Society

This is not really a story but i couldn't find a category, so i suppose this is really a rant about what the internet is contributing to with regards to self harm, depressions etc.

If there’s anything I’ve learned in my years on this planet it’s that nobody is okay. Nobody is fine. Nobody is happy. I look around me and see happy faces drop into sad ones. Smiles turn to tears. Laughter becomes silence. On the outside, we’re all normal - just people moving through life each day. But underneath that’s never the case. We’re all messed up somehow.

Our society is a place where nobody completely fits in all of the time. We live in a world where being different is wrong and following others is right. But, from what I can see, this method isn’t working. Because from what I can see, hating yourself is becoming normal, expected even. From the beginning of time people have had insecurities. Whether it be the Roman soldiers being afraid that they weren’t good enough or strong enough for war, or a modern day teenage girl being conscious that her hair is frizzy. It’s okay to have those feelings.

What is not okay is teenagers all over the world using the internet to make self-harm fashionable. Everywhere I look online there are images depicting girls starving themselves, cutting themselves, hating the body they were born with. Stories about girls who hate themselves so much they kill themselves. This is sad that people feel the need to do this, yes. But by making people so aware of it, we are encouraging it. When you feel like you don’t fit in anywhere, what do you do? Look for somewhere you’ll be accepted. Sites such as twitter and tumblr are filled with mini online society’s that all share one thing in common �" self harm. To fit in, all you have to do is read one of the posts about how much the person hates themselves and you start to realise things you don’t like about yourself. You see them self-harming, becoming part of this elite club of fragility and there you have it: your door to fitting in. Following the crowd. Doubting yourself. Hating yourself.

 If there’s anything I’ve learned in my years on this planet it’s that nobody is okay. Nobody is fine. Nobody is happy. I look around me and see happy faces drop into sad ones. Smiles turn to tears. Laughter becomes silence. On the outside, we’re all normal - just people moving through life each day. But underneath that’s never the case. We’re all messed up somehow.

Our society is a place where nobody completely fits in all of the time. We live in a world where being different is wrong and following others is right. But, from what I can see, this method isn’t working. Because from what I can see, hating yourself is becoming normal, expected even. From the beginning of time people have had insecurities. Whether it be the Roman soldiers being afraid that they weren’t good enough or strong enough for war, or a modern day teenage girl being conscious that her hair is frizzy. It’s okay to have those feelings.

What is not okay is teenagers all over the world using the internet to make self-harm fashionable. Everywhere I look online there are images depicting girls starving themselves, cutting themselves, hating the body they were born with. Stories about girls who hate themselves so much they kill themselves. This is sad that people feel the need to do this, yes. But by making people so aware of it, we are encouraging it. When you feel like you don’t fit in anywhere, what do you do? Look for somewhere you’ll be accepted. Sites such as twitter and tumblr are filled with mini online society’s that all share one thing in common �" self harm. To fit in, all you have to do is read one of the posts about how much the person hates themselves and you start to realise things you don’t like about yourself. You see them self-harming, becoming part of this elite club of fragility and there you have it: your door to fitting in. Following the crowd. Doubting yourself. Hating yourself.

 

Author's Note

NONE OF THIS IS AIMED TO OFFEND. IT IS SIMPLY PERSONAL OPINIONS. I HAVE EXPERIENCED SOME THINGS MENTIONED MYSELF SO IT WAS IN NO WAY INTENDED TO ATTACK PEOPLE OR GROUPS OF PERSONS PERSONALLY.