From ages eleven to seventeen, an American teenager spends every waking hour, 365 days a year, to be popular. Everything teenagers do is subconsciously to be accepted and admired. The way a person dresses is to look good, not for themselves, but to their peers. Other people's opinions of what is considered "right" becomes their definition of "right", shaping every move and every detail, up to the way they walk, act, and dress.
Life at this age revolves around popularity more than ever in an entire lifespan. When we were children, our lives revolved around our parents, not by other children. By middle school, these children start treating their family as a day job and they create a new world among them. Standing in this world is what matters, being "accepted" matters. If adults went to work, and there co-workers criticized the way they looked, saying "slut," or having the fear of getting bullied and teased, I'm pretty sure adults would be worried about popularity as well.
The issue on popularity is sad and colossal. I think it is pathetic that we do everything in our lives to impress and to be liked. Starving for these alliances and doing things for the feeling of being elite among others. Popularity is not so much about being well liked; it is more of being looked up to. The only reason to why these people are "popular" is because they look down upon others so those can look up. By creating followers that envy, it is easy to control and manipulate that group into having power over them. Making fun of others can help rank themselves higher, and reassure people that they are better. Popularity to me is egotistical; caring for an opinion of those who are not cared for.
However, it may seem that high school social status is set up to be a pyramid; it in fact is more shaped like a pear. The top is the most popular and least in number; there can only be few with such envious characteristics and supremacy. The middle social class is the fat of the pear, they are the largest in number, and most are striving to be at that peak top, obsessing their teenage career on false abstractions (which have absolutely no use after high school.) The bottom is also narrow, and is the least popular. The bottom of the food chain always gets the most teasing and bullying. To be last on this social ladder can make some people miserable, so miserable that people have committed suicide.
I honestly believe popular opinion is the biggest lie in the world. I think media telling the public what is acceptable, grosses me out. Teenage culture is so corrupt that it seems almost impossible to find people that are different and unusual. The more popular and more religious a person, I feel, the more unintelligent he/she is. They do what they’ve been told and don’t question or act from doubt. They believe what is being told and base their life on it. I want to see more different people, more people to find themselves rather than make themselves. "By avoiding popularity, thou shall find peace." (Abraham Lincoln)
