So, I've recently been doing some thinking about a lot of things recently. Y'know, trying to expand the mind and think outside of the box. And it has made me realize how silly we all are as people. We're so easily brainwashed by outside sources that we don't even realize it. Of course, I'm going to use pop culture’s media as an example. They tell us what kind of lives we should lead in a nutshell. Think about it. Every time you sit down to watch something like a family sitcom it's the same thing over and over again. Someone does something wrong in a funny way, they try to fix it on their own and fail (with hilarity, of course) and then someone else finds out and solves the problem (can't forget the comedy). They're all essentially the same if you want to be general about it. Nuclear family. Middle Class. The parents all want the same things for their children- to go to college to get an education and be successful. In America, this is the life most people wish to live by, but why? Is it the prospect of success and fulfilling the American Dream?
Well, I'm tired. I'm tired of being told what to do and what type of person I should be based on what they tell me. However, I'm not trying to put a vendetta against the media. It's not entirely bad at all. I could go on for ages about how the media has shaped me in a positive light and how I think that it also helps society. I'm just saying that we shouldn't let it brainwash us into thinking about things that make us unhappy.
Did you ever stop to think why you are doing what you're doing? Whether it's washing dishes, swimming in a pool, going to school or wearing clothes? Those all sound like pretty easy answers, but they don't have to be. I think the problem is that we oversimplify everything we do and we don't think about anything anymore. It's as if all our ideals have been pre-programmed into us and now everything is just automatic.
But why think about all the little things? What's the point? Thinking about the small things can lead to realizations or even epiphanies about the bigger things in life that we don’t take note of. I think that because we don't think about anything anymore we lack knowledge about things, thus ushering us into ignorance. This is what causes so much hate and fear within the human race. It causes so much sadness and hurts so many people, many losing their lives because people don't want to use their capacity for thought to think and rationalize things before they do something. This isn't to say that our whole lives should be consumed by solitary thought (which is something I enjoy doing when I’m not drooling over an imaginary cartoon character). I just think that the things that could cause us to hurt others or ourselves should be given extra consideration. It could mean a world of difference.
Recently, I've been taking the time to check out a ton of body acceptance sites and whatnot and I have learned a lot. It amazes me how ignorant I was about the topic before I tried to gain an understanding of it. This brings me back to my above point about the media's hold on our wee little minds.
Every day I look into the mirror all I see is a happy girl who's expanding her mind and enjoying herself through cartoons, fashion, music and video games. She likes to spend time pondering about things that not many others do, she likes to express herself through wacky fashion, she loves spending time with her siblings playing Super Smash Brothers Melee (which I will own you at), playing the violin, and taking care of herself. It sounds so easy to understand this, but for many that look in the mirror all they see is "imperfections." Imperfections based on WHAT, might I ask? That woman you saw in that movie the other night? A music video starring your favorite Korean pop singers (*cough*Girl's Generation ftwwww*cough*). Those fashion magazines you have piling up in your room? They're all beautiful and you can see the beauty in them, but not yourself. Your oversized ears, short toes, flat nose, fat little tummy and lanky arms just don’t seem comparable to the beauties you see in every advertisement you look at. But, you can't seem to rid yourself of all these negative thoughts about you because everywhere you turn are woman who look the same and all seem to be so happy. You just want that happiness too. Is that so hard to understand? And things only get harder when the media tells you what’s wrong with you and that for a “cheap cheap cheap” price, YOU can look just like them. Forget individuality, forget trying to keep yourself happy and healthy, we are telling you that there is something WRONG with you based on our own little standards of beauty that we made up and all you need is a lot of moolah to fix it that way we want you to!
Beauty is perception. It's subjective. There is no "one size fits all" for beauty and yet we all seem to spend so much time trying to fit a particular mold to acquire it. Then, when we feel like there is no easy way to acquire it, we feel bad about ourselves. Our self esteem goes down, we lose confidence in ourselves and we become unhappy. In some cases, we may project our own unhappiness and insecurities on others and in others we may just wallow in self pity based on this imaginary idea of beauty that a couple of people with a lot of influence made up. This is the effect of not being able to fit into what society wants.
