This is day 11 in the 30 Wish Challenge.
I wish everyone would learn to accept others for their differences without feeling threatened or in competition because of them. Then everyone would be more apt to get along and embrace what makes us each unique and also agree to disagree when necessary without taking the offensive or defensive role as much and as quickly as we do.
As individuals, we have similarities and differences among us that may or not affect the way we live our lives and interact. You have people of different races, shapes, sizes, sexual preferences, languages, religions, etc who constantly feel the need to group themselves with those who have such things in common with them. They often view (subconsciously or not) the “other groups” like they’re in a competition or like the others pose a threat to them just because they’re different.
We have this race vs that race. Within the black community, we have light skin vs dark skin, natural hair vs permed, etc. We don’t always accept those who are too bourgie and “white acting” or too ghetto. In the lesbian community, we need to sub-categorize ourselves and ostracize from within to show disapproval of bisexuals or studs who date studs, non-goldstar members who’ve maybe even had kids by men, etc. We have masculine men who can’t stand flamboyant men based on that alone. Even school kids have the emo and gothic kids vs “normal” kids, jocks vs geeks, cheerleaders vs wallflowers, etc.
Even without the labels, when someone is “like” you, people can’t deal with someone else living their lives differently, using a different technique than them, dressing differently than them, dying their hair a “weird” color, piercing an unusual body part, making friends with people that others might not like, choosing to have kids out of wedlock, choosing to divorce, choosing to never settle down, believing in something different, etc, etc, etc. People get their panties in a bunch over the silliest things and often, it’s things that will never directly affect them at all. If it’s something that is harming someone else or something that’s a threat to you, it’s easier to understand. But when an innocent young girl is harassed for walking down the street wearing her hijab or a boy is bullied everyday for being feminine before he even knows what it means or grown women huddle to bash the new pretty woman at work just because she’s got big boobs and the men are already flocking to her… it’s ridiculous.
I figure if we accepted the differences and then got past them to just get to know each other for who we are as a whole… the world could be a much more peaceful place.
