I agree with many points of Chapter 6 in regards to the public arena and private arena. I think it is important to understand that some communication should only be allowed in a private arena and others handled about differently in a public arena. I really liked the quote: "However, the public arena is not our home. We should never feel totally comfortable in such a place; if we do, there is a good chance that we have excluded others" (p. 109). I feel like this quote fits very well in social settings because if there are many different viewpoints in a room you would feel uneasy, like your opinions may be challenged by others. This is actually good for it allow for dialogue and learning to occur. Many people may not realize this. I didn't actually see it this way until I really thought of it. If I'm very comfortable in a room with my viewpoints, it's most likely because 1) they are my friends and 2) I know that they have the same viewpoints as me regarding certain topics which is why I am more likely to voice my opinion. A great example of a public arena is our classroom; it is "a space to be protected...a large home of differing particulars" (p. 109). There are many different viewpoints in our arena, people coming together with different narratives to create dialogue and hopefully learn from one another. I think it is important that we come to class with the idea that we are going to learn from one another today, which can help us to open up to one another and share our ideas -- it is a safe spot, a place to communicate respectfully. I feel that maybe I am not willing to speak up about my ideas in this setting because I do not know if others will agree with what I am saying and that scares me; it's very intimidating.
I also am a little curious as to how a "public" friendship occurs versus a "private" friendship. I feel that most friendships are the same in the public as they are in private, although they may only disclose certain information in a private arena. In the book, it asks us to think about a relationship that started out as a public one and moved to a private one -- how does this happen? What does it look like? I'd like to know about a good example because all I can think of is maybe a relationship that starts out as classmates turns into best friends or a romantic relationship?
Mimi,
ReplyDeleteI really liked your blog post and agree with a lot of what you said. However I disagree with the quote that you used about being comfortable in the public arena. I think regardless of the arena that you are communicating in you need to feel comfortable, to express viewpoints that you believe are true. That being said a filter must be had in order to make sure that the conversation is open and able to branch out. I really kind of disagree in the need for the separate arenas to begin with. Why must I shelter my views or opinions in order to keep an open dialogue, to me this kind of hampers the discussion and closes off the "good" of the public arena. To me it is ok to mix the two and they should be mixed, since it allows for more true opinions and ideas to be exchanged.
An example of this is a conversation among good friends about lets say the invasion of the Ukraine. Since we are good friends and are in the private arena, we can all fully express ourselves, where if this was in the public arena we would be hampered or obstructed by the need to keep everyone engaged. In the public arena once a few people speak and fully express ourselves, then I think that we get to the full exchange of ideas, BUT they must be able to express themselves completelely and not hold back for the good of the forum.
Luke,
ReplyDeleteI 100% agree with your first paragraph about needing to feel comfortable in a public vs. private communication sector. I think our society has a complete conflict with determining how to make oneself and others feel comfortable in both arenas. For example, in work places there are tons of laws that discuss major issues as to why it's not okay to discriminate and treat others poorly. That is just one example that attempts to make others feel comfortable in their public spaces.
The private arena is also a difficult one to maneuver. It's so hard these days to determine what is respectful in a private setting vs. a public setting. Since there are so many aspects in social media today, it makes all of our lives so difficult to disguise. For example, although one might not have a facebook, one of their friends may post a picture of them online. I don't think there is a private sector anymore since there are so many means of surveillance in today's world.