We all know Regina George from "Mean Girls," right?
We can all agree she's a generally terrible person who dishes out backhanded compliments to everyone who crosses her path. We can all agree she's a bully.
People don't normally use "savage" to describe her. The way the term is currently used, it doesn't fit the bully mold, yet we call people savages all the time when, in fact, they're just Regina Georges.
The culture we've created for ourselves allows us to let bullies pass under the radar because they can use the culture as an excuse for their actions.
Social media really doesn't help this either.
Social media allows us to "be savages" by playfully roasting people; calling people out on sharing misinformation or lies and holding people accountable for their actions. The way people go about the last two can often be in a bold fashion, to say the least, but it's almost never degrading or low.
Bullies, though, will usually be just those.
They get their power from making others feel small and spreading false stories or partial truths to maintain their image.
With that, there's a difference between respectfully calling someone out for wrongdoing or lie, and calling someone out for no reason other to bash their self-esteem or reputation.
When we watch "Mean Girls," we all can say Regina's an awful person for spreading rumors and starting drama, but we constantly surround ourselves with people who do just that and let them get away with it.
We're at a point, socially, where reputation matters so much, we don't want to call out or acknowledge friend's bad attitudes because it puts us at risk for damaging ourselves socially.
We don't want to lose the status and reputation built up from being connected to certain people. People feel if they're the first to call out bad behavior, they'll be the drama starter and have their image ruined by the very person they call out.
The truth is, we'd rather call someone a "savage" and only boost their ego than hold someone accountable for their bad behavior.
We'd rather have friends that "look cool" but in reality act terrible, than risk being without friends because we won't put up with someone being a bad person.
It's better to acknowledge when someone isn't being a good person and create a healthier environment than it is to put up with toxic and destructive attitudes.
So, next time your friends are taking to Twitter with subtweets and quote tweets, rethink the situation before you start throwing around "savage" in those replies.
