Sometimes I wonder why people find it so darn hard just to be NICE to one another. I have always tried to be a nice person, and try very hard not to pass judgment on those whom I know nothing about. One would think that in this life of ours with all of the hardships that one could possibly come across that we couldn't just make it easier for one another and be nice. It makes me wonder why niceness is perceived as weakness when it should be considered a valuable personal trait.
To me it is all the other way around, I think cruelty is a weakness because cruelty comes from fear and fear is an undesirable trait. People are scared of both ideas and other people that they are unable to understand, and not understanding things causes fear of them. If one was to look back in history, people were always overtly cruel to one another, both condemning them and killing them for the mere fact that they were unable to understand them.
People to me are very ignorant about both other people and the world around them. It tells me that a society is very backwards when individuality and uniqueness are condemned and looked upon in an unfavorable light. Humanity was not meant to all think, look and behave all in the same fashion. If that were so than the human race would no longer be discovering new ideas and new things because no body would have the resources available to be able to think outside the box and discover these new things. If we all were the same than it would be a very boring place, and unfortunately there are many who see sameness as being better than individuality.
It makes me question those people who consistently follow the social standards that society dictates. I have found that just because an action, a look, or a way of life is condoned by society doesn't always mean it is the correct way for EVERYBODY to live by. This uniform way of life may be good to some, but when too many people start to limit themselves to the dictations of a social standard it breed's fear of those who do not follow the communal thought of the system.
To me this standard way of thinking and way of living is doing nothing but holding many back from their full potential. In the complacent suburbia where I spent most of my life I can tell you that people were genuinely scared of me and what I represent to them. I am not someone whom lives by the standards of others just because they are considered "normal". I can't tell you how many of the other girls my age all looked and acted like each other.
To me, it became very difficult to tell all of them apart, they all had the same standard blond hair with red highlights, wore the same name brand clothing, and all acted like complete air heads. Since when has been being an airhead considered charming and normal? All of these girls had one thing running through there head and that was. Boys and these girls were the same age as I am and believe me those of the opposite sex are one of the last things that go through my mind. I could give a shit less if boys found me pleasing or completely horrid, it is myself whom I have always tried to please and if you ask me I find that much healthier than trying to please and placate others.
Believe me there was a very unhealthy fear of differences in the community where I spent the majority of life.
Unfortunately my own father is one of those people who fear what is considered different. It made it very difficult for me to live with him and eventually it is what caused me to say "Fuck it" and move 3,500 miles away to New Orleans.
It is very disheartening for me to view the world as it is, because if you ask me I find that it is personal differences that make things interesting. Without all the different cultures and ways of life there are many things that would have ceased to be assimilated into our lives. Humanity has a way of fearing differences yet, making some of those differences their own merely because they are good ideas.
Lets take the removal of body hair for example; body hair removal came from the Middle East. Woman first started removing their body hair in Egypt, and other Middle Eastern countries. Much of the Middle Eastern culture was condemned in the western world; people were scared of the differences, yet somehow we assimilated the removal of body hair into our own culture.
It seems to me that much of white society and proper society sees those whom do not conform to their standards as almost less than human. They treat what they don't like and what they don't understand with disdain and are deliberately cruel to those whom they view as different and less than. It makes me wonder why they can't see people for who they really are, as individuals and not part of some group mentality.
The ignorance of many cultures astounds me, and many people keep themselves ignorant because it makes them feel like they are better than others, because once they try to understand it makes it harder to disdain that which they previously disliked. Its like so many people are on some sort of power trip over others, why can't we just all view each other as equals and get over it? Just because somebody is different from me, doesn't mean that my way is any better than his or hers, merely. Different!
Every body has their own way of living their life, and it should remain that way. I feel that it is wrong for people to hold others to their own personal standards. We have to recognize that just because something might work well for us, doesn't mean that it will work well for others. If we feel safe in a group, surrounded by other people who strive to be normal and exactly like everybody else in the group, it does not mean that everybody in the world would feel the same way as well.
