own desires and goals. This quote relates to a phrase I have heard all my life from my parents as a way of encouraging my independence as a young girl. My identity was very much rooted in the idea that I am a leader rather than a follower, and that my reasons for doing things should come from my own interests. Even though it is meaningful to me, it has caused confusion. If I had not gotten support from my loved ones and had meaningful experiences over the years, I would not be who I am today. So while I am enough, I would not have become enough without the opportunities I received from my parents, for example.

This quote hints to the idea of having a true self (Swann and Bosson, 2010). Maya Angelou suggests that one should grasp one’s true self and try to commit to it.  However, it discredits Goffman’s concept that people are actors and one is only concerned with the impressions one gives or gives off (Goffman, 1959). By not needing to prove yourself to others, you strike down the characters you play in social situations and cling onto your idea of your true self. Whether your true self is a combination of identities that become salient in certain situations is unclear, but the need to put on a performance is unnecessary.

The young women in Schultz’s case studies were faced with the societal expectations that they would fail. While some girls would fall into these self-fulfilling prophecies, others would find reasons to succeed for themselves (Schultz, 1999). In this sense, they ended up achieving more when there were intrinsic motivators rather than the need to prove themselves to others. Yet, it is still possible for extrinsic motivators to cause a shift in identity, such as wanting to avoid the same future as another member of your society. Knowing that you are enough can also suggest that one can be self-sufficient and many of the women were taught this mentality, but “at times, this self-sufficiency kept [them] from reaching out, asking for help or even working in groups with [their] peers” (Schultz, 1999, p. 96). So does one need others in order to stay self-sufficient and devout to one’s true self? Studies show that in many cultures, women are raised to be interdependent in an attempt to reflect on the self and improve it, so the idea of being a woman and being self-sufficient differs from being a man and being self-sufficient. By being interdependent, one is gaining support from others and is also acting as support for others. This type of environment creates more narratives in which women can learn about themselves simply by participating.

In conclusion, the notion that “you alone are enough” is dependent on societal and individual circumstances. Not needing to prove anything to anybody suggests that one’s shifting identity is independent of societal expectations rather than connected to it. I find this disagreeable since identity constantly repositions in response to culture, group dynamics, and societal norms. Nevertheless, Maya Angelou’s idea that one should be true to oneself despite societal pressures is crucial to maintaining a strong sense of who you are.

References:

Goffman, E. (1959). Introduction. The Presentation of the Self in Everyday Life, 13-27.

Scultz, K. (1999). Identity narratives: stories from the lives of urban adolescent females. The Urban Review, 31(1), 79-104.

Swann, W. B., Bosson, J. K. (2010). Chapter 13. Self and identity, 589-628.