Essays and Short Stories

Modern Day Chains

Expectations are put upon us by everyone for a variety of reasons. Expectations can be part of the reason we strive for greatness; we just don't want to disappoint anyone. Like everything, there is only so much a person can take. Expectations pressure you to be better. Society's expectations are for you to act a certain way, look a certain way, talk a certain way, and think a certain way. Someone in today's society is scrutinized if they don't fit society's mold or idolized and under an even bigger microscope. It becomes an obsession with becoming what is perceived as being loved and noticed. You lose yourself in your pursuit of fitting in. You are your own slave. You are your worst critic and will torture yourself to make your own perfection a reality.

The thoughts start to eat you from the inside out; it is all you can think about. For every 200 women, one has an eating disorder. An eating disorder, according to Google Dictionary, is "any of a range of psychological disorders characterized by abnormal or disturbed eating habits (such as anorexia nervosa)." In reality, it is an addiction and obsession stemming from body dysmorphia, which is the unrealistic and enslaving view of one's body as wrong, forcing them to take drastic measures to try to hide or 'fix' their body.

The media portrays the molds that are accepted in society. For women, it is skinny, tall, and lean. For men, it is tall, muscular, and strong. Anyone or anything that doesn't fit in that mold isn't worthy of mention or praise. We constantly see what we consider "perfect people" every day in magazines, television shows, and social media. The tricky thing is that what is shown in the media is perfected by photoshop, dehumanizing people and creating a false image to obsess over. This is perceived as normal and the baseline for the rules of living a comfortable life. Women have been denied jobs for not forming to the 'status quo,' and men are deemed unattractive and unfit for not being 'normal'.

Every person around you expects something from you, whether it be friendship, knowledge, love, or anything else. This causes you to scramble and fit the role they want you to play. A Shakespeare quote says, "All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts..." This really shows how even in Shakespearean times, people were expected to be more than they are. It has become natural for us to change ourselves to fit in. Another word for that is 'adapt to survive'. We have to adapt to societal expectation in order to survive and make it in this world. It becomes the life-long chains we have to shackle ourselves in order to blend in with the rest of prison. Societal expectations are the modern day slavery that we place ourselves in order to survive and it continues because when we have children, we teach it to our young in order to give them the best chance to survive. Giving into the status quo is so much easier because it is the path of least resistance. You get used to the raw wrists from your chains eventually and just smile like you are supposed to.