On Self Respect by Joan Didion

If you're interested in literature like me, you have probably heard the name Joan Didion or maybe even read her books. For those who doesn't know her, American author Joan Didion was well-known for her novels, memoirs, and essays. Her art frequently explores the disillusionment of the 1960s and 1970s, the fragility of identity, and the unpredictability of American society. She is known for her insightful, reflective writing and her skill at fusing political and cultural criticism with personal experience. Didion's writing is recognized for its vivid detail, compelling perspective, and cool, detached tone. She is renowned for her ability to portray the chaotic and fragmented nature of contemporary life. She often conveys a sense of fragmentation and alienation in her writing. She is often associated with the New Journalism movement, it's a style of writing that blends journalistic fact with literary techniques.

This literary icon has so many works that we need to take a closer look at, however today I'm going to attempt to analyze one of her essays, On Self Respect. It is around 12-15 pages and was published in Vogue in 1961. It is a fundamental reflection on the idea of self-respect and how crucial it is to one's dignity and mental health. Didion uses her personal experiences, specifically a time in her early years when she didn't live up to her own expectations, as a perspective through which to evaluate more general realities about how we define and uphold self-respect. Didion opens the essay with a personal reflection on a specific moment from her youth when she faced a failure, she wasn't elected to Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest academic honor society to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts at select American colleges, and this marked the end of something, her innocence.

She doesn't sugarcoat things. Her tone remains calm yet authorative as she further explains and connects self-respect to psychology, therefore well-being with the strong use of metaphors. She explains that lack of self-respect results in guilt and regret. Didion argues that we are haunted by the memories so we have to face the reality of our choices when saying this, she uses the metaphor of an uncomfortable bed.

According to her self-respect is how we navigate life and it has nothing to do with the approval of others, it's an internal moral compass. Didion believes that self-respect is a discipline that one cannot fake but must cultivate and train, making it an internal strength that is resistant to the influence of others. She further explains that those with self-respect have the courage to take responsibility for their mistakes because it exhibits a certain toughness, a moral nerve that is called character. In her own words, ''It's the willingness to accept responsibility for one's own life- it's the source from which self-respect springs.''

In her essay she makes so many references such as the Modernist novel The Great Gatsby, Hellen Keller, Adam & Eve and apple, Greek goddess Athena and the concept of alienation. It's a phenomenon that was used and analyzed by so many people like Karl Marx, Albert Camus and Jean Paul Sartre. It's dictionary meaning is a withdrawing or separation of a person or a person's affections from an object or position of former attachment. Joan Didion explores the concept of self-alienation by highlighting the negative effects of low self-esteem and how it can result in a distant relationship with oneself. She argues that people pleasing behaviors -inability to say no- can lead to feelings of disempowerment and self-betrayal, which Didion sees as deeply damaging to self-respect. According to Didion, having the courage to say "no" when it's necessary and making difficult decisions even when they cause conflict or discomfort, are essential parts of self-respect. People maintain their sense of self and dignity by maintaining this boundary. Because it challenges traditional ideas of self-esteem and emphasizes the deeper, more everlasting kind of self-respect that results from honesty, integrity, and acceptance of one's own humanity, the essay will have a lasting impact.

For those interested in reading her full essay: https://www.vogue.com/article/joan-didion-self-respect-essay-1961