So my week's been a bit... unadventurous. There were much plans for the evening, but they all seemed to have disappeared before my eyes (all for different reasons). However, we're not going to dwell on the fact that I'm plan-less, completely and utterly bored out of my mind, and wondering why life is so ambiguous and such an enigma. Instead, we're gonna talk about my latest obsession: web comics, specifically one that's famously known. Some of you may read it; It's called Questionable Content.
Some of you may know it, some of you may not. In a nutshell, it's about all of these different people experiencing different aspects of life such as being an office bitch, coming to terms with your past, sarcastic jokes, and drinking exorbitant amounts of alcohol, all while trying not to pay much mind to the shenanigans or obscene wisecracks of the main character's AnthroBot, Pint-Size. It's a good read so far (I'm about halfway through the series and started on Thursday afternoon), and I would recommend it to anyone who likes witty jokes, especially ones about different parts of the music industry, as well as the sarcastic remarks. It's witty, well thought out, and the art just gets better and better in every issue.
However, even with my love for this wondering piece, I couldn't help but notice a lot of the humor is directed towards stereotyping. Most of you know what I'm talking about. I mean, we've all been through the disgraceful/awkward time of middle school and high school, and if you haven't, you've probably read some sort of high school setting teen novel or fan fiction at some point. You know the typical ones: The Jocks, The Preps, The Nerds, etc. Of course, other ones have been in and out over the years, and sometimes they change (Think of the White Rasta group in Ten Things I Hate About You... Don't they remind you of our today's Pot Heads?). Either way, no one can deny that these groups DO exist, and in the social hierarchy of most high schools (and even some colleges), they play a huge role in our society.
What I never understood (and this was a point that even ones of the characters made in QC) is why people conform themselves into these labels, most of the time. The twelve year-old girl who's uncomfortable in her body, and vulnerable to things such as peer pressure, bullying, boys, and even her parents, will squeeze into a cheerleading skirt and suddenly force herself to giggle when the girl she used to be in Girl Scouts with gets her books tossed to the floor. The eighth grader who just moved from Minnesota to New Jersey forgets the violin he loves to play and almost sets fire to the boys' bathroom with his cigarette. And how odd is it that it's never the Star Quarterback that becomes obsessed with D&D, or the Prom Queen gauges her cartilage and starts to wear all black? This is because the kids put up with the whole caste system of our modern era, and I don't understand WHY.
Take a real life example: At interning last week, we were chatting about stereotypes, a friend of mine and I, and who they've changed over the course of three years. To be more specific, we were talking about "how weird it was that what we knew as scene back in seventh grade is less of that and more of the indie fashion". Just then, this fourteen year-old girl who we've known basically worships stereotypes (because she's still in middle school and hasn't given up the idea of them yet) said, "I'm indie". Now, we all know the typical "Indie" kid (sort of a Beach Bum meets an ex-hippie in Soho, in a record store); What I would dub "Indie" would be someone who like the Independent Music scene (ie Iron & Wine, Sufjan Stevens, Belle & Sebastian, etc.). This girl likes more mainstream music, like Ke$ha and Britney Spears, and has probably never heard of any of the artists listed above. Of course, I didn't say anything, but it did make me think; Six months ago, in the winter, she said she couldn't stand how kids in her grade cared about who bought clothes from where, etc. And yet, that's what stereotyping basically is, and she thus forth contradicted herself. THAT'S THE WHOLE IRONY OF IT.
It's all incredibly relative.
I'll admit that, once upon a time, I used to do the same thing with one of my good friend, Emily. We met in seventh grade and bonded over comic books (which, people knew), but placed ourselves into the pit of the Gothic Scene. What we hadn't realized was that Goth didn't exactly exist anymore, and was more of Emo that school year. Wearing all black, people constantly made cutting motions at us, told us to kill ourselves, and were convinced we had some sort of Emo Love Affair going on (even though we looked alike and convinced most people we were cousins or sisters). We both hated it, but looking back on it, we put ourselves up for it. Even having more of an acoustic taste for music, I forced myself to try and get into Screamo and Metal (which failed miserably, although when I started listening to Rob Zombie last school year, I was rather pleased). We both wrote depressing poetry, bought the pants with all of the chains and pockets, and hung out with fangirls of My Chemical Romance and other bands that most people considered "emo" (even though, honestly, their lyrics that year weren't even CLOSE to anything depressing, though some were emotionally provoking).
The next year, it was Scene: the kind with the Hello Kitty hair pins and coon tails. We spent an entire day learning to do the colorful makeup (the only thing I got from that was the fact that bright purple eyeshadow actually looked decent on me, not to mention I was awesome at doing up a girl's face), picking out the clothes from what we had in our closets, and picking out hairstyles. I remember at one point it got a bit nasty after I cut mine into layers and Emily picked out styles that were less than suiting for her beautiful face, but I digress. We danced to techno with dirty overtones and wore fake lip rings. This face only lasted the until November or so, but it did get us to forget all the black and start wearing more colors again (however, people kept making cutting motions at us and asking if we were dating).
After high school, that sort of died down. We kind of wear whatever we wish now, and listen to whatever we wish (would Amanda Palmer, The Decemberists and Lady Gaga all be found in the same section at the record shop?). However, I cannot deny that these trying times did help me discover who I am, and I was quite surprised to realize this when I really thought about it. Something good came out of those torturous years of junior high? WHAT A SCORE. And it was fun while it lasted. All that I'm saying is that, sometimes, it just all seems a little ridiculous, changing yourself for a group. It doesn't make sense, but when you look at certain aspects of society now, you can understand why: people crave comfort.
The era is very confusing: technology is developing faster, aspects of the entertainment industry are going down the tubes (I'll post my opinions about the music industry another day), and people are having trouble just keeping a job at K-Mart. With all of this rushing by the average teenager, along with other aspects, the formula should look something like this:
Media+Pressure(Parents x Teachers)/Party - Friends + √God + Personality/Yourself
The math of a teenagers mind can easily make someone's head explode (it's worth than AP Physics AHHHHH), and it's the fact that it's so complicated that makes the older generation almost never understand the new generation. Throw in some Justin Bieber CDs and tickets to a Rush concert, and you've got yourself something really confusing that no one should ever experience. And since the world is always changing, it's always a challenge for the adults to slow down and look their children in the eye and say, "Look, I totally get you" without getting laughed/bitched at. It's unfortunate, really, but the answer to the equation is The Gap: the expanse of falling space between child and parent. Along the walls is stereotyping, bullying, pornography, and a lot of other little trinkets an adolescent sees. Everyone hits Rock Bottom before they grow up: it's just the way it is. And, for whatever reason, the climb back up to sanity causes the growth to regress and the adult-self to be blissfully ignorant to the cracks in the floor they've left behind. It all really sucks, but it's reality, if you think about it.
And that's why I'm saying it now: Guys, be your goddamn selves. Be comfortable in your skin at all costs, and don't be afraid to question yourself: everybody does. Nobody knows who they are, what they're meant to do in life, what to wear to prom the second they're born, and if they did, it would make life a hell of a lot more boring. Life sucks sometimes, but if you pick up from the bad, you'll hopefully learn enough to create the good for yourself. You can only achieve true happiness and comfort with yourself through that, so slow down and enjoy the view of what you're living: you only get it once.
That is all.
Love, Maura Lee
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