Our Generation of Catfish
Its safe to say that modern society puts a lot of focus on how a person looks, rather than taking notice on how a human is as a whole. It’s hard to miss magazine covers, commercials, billboards, and even reality shows placing people on pedestals based solely on how they appear physically. Not that they have ever accomplished anything that benefitted anyone— other than being eye candy. Nevertheless, men and women do everything in their power to be just how society depicts as “being perfect.” But is it really just trying to fit in? Or has the pressure actually damaged us psychologically? The shrinking “ideal size for women” has become the primary cause (in this generation) for anorexia and other health related problems. It’s proven that prolonged and periodic calorie restrictions (in dieting) result in a distinctive personality in which a person becomes passive, anxious, and emotionally unstable (Mernissi, 290).
In today’s world, much socializing occurs through media websites and profiles on the Internet. It’s a great way to keep up and know what’s going down with friends without actually having to talk to them or ever see them in person
again. It isn’t quite a surprise that dating websites began to pop up left and right trying to help people find love with just a click of a button. Sites such as match.com, eHarmony, and jDate allow users to create a profile based on what they want to show those who might be of interest. But with the ability to create a new persona, knowing that “the one for you” could be on the other side of the screen comparing your profile to that Victoria’s Secret model look-a-like, one would hesitate to be a hundred percent honest with who they are. Knowing the competition against countless others to find the perfect match, on could easily trick themselves into saying a little white lie, or two, or even create a whole profile pretending to be a person completely different from them and hope for the best. This...