Rebel without a point...

...that title was unintentionally depressing.

Today, dear reader, I have been thinking about groups.  The stereotype kind of group.  This was brought on because someone reminded me (again) that I am so totally a hippie.

While I have nothing against hippies, really, I am not a big fan of being lumped into different groups like this.  Like most normal human beings, I like to think of myself as unique and individual.  I do not like feeling like some conformist that blends perfectly into a pre-set group, thus allowing anyone that meets me to associate me with that group and therefore avoid actually getting to know me.

"I have literally no interest in knowing you as an individual!"

Largely due to my choice in major and possibly due to actual aspects of my personality, I get the hippie thing a lot.  I have also throughout my life been lumped in with the geeks, jocks (wow, was that a brief period), popular folk, artists, prudes, and hipsters.  I think at this point in my life any of those groups would forcibly cast me out if I attempted to be "one of them".  And I am overwhelmingly comfortable with this.

In a move that is sure to offend some, I am going to write down basic descriptions of various stereotyped groups as I understand them and then submit why I don't think I fit into that particular group.  In my mind, this is proving some sort of point about how I am a wild card and like to do my own thing.  I like to think of myself as some sort of rebellious figure:  following only the dictates of my own mind, marching only to the beat of my own drum, dancing badly in my own bad-dancing style.  However, it is likely that to everyone else in the world, I will seem a lot more like a five-year-old with her fingers in her ears yelling "you're not the boss of me!"  This is a risk I am willing to take.  Onward.

Geek:  The geek, as it has been applied to me, is a veritable medley of nerdy things.  Highly involved in academics, takes school very seriously, follows rules and authority figures very well, and in general a well-behaved and meek little creature.  Natural habitat is hiding behind a book and tends to bring up obscure facts in what could have been a normal conversation.  Most likely a highly organized, slightly anal, type-A sort of person who freaks out over incorrect formulas and improper grammar with the same level of uncontrolled rage generally displayed by Al Gore over global warning.  By which, of course, I mean that the rage is largely impotent and is ignored or mocked by others.

"I cling to the idea of being your boss someday."

 

-While I did, in fact, enjoy my last few years of high school and I absolutely loved college, this is because I got to do things I liked.  I love reading and writing, but I am appalling at math.  I am terrible with numbers to the point that if numbers were children, I would have willingly handed them to CPS long ago to spare them from having to suffer with me.  I am also pretty tragically messy and disorganized and am nothing like type-A.  I fall much closer to type-Z, if that exists.  I was a pretty decent rule-follower up until college when I decided to only follow rules if I decided they made sense and if they came from a person I respected.

I do really hate grammatical and spelling errors, though.

Jock:  The jock title, as far as I know, generally goes to some beefy creature with prominent muscles who lives either in workout clothing or the dark recesses of some party.  Interests include working out, practicing, and engaging in dumbed-down horseplay with jock buddies.  Probably watching Jersey Shore, too.  They are often called "meat-heads" by people who perceive them to be less than intelligent.  Generally tied into the popular crowd.  Often appear to be quite preppy.  None of those shaggy-haired or pierced types.
*  I would like to reiterate that these are very broad stereotypes that I am fully aware do not apply to most people who would consider themselves "jocks".  I am just reporting the general idea.  Please don't beat me.

"I could easily destroy you."

 

-Do I even need to contest this?  I am wildly nonathletic and the only reason I was ever thrown in here is because I was on the junior varsity soccer team my freshman year.  My association with being a jock probably ended about halfway through the season when people observing me realized I had the muscle structure and coordination of a melting gumby.

Popular folk:  The top of the social hierarchy.  These people are often extremely attractive, wealthy, and well-groomed.  They are well-known to others, either on a personal level or just through reputation.  People tend to seek their company or their approval or both.  Tend to be gifted socially and are adept at communicating with others and reading social situations.  Usually considered to be very into cliques and exclusion of anyone who does not meet their "standards", whatever those are.

"We are above you even though we star in an awful tv show!"

-I did know a lot of people in high school, but I would never have been considered socially gifted.  I was afraid of people for too long to really be adept at that whole "conversation" thing and I was not nearly assertive enough to be popular.  Besides, I always thought it took some level of desire to make yourself popular and I never had the slightest desire for it.



