The Physical and Sexual

Self
Understanding the Self
Sabel Gonzales (left) before his identity shift into Mark Estephen (right). Miss
International Queen/Facebook.com/estephen.1991
The Material Self
Understanding the Self
 To Buy or Not to Buy?
• A very wealthy person gave you a debit card. He told you to use it as much as
you want to make yourself happy. List down all the things you want to buy.
Write as many as you want in 3 minutes.
• Let’s go SHOPPING! J
 Questions to Ponder
1. How do you feel as you do the Shopping Challenge?
2. Which among the items in your list you like the most? Why?
3. If ever you were given the chance in real life to have one among the list, which
would you choose? Why?
4. Does your choice different from what you answer in question number 2? Why or
why not?
5. Let your classmate read your list. Ask him/her to give a quick impression of
yourself based on the list you showed him/her/
6. Is the quick impression of your classmate has some truth about who you are?
• “We regard our possessions as possessions as parts of
ourselves. We are what we have and what we possess.”

- Belk (1968)
 What is the material self ?
• It is about our…
• 1. bodies
• 2. clothes
• 3. immediate family
• 4. home
 1. Body
• We invest in our body.
• We strive hard to make sure that this body functions well and good.
 2. Clothes
• ”Any time we bring an object into the surface of our body, we invest that
object into the consciousness of our personal existence taking in its contours
to be our own and making it part of the self.”
• Our clothes directly affect our attitudes and behavior.
 3. Immediate family
• What they do or become affects us.
• When an immediate family dies, part of our self dies, too.
 4. Home
• Home is where our heart is.
• The home is the extension of the self because in it, we can direct connect
our self.
 Activity
• Go back to the Shopping Challenge list. Put a mark on the left side of each
item with the ff categories:
• B- body
• C- clothes
• F- family
• H- home
• Which among the categories you have the most in your list?
• Make a reflection paper about material slef.