Stereotypes In Today's Society

894 Words4 Pages

A person’s identity is what defines them, but often is not their true self. As Oscar Wilde said: “Most people are other people, Their thoughts are someone else’s opinion, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.” This quote embodies how today’s society serves to transforms youth into unoriginal people. It sets unrealistic expectations for children and teens strive and struggle to reach, and are often seen as failures or weird if they cannot attain them. It is these unrealistic expectations and influences that have the greatest impact on defining youth as a whole. One of the biggest expectations put on youth today is based on the gender of people. From a young age, boys and girls are often raised in different ways, causing them to act a certain way in the future. Boys are expected to be athletic and strong, not showing any signs of weakness. …show more content…

However, in today’s world it has detrimental impacts on the youth as a whole. In stores, people are often bombarded by magazines and other such items that display pictures and tips on how to become this “perfect” person. For guys it is this ripped, lean physique, and females skinny, and beautiful. This is nothing but a simple picture with some editing done, but it creates this feeling inside of youth that they are not good enough as they do not fit in with this category. This can also lead to becoming an outcast in society and viewed as weird, driving people to do terrible and even sometimes dangerous things. The introduction of social media just serves to make the problem even worse. It provides a stage for the spread of this fantasy to everyone without even having to leave the house. Also, with the rise of cyberbullying, it provides a platform for this to occur very easily, through the press of a few buttons. While the media is quite a beneficial part of today’s world, it serves to define youth, turning themselves into something they are