Why is there so much focus on beauty to begin with? Why not innovation? Creation? Imagination? It’s because our society runs on consumerism. And you know what? Marketing to people’s insecurities is a sure fire way to make some money. Make people aware of what’s wrong with them? Check. Tell them that that should feel bad about it in a discreet, but not so discreet manner? Check. Devise a product to fix said problem? Check. The scary thing about this is that it’s so effective that we don’t even really realize it. It’s a good way to get us to buy products too because why would we buy products for us if we didn’t think we need them. They need to tell us that we need them and how it will supposedly make our lives better because apparently our lives just aren't good enough.
I weep for the women that fall prey to this nonsense. I just feel that I was fortunate enough to grow up not paying attention to fashion magazines at all or else my self esteem may have been severely crushed as a child. Granted, I still had much insecurity, but now I believe there are no such things as flaws. It’s all made up within our minds. It’s subjective not consistent cross-culturally. Therefore we shouldn’t let these made up ideas control our lives in a negative way. Life is too short to spend fixating on things that make us unhappy.
And yet, so many people don’t realize this because they bothered to stop and think about it and look into things for themselves to develop their own idea. They continue to wallow in their own ignorance and spite people for things that they do differently. Ohay, this leads me into fashion talk now.
Ignorance makes us feel bad about ourselves, hate and fear others. Why? Because of poor judgment. I personally define poor judgment as preconceptions based off little to no actual knowledge. Judgment in itself is not a bad thing. You should NOT feel ashamed of judging someone. It’s only bad when it causes you to spite someone because of irrational reasons. Therefore, I think people should take more strides in learning how to not poorly judge others based off appearance. Whether you’re fat, skinny, short, or like to look different from what you see around you, I don’t think it’s morally correct for people to judge you based on your appearance because they can be extremely deceiving. More often than not, your poor judgment just might come back and slap you in the face when you didn’t even see it coming.
I don’t feel like I should owe an explanation to anyone for the way I choose to dress at all. This isn’t to say I won’t tell you if you ask, but I just shouldn’t have to explain myself to everyone who gives me and my outfit the twice over and sneers at me for my choice of dress. Why don’t you explain to me why you dress that way? Clothes can be viewed as just clothes to some people and that is absolutely fine. No one should look down on anyone else for their interests or lack thereof. Albeit, the people that enjoy doing different things with their clothes (i.e. Lady Gaga) shouldn’t have to get so much heat for it. And by heat I mean purely hateful comments towards her as a PERSON. You have every right to dislike every outfit that she comes out with. That’s your prerogative. Just don’t shower her in hate about everything she does because she chooses to present herself differently. I was actually guilty of that a couple years back, but I own up to it now. I was silly. I think that anyone that chooses to go against the norm is highly innovative, creative and fearless and I applaud them.
But no, in this world, difference is bad. People can’t understand it because they haven’t been exposed to it. And with their lack of knowledge, they feel wholly justified in fearing/hating whatever is different to them.
DIFFERENCE IS GOOD. Isn’t that what causes change in fashion to begin with? Isn’t that what makes the world a little less boring?
Any counterarguments regarding any of my points are MOOOORE THAAAAN GOOD. THEY’RE GREEEEEAT! I enjoy it when people have opposing viewpoints because it just shows that we are thinking differently.
Embrace yourself and embrace difference. “Bee happy, bee healthy”. And all those other feel good sayings.
Now for those of you that actually made it this far in reading, pat yourselves on the back and enjoy your reward! An outfit post! 8D <3 Forgive the lack of shoes. XD I always forget about them when putting outfits together!
This is my awesomeface. Get used to it.
Neatio Peanuts tie, huh? Cartoon ties are just the cooly coolest 8D <3
