Great topic Joe, you were very reflective and thoughtful. There seems to be arguments here, I am just not sure what, they are right at the surface. Perhaps your claim, could be that self-expression is vital to one's happiness and therefor it should not be limited, and individuals should not limit themselves? You may need to specify a certain area, such as the Middle East, or a particular form of self expression to focus your claim and ensure that it is a solid defensible claim. To do this, ask yourself who you want to address and what you want them to do as a result of your claim, the knowledge you give them.

Be true to Yourself

So to cap this study of I would like to leave the world with words of encouragement, and that is to love the life you live , live the life you love. Strive for self satisfaction and nothing more, as long as you can love you for you, and love all aspects of your life, you shall find happiness, I believe that we strive to hard for the gratification of others rather than ourselves, live for yourself and your family because in the end life is entirely to short, and can be taken at any moment live it to the fullest everyday, everyday is an adventure to be cherished,  so live life to the fullest, and lets achieve happyness for all to enjoy.

We all serve a purpose, we all have a meaning, be true to you, and take life as it passes, live for today for tomorrow is unknown, live to learn, express yourself, be true to you, fight for your right to self expression never let it fade, because that is all we have to live for.

Exploitation of self expression

The fact that the majority of people go out to stores and purchase a vast variety of, various clothing items, foods, everything!!!!! Thus the majority of these markets are controlled by large corporations, who advertise, promote, and attempt to sell there products to attribute their identify to an individual identity, thus creating walking billboards.

We as people chose to advertise ourselves to the world, through pre existing images, thus the art of mass appeal, we take these known products which corporations play tug-o-war over our minds to sway us to wear their items.

Source:

McDonnell, John, and Judy Drennan. 2010. "Virtual Product Placement as a New Approach to Measure Effectiveness of Placements." Journal Of Promotion Management 16, no. 1/2: 25-38. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost

Public Self Expression

There are several ways in which we are seen on a daily basis, and that is though hundreds of sets of eyes, we are perceived differently though the eyes of those whom see us on a daily basis, Though I would say the most important public perception of an individual is that of one  self. Are you happy with what you see when you look in the mirror is this truly the way in which you wish to be seen? Are you being true to yourself?

When its all said and done this life is pointless if you fool yourself by being something your not, you cannot control the ways in which people judge you, no matter how hard you try no one will understand you the way you truly are. Only those closest to us have an idea but even then I believe that you are the only one that will ever be able to influence your being, only you know what you are, the only way that we have to show people what we are all about is the way we choose to present ourselves.

Sources:

Dunkel, Curtis C., and Joseph C. Lavoie. 2005. "Ego-identity and the processing of self-relevant information." Self & Identity 4, no. 4: 349-359.Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost 


Bauer, Jack J., Joseph R. Schwab, and Dan P. McAdams. 2011. "Self-Actualizing: Where Ego Development Finally Feels Good?." Humanistic Psychologist 39, no. 2: 121-136. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost

Private ways of self expression

The person in this world that everyone knows best is themselves, due to the fact that we are the ones who know what we are thinking at all times. We know how we work, what we like, how we like it, and what we like to do on a daily basis. Life is no easy task, we take it for granite for the most part. Life is a limited one time ride. Most of us have our own hobbies in which we choose to express ourselves within. We all have our own unique outlook on what we believe to be time well spent.

Some examples of private self expression would be venting through art in any way such as, drawing, writing, painting, singing, music in general, etc. virtually any thing that you enjoy to do influences the person you are perceived to be thus being defined by the ways in which you choose to express yourself.

For instance my self, I love to draw, love art in general, am absolutly in love with music, love to sink several hours in anything related to video games, love cartoons/animation, Bob Marley is my icon, and much much more.

Based on the fact that I love drawing and artwork, i love tattoos as a direct result, thus why i have had so many done within my 19 year life span. the fact that I cut my own hair to save money often gives me an edgy appearance due to my shaved head, the fact that i wear a Bob Marley T-shirt almost every day of the week, makes people assume that I am just some stoner instead of the fact that I have entirely every Marley song memorized to a T. The fact is that are we are subject to judgement by society every time we step out the front door.

Sources:

Anderson, Tom. 1995. "Rediscovering the Connection between the arts:." Arts Education Policy Review 96, no. 4: 10. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost


Fine, Gary Alan. 2007. "Rumor, Trust and Civil Society: Collective Memory and Cultures of Judgment." Diogenes 54, no. 1: 5-18. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost 

Initial Inputs of Expression

We the people are very diverse, we have people of all shapes, sizes, colors, etc. their are now seven billion plus walking this earth and we all are unique in or own unique way. 

