Bullying Society

It seems that bullying has become normal. If you think it's something that only happens in schools — think again. I don't believe kids just become bullies for no reason — it's something they pick up from their environment, namely from adults. Children are just more vulnerable to the effects of it — hence we notice it more. But look around in the so-called "grown up world". The Media is constantly bullying celebrities, because well — scandals sell better. Advertising is bullying consumers by telling them what they should look like, smell like, think like. You don't have a six pack? You're fat. You don't wear designer clothes? Your style sucks. You don't fuck a lot of girls? You're a loser. The message is loud and clear — you are not good enough as you are, not until you spend some money on our products and become desirable to all.

The weight loss industry is enormous and the amount of people who are obsessed with staying super slim is ridiculous. Who said we should all look the same? Did they have our best interests in mind when they said it? Beauty lies in a variety and individuality, not in a marketing standard cloned over and over again. Some may say that it is their own idea of beauty and what's wrong for wanting to achieve it or desire it in the opposite sex? However, more often than not, we are not aware that our ideals are not even ours but programmed into us by daily exposure to them everywhere we look.

Now it doesn't mean that we should stop looking after ourselves and be unhealthy. All I'm saying is that only we get to decide what we want to be like, look like, and act like. Basically, to separate your opinion from the opinion of the masses. Sure, being overweight is not healthy but if society really cared about your wellbeing, there would be more information available as to why people overeat in the first place. What are they trying to replace with food? This is the question to ask — in a loving way, instead of bullying people into spending money on products that are often useless. And if you don't love yourself at size 16, chances are you won't love yourself at size 8, either. But educating people won't make nearly as much money as selling magic pills, anti-cellulite creams, anti-aging creams, plastic surgery services, and so on. Which brings me to the next obsession — staying young. Forget all the good things that come with maturing. It seems like all our focus has gone to external appearances in the attempt to control them. What about trying to become a better, more evolved human being — more genuine, more compassionate, more intelligent, etc? Don't we see that by chasing eternal youth and beauty, we are acting out of fear? Fear that we are not good enough, fear that we won't be loved. Let me tell you something — being young and beautiful doesn't guarantee happiness. Being wise is a much more likely way to achieve it. But of course, it wouldn't be profitable for many corporations if everyone suddenly woke up and saw the brainwashing clearly. Instead, the majority of people keep sleepwalking and believing everything that society tells them. How many times have I heard from young people that they are feeling insecure about their age, skinny people being insecure about their weight, and physically attractive people being insecure about their appearance. Especially women, as we are judged by our looks way more than men and more likely to spend money as a result.

All this manipulation is so subtle that it goes unnoticed most of the time. Essentially, bullying based on looks is just another form of discrimination — just like those based on race, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, and so on. And we all know that this approach brought a lot of suffering to this world across the centuries. Still, people tend to dismiss the consequences of bullying which essentially is emotional abuse, even though they are way more serious and profound than those of a physical one. More bullying means more mental health issues — but again, the awareness of mental health has not been a priority so far. But that's a topic for another post.