Pranoti Aich
Editorial Writer
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
There is a term called social construction which means a theory of knowledge that has been constructed by joining shared assumptions and has been passed down to the human race. For example – boys don’t cry or girls should behave a certain way, these are social constructs. But in reality, boys can cry and girls can act loud if they want to because these are basic human feelings. No amount of shunning these behaviors would make you a perfect boy or a girl.
Similarly, there is a millennial term peer pressure which apparently not only the kids but also the parents face. To be as perfect as the “Sharma Ji’s son” is what most parents of 90s born kids aspired their children to be. Having a 90% and above marks card was (is) mandatory. However, the parents were miserably wrong. Don’t we have a chaiwala as Indian Prime Minister or a semester dropout running the tech giant called Apple? Jokes apart, they actually finished their education but marks and scores were not the only things that made them who they are today. That’s about the parental peer pressure, let’s talk about the real peer pressure! A colleague being favored/given hikes because they are just good friends with the manager, your friends having an interest in partying and you’d rather sit at home and binge-watch shows, or are you being successful than your better half? This leads to being over-friendly with a manager who actually gives you a hard time at work, trying to fit in with a group of friends with no shared interest, and missing out on opportunities to have a peaceful personal life, respectively. All of these promote the agenda of being not true to yourself, adjusting, and self-deprecating oneself. Doesn’t it take more effort? It’d rather be easy to be yourself and have true – real people in your life. It would be nice to work for a boss who manages you well, as well as appreciate your efforts and reward you occasionally for that. It would be nicer to have friends who share your interest and who give you the space to adjust(accept) for their interests. It would be even better to have a better half who doesn’t bring their work home and who celebrates your success and vice versa.
Being real is what makes us unique. Thae prejudiced world would always have labels so one could fit in the society but it’s always better to choose out-of-the-box ideas. Define your own individuality rather than letting others decide it on your behalf. You empower yourself by not letting the power be handed to someone else. Your individuality is your power!