Our 'norms' of society have led people to believe that if you are not one certain way then you are not good enough. You are below everyone else and therefore should be treated that way. The extra 30 lbs of fat a person carries on their body means the difference between someone talking to you or someone making fun of you for your appearance. It is as if those 30 lbs are a stigma attached and a constant reminder that yes, a person is different and therefore should be treated as such.
Many people are out for their own gains. They chose to walk over others without giving a second thought to the feelings of others and what they make bring to society/world in which they live in. As a child, I had a role model who taught me so much and I really grew as a child and now as a young women. Yet I found out that bullying led her to make her decision to retire. Is it fair? Absolutely not. The bullies always win. No power struggle will ever give the underdog the chance to flourish and to do what they are good at. So many talented people walk away from professions that play on their natural God given gifts. Why? Because of bullying and people looking out for only themselves.
I find the picture I posted on this blog to be so true. As children we grow up to find our own selves; individuality and personality. Yet, we get bullied and harassed for finding who we are as individuals and trying to live as we want and sometimes that means going against society and their 'norms'. This inhibits our ability to continue to grow and learn about who we are and in turn our self-esteem drops. No longer do we feel like we have figured out who we want to be. All of that gets dropped, we question and then hate ourselves for daring to be different.
I realize that society will continue to work as it always has but it is still frustrating that no matter how hard you try to rise about all the bullying/harassment/intimidation, the victim seems to always get hurt in the long term. It stinks.
☻Ashley☻
I see that today, and the sad part is, it's not just the younger generation too. I had a gentleman somewhere in his 60's today come up to my register, and made rude comments about my weight, as he was slender and was buying some athletic clothing (I think the comment was something like "You could use this gear more than I could." with a funny look). I politely said "I'm sorry sir, I don't think you should make rude comments like that, and I don't appreciate your attack. Let me call my manager over to explain why I will not ring up your purchase today."
ReplyDeleteLong story short the customer was asked to leave without making a purchase. It felt good to have a manager on my side, even after the customer tried to say they never made a comment like that to me and I was being irrational.
I still see that to this day. We live in a society where "thin is in" and that is how everyone thinks they should approach situations. It has taken me nearly 21 years to discover who I am and I think I have a lot more to discover about myself. Food has always been a comfort for me. I would eat because I was bored, I would eat because the food was there in front of me, I would eat because someone else was eating; I was eating for all the wrong reasons. Of course I gained weight and as I got older (and people were able to make nasty glances or horrible remarks) I started to feel self conscious about myself (I still feel this way to this day). Thankfully, I always had my mom with me and she was (and still is) my biggest supporter. Who cares if I am larger than a size 2, 4, 6 or 8 for that matter.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, kids are following what society has taught them. They think it is fine to make fun of other kids because they are different and that is what hurts the most.
Our society needs to realize that stick thin women are a thing of the past and the women with curves are on the rise. We are getting healthier, watching what we eat, working out, losing weight (etc.) because we want to not because society is forcing us to.