Obviously people have similarities in many ways as well as different in many others, the fact is we are all unique but we tend to associate ourselves with people of similar interests, many of us make friends doing the activities that are meaningful to us. Such as team mates, or class mates, co-workers, etc. 

What about within child hood, if we are taught that everyone is equal, everyone is the same essentially, we form friends based on that persons personality traits and nothing else, I mean in my personal experience I would say that the diversity within schools now days should essentially be eliminating the majority of discrimination. And I feel as though it essentially is, due to the fact that people share interests regardless of race or ethnicity, I believe the world is changing to the point where everyone is judged based off of their own personality that the barrier of race and stereotypes will soon wither, maybe thats just wishful thinking, however I have faith in the people and I believe the world will soon embrace people for what they have to offer, not to shun them aside. 

Source:

Barron, Ian. 2011. "The shadows of difference: ethnicity and young children’s friendships." Race, Ethnicity & Education 14, no. 5: 655-673.Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost

Western Influence felt around the world?

I feel as though  a good portion of modern society world wide is being, in a sense taken over by western influence, The United States produces the majority of pop culture through out the world, Our restaurants, movies, clothing, music, etc. I feel as though the youth of today have more in common on a global scale than ever before, as a direct result, there are several new ways that are allowing the world to be more close knit, which can be directly associated with the advancements of technology, primarily the Internet has allowed everyone in reach to connect to the world with a few clicks of a mouse.

 I feel as though this has also open up several new outlets of self expression for any one with the ability to access the internet. For one the craze of Facebook has allowed people on a global scale to interact on several different levels.

Source:

Amichai-Hamburger, Yair, and Zack Hayat. 2011. "The impact of the Internet on the social lives of users: A representative sample from 13 countries." Computers In Human Behavior 27, no. 1: 585-589. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost 

Limitations around the world

The world is a cruel place which in which many evils exist. However, I was born with the right to express myself, which is a gift in itself, I mean I try to imagine a world where I have no choice other than to be a generic face on the crowd. Many people around the world are still unable to express themselves in any ways at all, There are also many areas in the world where there are very few ways people are able to express themselves.

For instance in the middle east there are several limitations as to the ways woman are able to even appear in a public setting.

These woman are essentially faceless, in order to stay true to their religion, as well as their commitment to their husbands who essentially control all aspects of their lives.

A source that I found to be in depth about the dissatisfaction of muslim women and their daily struggles with discrimination is...


-Hashmi, Sohail H. 2010. "THE RIGHTS OF MUSLIM WOMEN: A Comment on Irene Oh's The Rights of God." Journal Of Religious Ethics 38, no. 3: 588-593.Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed March 15, 2012).


This source showed that just because they are oppressed does not mean that they are content with being treated in the manor which they are, everyone wants to be unique, and they are no different. And the fact is several of these women want to stay true to their religion but feel as though the disrespect has gone on for far to long.

Self expression-  the expression of one's individuality (usually through creative activities).

Does creative activities include the way we dress? 

What is a (creative) activity limited to? 

Cant you do any thing creatively?

However I feel the by the book definition is very dry, when I feel a persons life is essentially defined by the ways they choose to express themselves. I feel that self expression is the definition of a person. I also feel as though in the modern era where individuality is often encouraged, there are still several parts of the world whose civilians cannot express themselves at all or nearly as much as we can. 

1.Freedom of Speech, Press, Religion and Petition 

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. 


This is our first amendment within the United states constitution, solidifying the fact that it is our birth right to let the world know our views, our ways of thinking. Wether it be though religion, speech, or press. 


This brings me to my next point, since the influences of the united states do not control the ideologies of the world,  do all others see the same freedoms which we posses?


Since the answer to this is obviously no, let us explore what is limiting people across the globe from being the people that they truly are. 

Self Expression Importance

What is the Importance of self expression? Is how you express yourself the definition of your personality? Is self expression a necessity amongst our society? If we all were the same how would the world be affected? In how many ways can we express ourselves? Do we as individuals get to decide who we are, or are the actions which we participate in which truly define us? What are the limitations of self expression? What are the boundaries? What rights of self expression have we been gifted as citizens? Is self expression a birth right? What does it look like on a global scale? Lets explore.