From the moment we’re born and the doctor wraps us in a blue blanket because we are a boy or a pink blanket because we are a girl, society, tradition and history begin to dictate how we need to act.
Society has a range of labels, minimum requirements and “handy tips” all designed to ensure that we follow the status quo, and we've forced into the box designed for us since we were a young child.
Suddenly, we are in our first few years of school and the educational system is telling us whether we should focus our time and efforts on math and science, or rather on English and art.
It does not matter whether we are in school, in the supermarket or in the bedroom, there is a way that we are told to present ourselves both externally and who we should be internally.
Why is it that we feel the need to conform to a set of rules set by our predecessors outlining for us who we need to be?
On one hand it could be contended that it is natural for us to be influenced by what is around us, a human trait vital to our survival. On the other, it is possible to argue that it is merely learned behavior that is hindering our ability to grow as unique individuals.
But when do we stop and begin to analyze our own individual skills, values and desires and determine the path we should follow based on those?
Subliminal messaging spoon-feeds us the “ideal” way in which to live without us even noticing that it has bombarded our generation in particular.
Made possible through our dependence on an interconnected world through both internet and television, it is impossible to escape heroic news pieces and defacing magazine covers that let us know what is right and what is wrong.
Suddenly, we have a counterculture in our modern day society telling us that “Orange Is the New Black,” and that monogamy is a thing of the past. No longer are we able to even fathom making unique choices for ourselves. In fact, those choices have already been made for us and the outcomes are presented to us in neat little Netflix specials and magazine spotlights.
If you’re gay, you need to sleep around in order to rebel against heterosexual norms. If you are a liberal, you need to post a new article to Facebook each week outlining the absurdity of the Republican campaign. If you are an international student, you must remain completely patriotic to your native country while immersing yourself in the culture of your new home.
Some of these ideas may seem a bit far-fetched or even cliché, but they are just a few of the things that society is telling us we need to embody in order to be successful within our label.
For example, I am a gay, white, New Zealand born, liberal leaning, middle class male. First and foremost, I am gay, and it must be one of the most important parts of my identity. As for the rest of them, they provide me with a laundry list of different beliefs, career choices and potential lovers that I am able to pick from in order to remain relevant in today’s world.
I’m not proposing that we all uproot our lives and live on a deserted island in order to truly find ourselves. However, I do think it is important for us to analyze whether or not the values that we hold are what we honestly believe in or what we think those around us will be happy to hear.
So that is what I plan on doing throughout the next few weeks. I am going to try and take an honest look at a variety of different topics such as sex, music, education and the workplace and try to see how much of what we do in these areas is influenced by the standards and expectations placed on us by society.
