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Masks

Clarissa mentions a very interesting thing about the popularity-obsessed culture we have. She quotes an entry dated April 9, 2001 on h0ax and an entry also dated April 9, 2001 on gomakross about the topic.

The pressure to get accepted is even greater in adolescence. The circles you walked in, the groups you were part of— all of that had an impact in your life. All of this stuff of course has been dissected and disseminated before.

But if you think about it, the pressure of acceptance goes beyond conforming to norms and fashions. The pressure to be accepted is so great that we adopt masks to fit into the mold. Instead of being who you really are, you become what everyone want you to become. When you talk to someone, that person is also holding up a mask formed by society. But what if we all took off those masks? Would human civilization hold up?

There are certain things we keep away from other people because society demands we keep it away. For example, the person sitting beside you on the bus does NOT want to know when you last had sex. Or that you have a fetish for shoes. Anything that isn't "normal" is hidden, so that you will be accepted by your peers. Which, by the way, is what people do when they don those masks.

What if we removed those masks and exposed everything? That instead of saying Mrs. Litton what a nice dress you have, we say Mrs. Litton that dress is absolutely horrible.

Not a pretty sight.

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At the edge

So what about the "unpopular" people?

They're the guys building blogs like this and contemplating life's paradigms and paradoxes.

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