Not Living to Impress

Hermann Hesse stated, “It is not for me to judge another man’s life. I must judge, I must choose, I must spurn, purely for myself. For myself, alone.” Defined by Merriam Webster, judgement is the process of forming an opinion or evaluation by discerning and comparing. This desire to ostracize others has tremendously affected our society.

Society has placed high expectations on women and men  to look and act in a perfect way. When they do not meet those high standards, many individuals face discrimination. For example, a woman can’t be skinny or curvy because she will be considered anorexic or fat. If a guy does not have certain facial or body feature, he will be discriminated as ugly or weak. If a girl wears too much makeup she will be referred to as unconfident. Several individuals deal with these names by making a counter-attack of rejection towards other individuals.

Despite this,  it is important to remember that there is no need to judge others. Making others feel inferior is a way to make yourself feel better. Society is playing with our minds. It tells people they should look a certain way;  to reach that, many will change their looks.The body images found in social media encourage individuals to reach those high expectations. Yet, there is no need to change yourself to become “perfect”or to lower yourself to reach those expectations.

As students, we have the chance to make a change. In order to love others, we need to honestly love ourselves. Body positivity and self-confidence is more important than what society thinks is best. Lao Tzu encourages self-confidence by stating, “Because one believes oneself, one doesn’t try to convince others. Because one is content with oneself, one doesn’t need others’ approval. Because one accepts oneself, the whole world accepts him or her.” Who cares what society thinks? We all have our imperfections but we should not let society influence us to change them for what is “perfect.” Making others feel impressed by our looks should not be the purpose of life.

Life is about living and appreciating yourself for who you are. In conclusion, loving your natural beauty is higher than living to impress society.  

 

Works Cited

GabbyHernandez2, Addis LA. “Judgment In Society.” Teen Ink,  www.teenink.com/opinion/pop_culture_trends/article/839961/Judgment-In-Society/.

Anson, Aaron. “Coping with Our Judgmental Society.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 28 Sept. 2011, www.huffingtonpost.com/aaron-anson/coping-with-our-judgmenta_b_973760.html.

photos:

featured image:4 Ways to Develop Self-Efficacy Beliefs (Self-Esteem or Confidence …

Image:An Imperfect Human’s Guide To Body Positivity

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