Tuesday, October 2, 2012
The Eleventh Tuesday We Talk About Our Culture
Morrie believes our culture does not make people feel good about themselves. People are too distracted by tabloids, gossip, celebrities, and sports. Morrie says that you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn't work, don't buy it. Instead, create your own subculture, decide for yourself what is important and what deserves value; think for yourself instead of letting society determine what you think and value.
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in today's society, beauty and being thin is a common trend and want. Some people become anorexic or bulimic in order to maintain the look that society wants you to have. The subculture that we should instead focus on, rather than gossip and celebrities, is the fact that people need to be healthy and happy. Our culture today makes men and woman feel like they're not good enough. They are distracted by the models in magazines and the beauty of the models they wish they could be. But we shouldn't let society decide what we should look like. We need to be able to feel confident and happy with the way we are.
ReplyDeletePeople need to realize that being yourself is perfectly OK. Society should not have a say in what you wear or who you will become in life. Morrie talks about forming a subculture, which society needs to do more often. Life isn't about the latest celebrity gossip or loosing weight because the image of yourself isn't pleasing to you. Create a subculture of your own instead of following along with what everybody else wants. It's more important to stand out and be who you are than have our society choose for you.
ReplyDeleteToday's culture is all about men being muscular and woman being as skinny as twigs. To be honest, why is our culture that way now? What is so wrong about having meat on your bones? We were all meant to be different, but today's culture just points out those differences and says that we need to look a certain way to be accepted. So many people have endangered their own well being just to be accepted into our society, and I hate it. Be who you are, and like Morrie said, "Don't buy into it."
ReplyDeleteIn our culture today, being different is a bad thing. Society has made this mold for the "perfect person," and everyone is struggling to fit that mold. People today try so hard to fit in, they forget what is really important in life. Morrie knows that it is perfectly OK to be yourself. Everybody's different, and no one is perfect, so there is no reason why you can't be yourself. A lot of people buy in on all of the gossip about celebrities. They think that if someone famous wears a size 0, then they should be a size 0 as well. But if you can't have that perfect size 0 body, and don't agree with society, you should make your own subculture. You can choose what you think is important, and most importantly, you can be yourself.
ReplyDeleteYou have to create your own culture. I agree with Morrie. You shouldn't have to think about what the rest of our culture does. You shouldn't be afraid to be different because in the end we are all the same anyway. Whether people see it or not we all have very similar characteristics. We are all human aren't we? Morrie also says there's nothing embarrassing about his condition and he says you rely on people when you are an infant just as much as he does now. Then he tells Mitch how you also rely on people in the middle of your life too. People might not want to admit it but we need a culture to survive too. But you don't always have to follow everyone else's rules in that culture. Obviously you have to follow the laws but you don't have to wear what everyone else is or choose what everyone expects you to. I believe this is Morrie's point in the chapter and I agree with it.
ReplyDeletePeople need to start loving themselves more. They don't need to perfect and looks exactly like their favorite celebrities, how "society" wants them to be. Why would you pretend to be something your not? Eventually your inner self will shine through and everyone's going to be confused. Why be embarrassed or ashamed of yourself? Morrie himself said there's nothing embarrassing about his disease. That so called perfect person doesn't exist. People seriously struggle to achieve a goal that doesn't even exist. Eating disorders are all over the world and mostly likely to keep spreading. I don't understand how people just can't not love themselves because of dumb things like this. You should embrace who you really are not someone your trying to impersonate.
ReplyDeleteWe are raised with our parents’ customs, so we are taught a certain way to do certain things. However, in the society today if the ways we do those things aren't “perfect” to others, we are unaccepted. In a way we copy others who are accepted to be the “perfect” type of person. Our culture is just a base of who we truly are these days. Since our race doesn't much matter anymore we jump to things like how people dress or how much makeup a person wears. It doesn't matter on what we look like because of our culture, but it matters of how we act towards others because of our culture. Also it matters if we get hurt by the society for them thinking our culture isn't their idea of “perfect.”
ReplyDeleteSociety is what is tearing people apart these days. Just like Morrie, I believe that our culture does not make us feel good about ourselves. When people do not fit it, they try to change themselves. It is horrible to think people starve themselves just to fit in. We are all expected to be perfect. I wish I could go to school without makeup every single day, but I can't because I wouldn't "fit in." In my opinion, many people are extremely happy, but worthless to society. We shouldn't have to change who we are to fit in. Nothing will ever be perfect in society. I agree with Morrie when he states we should not let society determine the big things, like how we think, for us. We cannot give in to the cruel society around us. If you don't fit in with the culture around you then I do believe a "subculture" is needed. We have to surround ourselves with people we love, and people who love us. If we do not do this, then we are constantly going to be brought down by people who do not want us to succeed. Even before reading this lesson, I realized that we cannot fall into the demands of a society. The biggest problem with most cultures is its inability to visualize and utilize its potential. I have learned that it's acceptable to be different. I can't surround myself with people who think otherwise.
ReplyDeleteWe see the commercials, the women are thin. Most women want to be that figure, but not realizing that those women on television are pretty much starving themselves. Our culture is different today, a lot of people will look in the mirror, and think that they aren't good enough. Morrie is exactly correct when he says, "...But the big things- how we think, what we value- those you must choose yourself." You can't let anyone- or any society-determine those or you." (on page 155). As a teenager that watches television, I see those commercials, and I ignore them, and think, I would never want to even attempt to try out for such a commercial. All these women are doing is embarrassing themselves, by showing such an example. Our culture doesn't have to go by how you look, or how much money you obtain. Its about being happy with yourself, because dwelling over how "perfect" a person is on television, is going to get you nowhere, it is just going to make you sick. Food has been brought down into this world for a reason, and that reason is to eat, so we don't starve.
