The Boxes of Life

Boxes of Life

There are many factors that contribute to what society thinks of us. The way we dress, the music we listen to, and the activities that we participate in are a few that really "allow" society to put us into these boxes of conformity. And while these things we do are representations of ourselves, they don't always mean the same to us as they do to society.

The ways I dress and act have always been hard for me to "box-up." I think that I fall into a couple of different categories, and do things in all of the different categories with all types of people. For example, when talking about one's attire, there are a couple of major groups that you can stereotype together. There are, of course, the "preppy" styles, the "I don't care" looks, and the "gothic" looks. Now I think there are different bits and pieces of all of these groups that I can put myself in. But this doesn't just apply to the clothes that you choose to wear. It also groups you into what activities you normally partake in, and the different things you like. And, no matter what "group" you fall into, you are going to be perceived, in a way that you might not always like, by society.

First, there is the "preppy" group. This is the group, for guys, that usually consists of faded or ripped-up jeans, a button-up shirt, usually tucked-in in the front, and spiked and frosted hair. And for girls, it's all about the tight-fitting clothes. Usually a short skirt or tight jeans, accompanied by a smaller than normal shirt, and hair that's been died or highlighted so many times that you can't even tell what color it originally was supposed to be; but over everything, there is usually some bright, blonde highlights over the color of the month. As for the activities that "these people" partake inÐ'...they are usually more of the athletic types, you knowÐ'...the stars of the football or track team. If this whole stereotype is at all "correct", then there is a lot of that that I fall into. In high school (which, actually, is what I'm relating most of this to), I played a couple of different sports, and wasn't too bad either. I wasn't ever the "star", but I started on the baseball team, and got plenty of minutes on the basketball team. But I don't think I ever felt 100% comfortable with all of those kids. I think that most of them are, overall, pretty dumb! They also had an awful sense of humorÐ'...and not to think to highly of myself, but I might have only thought that because my sense of humor is way above most! But I think that style is nice sometimes, and I do wear some of those clothes every now and then.

Another "box" that we tend to put people in is the "I don't care" box. These are the people that, for the most part, are either against the whole "preppy movement" or honestly could care less about what they wearÐ'...just whatever they have that they've gotten as gifts and what not. In my experiences, these are for the most part, the band kids. These people usually wear like, for those that like sports (me), shirts with logos of their favorite teams, favorite bands, or those shirts that have a funny, usually dark humor, sayings on them. I would day that most of all, I fall into this category. I did participate in band for four years, and I really enjoyed it. I think that, while people actually do care, they convey this attitude that they don't, and that they don't want to go along with the so-called