As one plays the game of life, I can safely say that being accepted would always be one of the task that any living species should be able to conquer. Acceptance leads to sense of belongingness, which is important to most social animals including humans.
And as it may seem that the advancement of our societal etiquette is directly proportional to the progression of mankind's civilization, some of the negative traits that we humans had, also developed into a new civilized form. History taught us the cruel and derogatory effects of any types of discrimination. But mankind was able to hide its face into a new form acceptable for the society.
The Nazis, the Jews, and the Blacks are just some of those in history who struggled with unfairness and prejudice. The poor, the gays, those mentally ill are the modern time object of inequity. And as much as we want to deny this, we are still biased with the race, physical attributes, social status, and gender orientation by some of our fellow men. Some pretend to be fine dealing with the poor but prefers to be with the company of those on the upper part of the societal pyramid. While some hoard hidden annoyance and rage to those member of the third sex making them tolerant to misdeeds committed by others to the latter.
Those who even label themselves (such as emo, weirdo, ugly, etc.) mustn't be sufficient as a criterion to outcast them socially. With the rising incidence of suicide related to bullying, we should all be aware that the latter can easily be traced to the roots of social acceptance and sense of belongingness.
I don't want others to think that I'm one of those smarty-pants, acting to be knowledgeable regarding this matter, but I do know that my kids must be raised to the best and to the most appropriate norms that the society can offer, with respect to equality and fairness.Labels: current issues, reactions