One of the discourses that Raby also talked about was the idea of teenagers needing to find an identity - that this is the only thing they strive for, they want independence... Is it a discourse if "study after study suggests that teenagers' principal preoccupation is to adapt, to find a place in life"? (Hines, 2). Is this one of those things that we become the things that people always say about us? Or is it truly what teenagers want in life? So, is it a discourse? Or is it a psychological fact that we're bound to experience regardless of discourses? It's a bit confusing to me and I don't think I have quite an opinion on it. But these opposing views are definitely food for thought and a nice discussion!"-Daury, The Rise and Fall of Tangling Discourses
Raby: Well, Daury, I would say that "study after study suggest[ing] that teenagers' principal preoccupation is to adapt, to find a place in life" is evidence of the discourse, not necessarily the other way around. It does seem like a chicken/egg situation: which came first, the discourse of becoming OR the existential journey that many teenagers go through. I think one way to look at this is to see how many people, regardless of their age, experience these existential crises where they are trying to figure out how they are and what they will become in life. This is not solely a behavior of teenagers. And yet, there is an overarching belief that many teenagers are constantly searching for themselves and who they are and that it is a specifically adolescent journey. And by attributing these behavior to teenagers and teenagers alone we run the risk of dismissing the journeys that teenagers are on as being just that...a teenage journey. By doing so, we fail to recognize and fully realize the products of their journey and the struggles that they may be going through while trying to come to understand themselves (as well as the struggle that they may feel when they come to the realization that it is not often that one will become fully actualized once they leave teenagehood. The feeling of shame and failure that some may feel from not finding out "who they are" can be incredibly destructive).
Croteau: As usual Raby has made excellent points, and you have posed incredibly poignant questions, Daury. One thing I will add, that I perhaps have said before, is that it because of the pervasiveness of the dominant discourses and ideologies it becomes difficult to separate what we really want for ourselves, what are our own innate desires, and what are the desires and beliefs that have been injected into us by the dominant society.