"I'm Not Scared" Persona

After our conversation about how rappers put on this gangster persona, I started thinking about the persona I have.  My senior year of high school during my Rites of Passage we had to take a self defense class.  In my self defense class I was taught to walk with a purpose and always make sure to look people up and down.  If you avoid eye contact with people that shows fear, even if you were not scared.  So I then made it a constant habit to look people straight in their face and walk with a purpose and notice everything about them.  I put on this "I'm not scared" persona with hope that they will leave me alone.  I especially put on this persona when I was scared that something bad will happen, like going into a gas station alone at night.  I am a small person and although I have more strength than a person may think, I don't know how much strength will be there when I'm scared out of mind.  Luckily, that has never been tested.  So I use the persona as a type of self defense and I guess it has worked because nothing has happened to me yet.  Anybody that knows me or has had at least one conversation with me can tell I'm not a confrontational person, unless I have some liquid confidence.  But being in that persona sometimes makes me feel invincible.  I guess that is mostly because nothing has happened to me to make me feel (un)invincible.  When I walk with a purpose and show no fear, I feel as though that there is nothing to fear.  That persona only happens at night or when I'm alone in St. Louis.  Everywhere else I'm an (un)confrontational goofy person who talks a lot.  It's similar to a gangster rapper, putting on this image to get the respect that you think you deserve.