Being mean to another person because you fear them is not the way to do it. Just because you are unsure of them, doesn't mean that cruelty will help you to understand. People should try to understand one another before they condemn.
To me it is all the other way around, I think cruelty is a weakness because cruelty comes from fear and fear is an undesirable trait. People are scared of both ideas and other people that they are unable to understand, and not understanding things causes fear of them. If one was to look back in history, people were always overtly cruel to one another, both condemning them and killing them for the mere fact that they were unable to understand them.
People to me are very ignorant about both other people and the world around them. It tells me that a society is very backwards when individuality and uniqueness are condemned and looked upon in an unfavorable light. Humanity was not meant to all think, look and behave all in the same fashion. If that were so than the human race would no longer be discovering new ideas and new things because no body would have the resources available to be able to think outside the box and discover these new things. If we all were the same than it would be a very boring place, and unfortunately there are many who see sameness as being better than individuality.
It makes me question those people who consistently follow the social standards that society dictates. I have found that just because an action, a look, or a way of life is condoned by society doesn't always mean it is the correct way for EVERYBODY to live by. This uniform way of life may be good to some, but when too many people start to limit themselves to the dictations of a social standard it breed's fear of those who do not follow the communal thought of the system.
To me this standard way of thinking and way of living is doing nothing but holding many back from their full potential. In the complacent suburbia where I spent most of my life I can tell you that people were genuinely scared of me and what I represent to them. I am not someone whom lives by the standards of others just because they are considered "normal". I can't tell you how many of the other girls my age all looked and acted like each other.
To me, it became very difficult to tell all of them apart, they all had the same standard blond hair with red highlights, wore the same name brand clothing, and all acted like complete air heads. Since when has been being an airhead considered charming and normal? All of these girls had one thing running through there head and that was. Boys and these girls were the same age as I am and believe me those of the opposite sex are one of the last things that go through my mind. I could give a shit less if boys found me pleasing or completely horrid, it is myself whom I have always tried to please and if you ask me I find that much healthier than trying to please and placate others.
Believe me there was a very unhealthy fear of differences in the community where I spent the majority of life.
Unfortunately my own father is one of those people who fear what is considered different. It made it very difficult for me to live with him and eventually it is what caused me to say "Fuck it" and move 3,500 miles away to New Orleans.
It is very disheartening for me to view the world as it is, because if you ask me I find that it is personal differences that make things interesting. Without all the different cultures and ways of life there are many things that would have ceased to be assimilated into our lives. Humanity has a way of fearing differences yet, making some of those differences their own merely because they are good ideas.
Lets take the removal of body hair for example; body hair removal came from the Middle East. Woman first started removing their body hair in Egypt, and other Middle Eastern countries. Much of the Middle Eastern culture was condemned in the western world; people were scared of the differences, yet somehow we assimilated the removal of body hair into our own culture.
It seems to me that much of white society and proper society sees those whom do not conform to their standards as almost less than human. They treat what they don't like and what they don't understand with disdain and are deliberately cruel to those whom they view as different and less than. It makes me wonder why they can't see people for who they really are, as individuals and not part of some group mentality.
The ignorance of many cultures astounds me, and many people keep themselves ignorant because it makes them feel like they are better than others, because once they try to understand it makes it harder to disdain that which they previously disliked. Its like so many people are on some sort of power trip over others, why can't we just all view each other as equals and get over it? Just because somebody is different from me, doesn't mean that my way is any better than his or hers, merely. Different!
Every body has their own way of living their life, and it should remain that way. I feel that it is wrong for people to hold others to their own personal standards. We have to recognize that just because something might work well for us, doesn't mean that it will work well for others. If we feel safe in a group, surrounded by other people who strive to be normal and exactly like everybody else in the group, it does not mean that everybody in the world would feel the same way as well.
Being mean to another person because you fear them is not the way to do it. Just because you are unsure of them, doesn't mean that cruelty will help you to understand. People should try to understand one another before they condemn.