You’re the Girl Who Over the past 13 months, my life has changed dramatically. On August 25th, 2015, my best friend committed suicide. It was a complete shock to everyone and left many people devastated, including myself. From that day forward, I was known as “the girl whose best friend killed herself.” I didn’t commit suicide, so why was I being labeled as so? When it comes to stereotypes and labels, it is extremely common to be judged by who you hang out with, opposed to who you are as an individual. With suicide in particular, things such as “depression” and “shame” are associated with such a horrible tragedy. Unfortunately, this is the case among many different subjects, and it affects nearly everyone. People are being stereotyped and
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For the sake of simplicity, people tend to group things together. First impressions stick in our minds and that is how we identify people. You are more likely to remember physical attributes rather than a name. For example, if you were asked to describe a girl in your English class you may say she has blonde hair and blue eyes, which automatically makes you think she may be stuck up, or a “dumb blonde”. More than likely your natural response is going to be to describe the general observations you have made about the girl, as well as the stereotypes you have been taught about those observations. Perhaps she taps her pencil, so you think she’s annoying. Maybe she was late to class for three days in a row, so you think she’s irresponsible. This train of thought is due to preconceived notions taught to you by society. Everyone knows what blonde jokes are, however, they are starting to become more than just jokes. They are becoming a way to categorize people, in more ways than just their hair color, into groups that can be very hurtful. You are not born judging people. The “norms” set by society teach you what is acceptable, what is not, and everything in …show more content…
They know your family, your friends, who’s in jail, who goes to church on Sunday, and what everyone is up to, practically at all times. My friend group was considered the more “popular” group of girls in school. From the outside looking in, everyone thought we were the spoiled preps with good grades. We somehow managed to have the reputation that our lives were perfect, which was far from the truth. That image was shattered when my best friend took her own life on a chilly Tuesday night. I had just finished playing a volleyball game, a passion that her and I had shared. She had to quit the team earlier that summer because of a knee injury that she couldn’t manage to recover from. She had to make the devastating decision to end her volleyball career, weeks before our senior year started. We were both heartbroken, she was my partner, how was I supposed to play without her? Little did I know that three short weeks later I would be not only playing without her, but living without her. She left no reason behind. No note, no call, no warning. She had texted me the words “I love you, sis” approximately 20 minutes before her mother walked in to find her dead on her bedroom floor. I didn’t get to read the text until after my game, but even then I didn’t think much of it because it was common for her to say
For the sake of simplicity, people tend to group things together. First impressions stick in our minds and that is how we identify people. You are more likely to remember physical attributes rather than a name. For example, if you were asked to describe a girl in your English class you may say she has blonde hair and blue eyes, which automatically makes you think she may be stuck up, or a “dumb blonde”. More than likely your natural response is going to be to describe the general observations you have made about the girl, as well as the stereotypes you have been taught about those observations. Perhaps she taps her pencil, so you think she’s annoying. Maybe she was late to class for three days in a row, so you think she’s irresponsible. This train of thought is due to preconceived notions taught to you by society. Everyone knows what blonde jokes are, however, they are starting to become more than just jokes. They are becoming a way to categorize people, in more ways than just their hair color, into groups that can be very hurtful. You are not born judging people. The “norms” set by society teach you what is acceptable, what is not, and everything in …show more content…
They know your family, your friends, who’s in jail, who goes to church on Sunday, and what everyone is up to, practically at all times. My friend group was considered the more “popular” group of girls in school. From the outside looking in, everyone thought we were the spoiled preps with good grades. We somehow managed to have the reputation that our lives were perfect, which was far from the truth. That image was shattered when my best friend took her own life on a chilly Tuesday night. I had just finished playing a volleyball game, a passion that her and I had shared. She had to quit the team earlier that summer because of a knee injury that she couldn’t manage to recover from. She had to make the devastating decision to end her volleyball career, weeks before our senior year started. We were both heartbroken, she was my partner, how was I supposed to play without her? Little did I know that three short weeks later I would be not only playing without her, but living without her. She left no reason behind. No note, no call, no warning. She had texted me the words “I love you, sis” approximately 20 minutes before her mother walked in to find her dead on her bedroom floor. I didn’t get to read the text until after my game, but even then I didn’t think much of it because it was common for her to say