Artist:  This category is going to include musical artists, theater artists, and artists who make art.  Artists generally suffer from taking their work much more seriously than they should.  Sure, some people really are gifted at an early age, but most people would agree that high school drama and band concerts and art shows are pretty boring.  They are good for their age, but who wouldn't rather be going to something professional?  Anyhow, artists put a lot of emphasis on personal expression.  This usually carries over into appearance so artists have some interesting ideas about hair and makeup and thrift store clothing that probably should not exist any more.  They are very tuned into their emotions (occasionally too much so) and tend to think of themselves as brooding or misunderstood.  Probably the most commonly repeated phrase of any type of artist is that most people just wouldn't get whatever it is they do.

"I am cool and misunderstood."

 

-Okay, yes, some of this fits me.  I was in choir, band, drama, and art classes in high school.  I also have a tendency to think (or maybe hope?  assume?) that people don't completely understand me.  I don't like fitting in boxes.  I don't like being labeled.  However, I like to think that I was always pretty aware that even if I had a good voice or made a good painting, it wasn't really exceptional.  And I generally assumed that if someone didn't like something I made, it was just because they didn't like it, not because they were ignorant Philistines.

Prude: An uptight, insanely conservative, fairly judgemental individual.  Not open to different views of lifestyle choice, opposed to bad language, drinking, sexual activity, and pretty much any breaking of rules.  Considered to be not very fun.  Will spend most of their lives judging anyone that happens to pass by them until they die alone with their cats.

I have no idea what to even put for a picture of this.

-I stayed very legal in high school, but I don't think I was ever really judgemental of anyone that didn't.  I also flatter myself that my friends and I were quite fun.  And, of course, plenty of rules were broken in college and plenty of life was experienced.

Also, I don't even like cats.

Hipster:  These are those creatures who are violently opposed to being "main stream" or doing anything that "the crowd" does or liking anything that "the crowd" likes.  Ironically, their aggressive individuality is all expressed the same way.  They all listen to indie bands that become uncool as soon as other people have actually heard of them, wear expensive clothing made to look cheap, have mac books, wear "ironic" t-shirts and scarves, and hang out in coffee shops all the time.  Many have glasses and shaggy haircuts.  Some are pretend-Marxists or have a love affair with Che Guevara without actually knowing what he did.

 "My whole existence is ironic."

-I myself sometimes like indie music, but I continue liking it after it is popular.  I also like things that are definitely both mainstream and shallow.  I love America's Next Top Model.  Is there a certain shame in admitting that?  Of course.  But the shame comes from liking a show that is full of shallow, stupid caricatures of individuals and may actually lower my intelligence through watching it, not because it is "main stream".  I do occasionally wear crappy clothing, but that is because I am cheap.  I do love coffee shops, own glasses and scarves, and have un-trimmed hair.

And I actually know a ton about Che Guevara, the mass-murdering guerrilla fighter.

Hippie:  An unwashed, uncombed, patchouli-scented mass of pot-smoke and peace-talk.  Loves nature and animals, loves sticking it to the man, ridiculously mellow, pacifistic, flower-children who like drugs and free love.  Generally opposed to consumerism, grow their own vegetables, get clothing from thrift stores or give-aways, and are very in-touch with their feelings and a great many inclusivist philosophies.  Love tye-dye and don't love things like shaving and basic hygiene.  Interested in other cultures and religions from around the world, opposed to war, big fans of outdoor concerts and nudity, and would like everyone to live in a series of self-sufficient communes.  Also like drum circles and not eating animals.  And enjoy organic things.

"We love everything.  Also, we smell."

 

-I practice basic hygiene.  I like being shaven.  I do not use any drugs and I am not so much into that whole "free love" thing.  I have no issues with buying clothes from regular stores.  I hate gardening and have a tendency to kill any green thing I come in contact with.  I get annoyed when people get too touchy-feely or launch into "beautiful" ideas, like "we-are-all-one-shimmering-ball-of-light".  I don't like it when they make everything some deep, profound revelation.  I am eating a sandwich, not "becoming one with the life-force of the food".  I am not a fan of public nudity.  And my goal is not the ultimate disassembly of government.  I am decidedly not vegetarian and I think drum circles are boring.

But I do enjoy occasionally sticking it to the man.

Ha.  I am none of the above.  Not fully, anyway.  Maybe just some bits and pieces here and there.  I am a ... unique amalgam?

Well, that's that.  I know this should have a better summary, but the title did warn you that I may or may not have a point.

Off to find another form of rebellion.