Cynical-Chick

I am an 18 year old white female.


According to society, I should be a giggly, air-headed bimbo who likes the Backdoor Boys and N'Suck. I should be pregnant with my fifteenth child, buying their clothes at Baby Gap and shopping for myself at Abercrombie.



But I listen to classic rock, I am a metalhead( ), and I shop at Hot Topic. I am a virgin (this is akin to slashing my wrists in shark-infested water, isn't it.), and I do not worship Titney Spears (in fact, I'd like to shoot her).



Watch the news sometime. She didn't kill her husband because she's a psychotic bitch; she wasn't loved enough as a child. He isn't overweight because he eats at MickeyD's every day; mommy and daddy didn't play basketball with him when he was young.




Why does society like to play everyone for victims? Why must we coddle ourselves and our children?

Division By Zero

Sounds like you resent being measured on the social meterstick our fellow humans have constructed for us.

So do I.

I'm afraid I don't have much of substance to say, but I CAN say "Hear hear!" from a bitter, cynical, sneering social outcast of an atheist.

Quote:

Why does society like to play everyone for victims? Why must we coddle ourselves and our children?

Society is so idiotic sometimes that it's hard to imagine. Remember when the schools banned kids from playing tag, because it supposedly made "It" feel victimized and unwanted by his peers?

Cynical-Chick

No, but I'm not surprised.


Let me guess: it was America.


I'm not into chick flicks; I hate them with a passion. I love guy movies and sci-fi. Going by society, I shouldn't understand sci-fi, or the discussions here. Know what? I do.

Philosoft

Welcome to our humble agora, Cynical-Chick. Your topic, while having merit, probably belongs in Misc. Discussions. Not a reprimand, mind you, just letting you know for now and for the future.

Regards,
Philo

Jesus Tap-Dancin' Christ

You rule. Marry me?

Cynical-Chick

Philosoft or me?

Cynical-Chick

What I meant was (from my friend Temple Drake, from here:


According to sociological studies and their resultant conclusions, I am a victim and should, of course, play the part. Fortunately, no one told me this.

I should not be successful (well, I'm trying to be, as much as anyone can), but rather I should have approximately five children by four different fathers, preferably by the time I was 18. I should also be uneducated, uninformed, unintelligent, unreliable, illiterate, obese, and basically scrounge off of society.

Why is it shocking that I am, in fact, none of the above?

Society insists that those of us who grew up in less than stellar homes play the "victim." If you were unfortunate enough to have a broken home, younger sibling, older sibling, parents who spanked you, parents whose incomes were low, not enough attention, too much attention, sexual misconduct, physical abuse, torture, no pet or too many pets, and any or none of the above--it's apparently okay that you've grown up to be a miscreant who doesn't know right from wrong because you "had a bad childhood."

That's not an accurate portrayal. Fact is, not many people have an ideal childhood. While some may or may not have been worse than others, my own included, I refuse to succumb to the role society has deemed for me. It's amazing, on the rare occasions I even manage to bring up my childhood adventures, the looks of amazement on others' faces. No, I'm not a psychotic mass murderer who tortures puppies for thrills and boils children for dinner while setting fires to rest homes and defacing cemetaries, despite what sociological studies may think. (I do believe that 93.14159275% of studies' results are indeed spontaneously produced.) I'm me: a human being who takes responsibility for her actions.

The victim mentality is rather tiresome. Just watch any daytime television show and you'll see men and women who are readily blaming others for their own actions. They didn't kill someone because they were foolish, greedy or spiteful; they committed a grievous murder because they weren't loved enough as a child. They're not overweight because they eat too much; as always, the blame resides in a mother who hit them or a father who worked long hours and didn't play basketball with them.

I'm not discounting my sympathies for anyone who has actually been through hell and come out on the other side. We all have skeletons, and as easy as it would be for me to excuse my own behavior in some matters, it's a fatuous way out. Sadly, people who blame others don't even understand that in blaming others, they've allowed whomever wronged them to take even further control of their life. Quite frankly, I refuse to let anyone have that much control over me.

It's amazing that, of my friends who have actually had hellacious childhoods, they're seemingly on this side of normalcy--to include myself. I fear the ones who actually search for their victimhood, for they are truly the victims they've wanted to become--victims of society, with no responsibility for their actions, lest they be at fault.

And really, we're all to blame, for until we begin placing blame where it is due, we allow those who refuse to be responsible for themselves to continue to point their grubby little fingers at everyone except themselves.

Derec

I like you .. except for the virgin but, but than again you are young. Just as long you don't think you are morally superior to non-virgins or nonsense like that.

UMoC

ebolamonger

yay, join the club of 18 year old female metalheads. i'm actually listening to the scorpions right now. ollllddd stuff, but good. i shop wherever i can get shirts for under $10 and pants for under 15. (got a pair of black distressed jeans recently for $5. brand new. yippee!).

i'm not a virgin, but whatever other consenting or individual adults do with each other/themselves sexually is their business, not mine.

i read "reviving ophelia" and was mostly annoyed by it.

i'm the stoic type and i don't like asking for help. recently i've had to ask for help, and i've learned that you can do that and still be completely responsible for yourself. in fact, it makes you even more responsible. this is coming from someone who swears at commercials for prescription drugs, is atheist, and whose greatest fear is not doing homework well or turning it in late. (that and opening those refrigerator biscuit containers. i always hand them to my mom. when i move out, i'll never eat another refrigerator biscuit again unless i marry someone who opens the canister for me).

viscousmemories