And it always will be. As products of the late 20th century or the 21st century, we thrive on the changes our world has experienced through time. What we see as some societal amelioration to be proud of and propagandise to kick-start further changes, while we explore a time in the mid-20th century where we discriminated a race and a religion different to ours for being destructive, so in response we acted destructively towards them. We entertain ourselves with 18th century literature which outlines sexual double standards that lay between the two genders and how an unmarried woman would receive condemnation for partaking in sexual interaction, by force or by will, while a man watches flourishing in his high status because he did the same thing as that woman but did not experience the same consequence. Or we study that time where we killed our king in fear he would force his beliefs on everyone else, but maybe if his beliefs were the same as ours, he would not have experienced the same fate. We look back on our history, and rightly so, we think we made those changes to ensure that all that inequality and hypocrisy will not remain in our society today. But were those changes really progress or was it just adaptations? Because after all, like the philosopher David Hull once said, “hypocrisy is the lubricant of our society” and in my opinion, it always will be.
In a modified education system, which is now accessible to all that make up our society, we ridicule students for “acting dumb” as it is unattractive and unprofessional to absent oneself from their knowledge and understanding. So why do we look down upon a student for “looking down upon us” because they think they are smarter than us and essentially try harder than us? Because it is seen as unattractive and unprofessional to embrace your knowledge and understanding just because it makes other people feel stupid. In an occupation, where men and women now have equal opportunities and ideals, why do we prioritise our respect towards a woman more than we would towards a man? Is it out of fear that we will be pointed out for “disrespecting a woman” or is it that some feminists are possibly taking it too far? Because if some were solemnly about equal rights for both genders, why is the fact that the term ‘feminism’ is marked by only the female gender not a disputed problem? In a media that idealises the exceptionalism of our country and confidence among our people, why do we frown upon people for appreciating or prioritising their appearance just because it must mean they love themselves and make others feel inadequate? Well, why can’t we love ourselves? As we tell people with broken confidence that they should love themselves and embrace themselves for who they are. Because “you must look good” and “you must remain confident” because otherwise “it reflects bad on the business”. In a new wave of fashion that sees the beauty in all different styles and people of all different shapes and sizes, why do we feel the need to point out the differences in a person? Because we tell ourselves that difference is okay and being unique is a good thing, yet we refer to the beautiful shape of a human being who does not quite match our interpretation of slim and petite as ‘plus size’? So, if difference is a natural and essentially an expected thing in our society, why do we distance people in the modelling and fashion industry because they are different to the expected? Hypocrisy will never be something we can avoid, because despite the advancements and changes we make in our society, or the amount we preach over inequality or change our mannerisms, we can never be a part of a totally equal society. Although history will always prove to us that those changes we made were necessary, it cannot allow us to be fair in all aspects. Because at the end of the day, it is out of our hands to change - hypocrisy is the lubricant of our society and it always will be.
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Jem DuttonStudent Blogger. Archives
April 2018
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