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This sticker vending machine is an interesting study in identity. It gives you many options, the Disney princesses, the Marvel superheroes, the South Park kids. Among all the Hannah Montana glamour shots, a child choosing which stickers he or she wants is choosing an idol and a brand. This becomes part of the dramaturgy as a child chooses to be either a princess or a superhero and acts out the archetype.
Oddly enough, all of the stickers with women on them are princesses and singers, while the men are the superheroes sent to rescue the damsels in distress. This is an example of the labeling theory in symbolic interactionism. If, as a child while pouring over which sticker to purchase with your prized quarter, you choose a princess sticker, this may be a formative decision in your growth as a human being. According the the labeling theory, if you are labeled something, you tend to grow into that label, even if the person doing the labeling was your five year old self.
Questions for Research
1. How often do labels we embrace as children affect out future lives?
2. What labels do people consciously grow to follow and what labels do they subconsciously grow to follow?
