Re: Twin Rivalry -- Mimetic Theory and Literary Study

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Date Posted: 14:14:00 04/24/08 Thu
Author: Erin Risch
Subject: Re: Twin Rivalry
In reply to: Jfish 's message, "Twin Rivalry" on 17:49:45 04/23/08 Wed

As a twin, I feel compelled to address this situation. This is my sister and I right before playing in the Christmas Eve service this year. You can tell that we look nothing alike, which has probably saved us from becoming bitter rivals and/or killing one another. Even our height, which appears to be roughly equal in this photo, is an illusion. I'm wearing heels and Anne is actually noticably taller than me.

In high school, my sister and I were clearly internal mediators. And there was often conflict. I attribute it to the fact that I was usually the mediator and I set up excruciating double binds. For instance, I am a little more intense than she is, so I took playing the cello very seriously and would occasionally tease Anne for not doing so. On the other hand, I also told very cruel "viola jokes" (a viola is a type of stringed instrument) to discourage Anne from taking her music too seriously. Summary: I am an awful person.

But now that we go to separate colleges, Anne has become my external mediator, mostly on account of the fact that she is infinitely cooler than I am. As my friends can attest, whenever I come back from break, I have new clothes, and they are much more hip than clothes that I would normaly wear. That is because whenever I go home, I see what Anne has bought while we were apart and then go imitate that. Now that I'm aware of this, instead of trying to prevent it, I actually try to feed it so that I won't ever suffer mimetic jealousy. In other words, I try to figure out in advance what Anne will want/have so that I won't be disappointed when I have something else. So, for instance, when my mother called and asked me what color of NCAA Championship shirt I wanted, I told her to get me whatever Anne got, because it didn't matter what I really wanted, as soon as I saw hers, I would want that color. Ah, yes, mimetic theory changes your life, but not always for the better. ;)

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Replies:

Re: Twin Rivalry -- Caitlin, 18:12:28 04/26/08 Sat