I get tired of seeing the amount of hate that exists in this world. It really dismays me when I see people putting each other down or acting as though they are superior to some stranger whose story they’ve never heard. It kills me to see somebody shame a demographic of people who they’ve never met, or spoken to, or even know, based solely on outward appearances.
They’re disgusting and lazy because they’re fat. They don’t wash their face because they have acne. They’re not pretty because they wear too much makeup.
Pardonnez mon Français but: How do you know that and why the do you care? If you see a smile on that person's face, or if that person isn't hurting anybody, then why concern yourself with what they look like?
I’d like to elaborate on something: just because somebody has a particular outward appearance doesn’t mean that you can assign your assumptions of them as facts to use against them. Sure, you are more than welcomed to have your opinions about them, but it doesn’t mean that you need to go out of your way to make them feel horrible about themselves. I notice a ridiculous influx of people who anonymously abuse their ability to share their opinions with a community in order to spread needless hate and shame tactics to a demographic of people they don’t have the guts to stand up to with their identities showing. Why? Because they know their opinions aren't sound. Anybody who believes their opinion has a moral standing and truly believes in its message doesn’t have to hide the person passing it out like a flier. The people who truly do stand up and openly spread hate are the kinds of people who I feel need more love and help than anybody else in this world; because good, confident people don’t have to hurt others to feel whole, strong, beautiful, etc. Good and confident people have the strength to accept and love themselves and others with zero desire to put anybody down hatefully in order to achieve a sensation of superiority, or even as a resolve to the issue they don't agree with. Shaming and hating somebody isn’t going to help them; even if it could make them change their appearance (or whatever it is you don't like about them), it isn’t going to heal the preexisting or newly formed damage that came long before and shortly after that change.
People even seem to hate each other based on completely non-physical things as well; we hate each other for having thoughts and opinions that don’t match ours; we hate people for being happier and more confident than us; we hate people for their race, their sexuality, their fashion sense. People hate, shame, attack, abuse, neglect people that don’t fit what they desire from a person … why? Do we really believe that we – a single person in a world of so many people – should have the soul responsibility of dictating how other people should think, feel, and appear?
It might seem like I’m angry and feeling hateful myself, but I’m not; I’m inspired. I’m inspired to try and put a message out there to anybody who will listen to it. I’m not asking anybody to stop feeling what they’re feeling or to immediately change their opinions; I’m offering a different perspective in the hopes of helping somebody out there who could benefit from the message I’m trying to spread. That message is that hating, shaming, and putting people down isn’t necessary or helpful, and it certainly isn’t attractive. The most beautiful thing in this world is somebody who is capable of showing kindness even in the most unlikely circumstances. There is nothing more beautiful than somebody who would rather raise somebody up than bring them down. What people fail to realize is that this world could go a lot further if we stopped with the idea that the only way to get to the top and feel superior is to step on everybody else’s heads to get there. If we all raised each other up, if we all leant a hand to the person struggling to get up that hill, we could all stand there together, united and far stronger than the lone person who beat their way up the ladder.
I will never say that somebody can’t have their own opinions, but I will say that the ability to freely speak your opinion is a gift that should not be used for the sole purpose of harming others. Call me what you will for believing that, but I feel that if something is being used to harm someone else, it is a weapon and it is unnecessary. I would love to see people take more action in defending one another and not feeding into this hateful shame culture that exists in our world today. Not just moderators or admins charged with removing highly offensive content – but regular people who are willing to say: this is wrong, this is harmful, let me show you a better way if you'll have it. I’m not suggesting we put down the shamers or hate the haters – I say we offer a new, more helpful perspective; because kindness and love will always trump hate and spite.
That’s all I really had to say for this take – it was more of a ramble but I hope somebody out there enjoyed it. If you guys like this, I’ll consider doing a full take on how to promote what you love instead of attacking what you hate or maybe even focus on any of the topics I discussed here (body confidence, gender shaming, etc). Oh, and for good measure: no anonymous posts for this one. Whatever you want to say, you get to stand proudly by.
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