Have you ever seen a baby looking at his reflection in the mirror? If you have a chance to witness the event the first time it happens, you will notice something very interesting!
The baby, after seeing his own reflection, will startle for a moment and then take great delight in whatever he can see in the mirror. This may seem like a cute, small incident, but over the years a lot of debate has raged about that seemingly trivial moment.
Babies are excited when they see themselves in the mirror for the first time.
So, what does this moment mean? Is it simply a child seeing himself for the first time and recording it?
The truth is, the moment one sees oneself in the mirror for the first time is a crucial moment in one’s personality development. This has been proved by the “mirror stage theory” studied by the French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan.
Jacques Lacan – Psychoanalyst known for his “Mirror Stage” Theory.
According to the theory, the “mirror stage” is divided into two parts: the “ideal ego” stage and the “socio-linguistic phase”.
According to Lacan, when a child is born, the new, different surroundings are everywhere creating a lot of negative feelings in the child, and at the same time in the first 6-18 months, a child is not aware yet. to be a “human” as well as his fellow human beings. Anxiety, fear, and confusion often put children into a period of permanent helplessness.
Children are never satisfied with their own image in the mirror.
When a baby sees himself in the mirror for the first time, all those sensations are expressed in physical form – the shape of the body. In the moment when the baby was startled, it finally identified as a human being, and its ‘me’ was born.
However, due to going through a period of helplessness, children begin to become disappointed in themselves in the mirror, and at the same time, a lifelong “ideal model” will be formed. As the baby grows, it constantly compares the ‘ideal’ version of itself with what it sees in the mirror.
These early life experiences make a person almost never satisfied with what they see in the mirror.
During this stage, the comments of those close to the child will have a strong impact on the child, making them think: ” Yes, I have to!”.
If the child cannot achieve what they are supposed to be, then it creates dissatisfaction with their physicality. It is the development of the “Ideal Self” in this stage.
This is the part of the theory that Lacan revisited in the 1960s, where he emphasized the role of the family, showing its importance to the child’s development and its individuality.
Family and loved ones play an important role in forming a child’s “ideal self”.
It is clear that a child, according to his own ideal self, creates the model he wants to aspire to. Children always absorb the smallest things subconsciously thereby forming their personality throughout life. It is important to recognize such factors not only as a parent but also as a human being in order to understand oneself to the fullest.