Blase Faire

a) Georg Simmel describes the “blasé attitude” as being the constant stimulation and loss of stability that can result in a state in which one is no longer capable of reacting to the shock of new stimuli. This leads to the development of a cool and distant way of merely observing without expressing emotion. Adopting a blasé attitude compensates for the mind's feeling of being overwhelmed, and allows the self to begin to build a new urbanized identity. You start to experience the same thing and everything seems to have a pattern.
b) Stella shows many traits of having this blasé attitude. The most recognizable trait is the fact that she has created this “urbanized identity” within herself that is the complete opposite of what women in 1950’s Athens were supposed to be like. Here is an attractive young lady living in a metro city such as Athens where she is surrounded by big city living every day. After a while, her surroundings became boring, and she coped with this by creating a different side of herself to go against the grain of society so that nothing she did was boring or predictable anymore. Stepping outside of her box allowed Stella to add excitement and flair to her life. It’s almost as if to say she was in her own world so to speak. She didn’t care about anything in the real world that she lived in. She mistreats the people in her life because she neglects people’s feelings and is only concerned about herself. There’s always something exhilarating about doing the things you know you aren’t supposed to do. It’s like when a parent tells their kid that they can’t have any ice cream because they haven’t eaten dinner yet. The child will just want the ice cream even more and although he knows well enough that he shouldn’t have it, he goes against what his parents said and grabs it from the freezer and has a bowl. The same can be seen with Stella. She lives in a society that is trying to tell her to be and act a certain way, and she knowingly and