ReplyDeleteOur culture and society SUCKS. Like come on, if you're overweight, you're ugly. If you're skinny, you're anorexic. If you're poor, you're useless. If you're rich, you're spoiled. If you're happy, you're full of yourself. If you're depressed, you're selfish and are looking for attention.
ReplyDeleteToday's culture makes everyone look like a bad person. All our society is good at it seems is stereotyping. People need to not judge a book by its cover but instead get to know people better before coming to conclusions about them. There is nothing wrong with being yourself. Even if you are Number 2.
Society is what ruins a lot of people. The trend is being skinny with perfect hair, body. Morrie believes that it is OK to just be yourself. The thing is with today's society is if you try to just be you they'll judge you and look at you differently. Not a single person is perfect and each and every single one of us are different! But why do we care if were not like the rest? We care because in this culture you have to fit in. I disagree. I believe just being yourself is perfect. I can care less what people have to say about me. Or about anything. Because I'm my own person. And I refuse to live with the label "society"
ReplyDeleteYou should never have to worry about how you look or who you are overall. There are people out there who will accept you for who you are. The only problem is figuring out who they are. Then you have your own "culture" that is exempt from the social statuses of the "normal" world. People shouldn't have to worry about how others look at them. All people need to do is tell themselves they are fine the way they are. You shouldn't have to change to fit in with the "acceptable" people.
ReplyDeleteWhat society wants you to think, is that "you're never going to be good enough". Which, in fact, many people think is true. But, honestly, have you seen America lately? Our standards for the "perfect" aren't even in society anymore. When you look around, you know what you see, and chances are, you get that warm, upsetting, disgusted feeling, because everyone around you, in some way, shape, or form, is ashamed of themselves. My mom taught me this: "If you can't be yourself, then don't be anyone at all, because you're beautiful just the way that you are."
ReplyDeleteSociety will laugh at you no matter who you are, or what you do, because you aren't "one of them". Individuality is getting weak these days, because society is pressuring change, but I won't stand for it. Society is nothing compared to the power of the outcasts.
"This is for the kids who chose to be the losers."
Our society pressures everyone to be someone that they are not. People try to become the “perfect person” that our culture has established. The society that we live in is pretty much telling us that it’s not okay to be yourself. Morrie said that people don’t usually realize how similar we all are. Yes, we differ in some ways, but shouldn’t we embrace those differences if everything else about us is the same as everyone else? I agree with Morrie. We can’t let anyone or any society determine what we think and what we value. If you let our culture tell you what to do, you could end up drastically changing your life just to “fit in.”
ReplyDeleteWe spend so much of our lives trying to fit in with our society's standards. All of these ads poking at you to spend money on weight loss, or certain clothes, or gym memberships, or things to "improve you" are totally pointless. The things that need to be improved in people aren't physical things. You can't mold yourself to be a certain way. Instead what Morrie is saying is to take the important things and form yourself around them. Make yourself a better person instead of making yourself better looking. Be a decent human being instead of worrying about other people that don't look like you. In our culture, people can be awful human beings but as long as they look pretty no one seems to care.
ReplyDeleteThe culture that we live in today is not the best. In our culture, a lot of people only look out for themselves and do not help others. Also, our culture is all concerned about money. I agree with Morrie that you should make your own sub-culture. What Morrie is saying is that you should make your own choices of what is the correct thing to do and what is considered incorrect. For example, if you do not have a smart phone you are considered un-cool and are pressured to get one, but this considered correct to me in my own sub-culture. As of now I would say I attempt to be different than most people, and not give in to peer pressure.
ReplyDeleteJudgement. That's all there is anymore. No matter what you're like, you are going to be judged. Society today sickens me almost. Everyone is so caught up in trying to be better than te next person. When they can't do that, they judge people that are "below" them. Morrie is right once again by saying that society is basically messed up. I feel people need to grow up and realize that everyone is the same.
ReplyDeleteYou can't let society rule your life. Society is not the way to go. You can't let magazines tell you what your life is like, or what you should look like. You can't let pages of paper, or a television tell you that you are not good enough, because most of the time you are. Society is just an excuse to give someone the power to ruin someone else's life or emotions, That's why I'm not going to let society rule my life. I have my own life to live, and so do you. That's why you have to prove society wrong, and tell it that you own your own life, and that you are good enough.
ReplyDeleteOur culture is very messed up. In this generation we are expected to look and act a certain way. I agree with Morrie. I think our culture does not make us feel very good about ourselves. I do not listen to the horrible society. I guess I created a "subculture" like Morrie talked about. I only surround myself with people who love and care about me. It is important for people to accept you for who you are. People are too judgmental now a days.
ReplyDeleteWhy should we change ourselves for anybody? Why should we be restricted to what our culture considers to be "perfect"? We don't need to follow every guideline to this society! We can be who we want because in the end, like Morrie says, we all have two things in common: Beginning-birth-and end-death. We're all alike and we don't need to judge. It's just messed up. What's the point of stressing out about having the perfect hair and getting the newest jeans and wanting those cool sneakers? There really isn't. People will accept you without those things.
ReplyDeleteMy family and I believe in what Morrie says and live very close by it. When one of my family members does not know if they will work, they get stressed and worried. I will try to mold and sculpt my subculture. I will not let anyone tell me how I should think and what I should believe in. Since I am still young, I am learning about different things that will cahnge my future every day. These ideas will set up my subculture later in life. I am still being guidied in the right direction from my parents, but they do not tell me what I have to believe in.
ReplyDelete