“I have great fashion sense; I’m just too poor to prove it”
Last week, Year 10 was
very lucky to have poet Mike Garry visit school. He really gave me a lot to
think about, although in hindsight, the “subject of conversation” was probably
unintentional on his side. He touched lightly on his poetry, handing out one of
his works for us to look at, to study. But generally, his talk was based more
on ‘why aren't you bothered?!’
This man, standing in
fronts of us, was clearly very passionate about this. His frustration, almost
anger was shining through as he tried to get a reaction out of us, his
audience. He would ask us a question, starting off with English based
questions; do we like reading? Do we enjoy poetry? That kind of thing. But
then, once he realised no one was really bothered, and no one wanted to ask his
questions, he tried a different tack; asking us why we weren’t answering. Were
we too scared to look ‘nerdy’ or ‘geeky’ in front of our friends? Were we
worried about looking stupid or silly before our peers?
So I put my hand up.
Partly because I felt sorry for him, and partly because I couldn't come up with
a decent reason why not to. He seemed pleased to have someone talking to him,
someone with something to say.
After the talk, I
kept thinking about Mike’s questions; why are we so fussed about our image? Why aren't we bothered about anything important?
And it’s not just us
Year 10’s; I’m sure almost everyone at school is worried about how they appear
to others, along with adults, working in all kind of professions. I think the
clothes side of things is more exclusive to the younger generations, but some
adults feel similar pressures to children and teenagers; adults often feel
pressured to provide for their children, or maybe to go to the gym, keep fit or
perhaps even feel as though they need to best their siblings.
But why?
Why do we feel this
pressure? I always find myself thinking back to the cavemen; they wouldn't care
what they looked like, what they wore, who they talked to. It may sound silly,
but realistically, they wouldn't give one, would they? So why do we? Where has
this pressure come from?
It’s as though you
are required to be perfect; it’s not an option. If you don’t get it right, you’re
out of it. Take to the trends, buy the brands, do the drink.
It really pisses me
off when kids judge other kids based on what they’re wearing, what they say and
what they do; what gives you the right to decide how you’re going to treat a
person based on what they’re wearing?
No one’s perfect, and
no one needs to be. It’s perfectly alright to be yourself.
If only more people
saw that.
