Shyness and Society
Shyness and Society The Illusion of Competence Susie Scott University of Sussex
* SUSIE SCOTT 2007 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2007 978-1-4039-9603-9 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London WlT 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2007 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin's Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-54501-8 ISBN 978-0-230-80132-5 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/9780230801325 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Scott, Susie, 1977- Shyness and society: the illusion of competence I Susie Scott. p.cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4039-9603-9 1. Bashfulness-Social aspects. I. Title. HM1106.S382007 155.2'32-dc22 2006052001 10 9 16 15 8 7 14 13 6 12 5 11 4 10 3 09 2 08 1 07 Transferred to Digital Printing 20 II
Contents Acknowledgements Chapter 1. Introduction: Entering the Secret World of the Shy 1. Why do we need a sociology of shyness? 2. All in the mind? 3. The social constitution of the 'shy' mind 4. Whose problem is it anyway? 5. Listening to shy voices 6. Outline of the book Chapter 2. Shyness in Cultural and Historical Perspective 1. Introduction 2. The role of culture in representing shyness 3. Shyness: a new cultural epidemic? 4. Gender socialisation in girls' magazines 5. Shyness as a barrier to success 6. Representations of shyness on screen and in print 7. Shy performativity in cultural icons 8. Summary Chapter 3. Dramaturgical Dilemmas of the Shy Self 1. Introduction 2. The shy self in interaction 3. Lay definitions of shyness 4. The shy 'I' 4.1. Shyness and the 'self-conscious emotions' 4.2. Emotional control ix 1 1 3 8 9 11 12 15 15 16 18 21 24 28 32 35 37 37 37 40 40 42 44 v
vi Contents 4.3. 'What can I talk about?' 44 4.4. Ambivalence and conflict 45 4.5. Sensitivity and self-censorship 46 4.6. Shyness versus quietness and introversion 47 5. The shy 'Me' 49 5.l. Visibility beneath the social gaze 50 5.2. Embodied exposure 53 5.2.l. The body and non-verbal leakage 54 5.2.2. The body and symbolic gestures 57 6. Reservations about' going public' 60 7. The Competent Other 62 8. Ambivalent views of non-shyness 64 9. Summary 68 Chapter 4. Outsiders and Enclosures 70 I. Introduction 70 2. Hovering on the fringes 70 3. The secrets of strangers 73 4. Experiences of marginality 76 5. The privileges of the detached observer 78 6. Strategies for hiding and camouflage 80 7. The visibility of invisibility 82 8. 'The shell' and its features 83 8.l. The protective shell 85 8.2. The shell of entrapment 86 8.3. "One day you'll come out of your shell" 87 9. Summary 89 Chapter 5. Poise, Performance and Self-Presentation 91 I. Introduction 91 2. Performing shyness 91
Contents vii 3. Presenting the (non)-shy self 97 3.1. Managing the frontstage/backstage divide 97 3.2. Backstage rehearsals 99 3.3. Safety in roles 100 3.4. Control and predictability 102 3.5. 'Phone phobia' 105 3.6. Techniques of passing 109 4. Are we all faking it? 112 5. The paradox of shy performativity 117 6. Summary 122 Chapter 6. Rules, Reactions and Resistance 124 1. Introduction 124 2. Shyness as a deviant identity 124 3. Drift and situational contingencies 127 4. Normalisation 129 5. Shyness as residual rule-breaking 132 5.1. The shy faux pas 134 5.2. Vocality, power and dominance 135 5.3. Verbal clumsiness 138 6. Misperceptions of shyness as rudeness 139 7. Eliciting participation: (dys)functional attempts at repair 142 8. 'Special' treatment 143 9. Labelling and the shy 'master status' 145 10. From 'Little Miss Quiet' to 'Little Miss Loud': inconsistency as deviance 148 11. Two routes out of deviance 150 11.1. The medicalisation of shyness: compliance and reintegration 150 11.2. 'Shy Pride' and the politics of resistance 159 12. Summary 165
viii Contents Chapter 7. Conclusion Bibliography Index 167 175 188
Acknowledgements I would like to thank a number of people for their help with the research on which this book is based. First and foremost, lowe an enormous debt of gratitude to my research participants, who trusted me enough to talk openly and honestly about their personal experiences of shyness. I hope that they feel this is a fair representation of their views, and gain some satisfaction from knowing that their voices will be heard. The project was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (award number PTA-026-27-0432), and I gratefully acknowledge their financial and academic assistance. I am also indebted to Professor Paul Atkinson, Professor Ray Crozier and Professor Gareth Williams in the School of Social SCiences, Cardiff University. I would also like to extend special thanks to Dr Sara Delamont, who, along with Paul Atkinson, supported me in the early stages of my academic career and gave me some invaluable feedback on an earlier draft of this book. Paul's and Sara's clarity of vision and steadfast commitment to graduate students cannot be praised highly enough, and they have both been a source of great inspiration to me. My new colleagues at the University of Sussex have provided a warm and supportive environment in which to work, and in particular, Dr Gillian Bendelow has been a generous and encouraging mentor to me. I would also like to thank Professor Sue Scott and Dr Gabrielle Ivinson for their enthusiasm about my research, and Professors Ian Craib and Howard S. Becker for showing me how to write in a creative but concise manner. At a personal level, I would like to express warmest thanks to my family - Mum, Dad, Mike, Alison and my grandparents - and to my friends David, Lena, Neil, Lily, Paul, Joseph, Lesley, Jieyu, Sarah, Mike, Sue and Stephen. All of these people have shown a keen interest in my research, but more importantly have made me laugh and helped me to keep everything in perspective. I hope you all enjoy the book. ix