America Fears Everything

The Number One Problem in America:

Americans Are Afraid of Everything

What feelings arise in you when I say that Americans fear everything? How would you respond to a statement like this? With agreement or questioning, with dismay or rebuttal? Upon reading Victoria Hardy's essay Fear in America from the American Chronicle, I called into question how many fears encompass the lives of each and every American. Rupert Wilkinson says the four fears of America are being owned, falling apart, falling away, and winding down. Hardy writes that in America "we fear terrorists, disease, war, weather, strangers, molesters, drug dealers, gang members, each other and our news programs perpetuate that it is not just normal, but sane to live in fear."

The collection of essays I have written (and posted) on the problems with American society today include lack of education, parenting, vanity, and intolerance which are prime examples of a large proportion of our fears; the fear of whether or not you will succeed in life, the fear that you will let your children down, an extreme fear of imperfection, and fear of any person that we do not understand. American phobias are as vast as they are ridiculous.

Lack of Education causes Misunderstanding which causes Intolerance which causes Hatred which causes American people to Fear Everything.

Fear of Homosexuals: Homophobia

Pictures like this one depict an intolerance of people in two ways. Firstly, a man holds a sign that shows his hatred of the homosexual community and his views on same sex marriage, secondly, the (hilarious) caption shows how some White Americans still have a hatred of African American people, even after the Civil Rights movement. I chose this picture because it shows that no matter who you are, an intolerance and fear of that which you do not understand is still prevalent. Americans hatred and intolerance of people cause large amounts of fear.
Some American people fear homosexuals, and are against the idea of same sex marriage because they fear what will happen to their marriage if legalization of same sex marriage ensues. Kathy Belge states that "some opponents of gay marriage fear that by allowing same-sex couples to marry, it will lessen the validity of heterosexual marriage", which is ridiculous. My opinion is that the "validity" of heterosexual marriage is depleted way more by divorce and abuse rates than by whether or not two people of the same sex decide to bind their love in marriage. The fear of homosexuals is simply an intolerance, and a fear of what we do not understand. If American people could appreciate differences, and see that diversity is what makes our melting pot country beautiful, hatred like this could finally end. The youth of America can break the cycle of discrimination.

Fear of Imperfection: Atelophobia

Americans have a vast fear of not meeting the expectations of society. We fear being thought of as ugly, imperfect, too fat, too skinny... Anything that an American person knows about themselves is just another thing that they fear others will hate. Those who fall into the angst of a fear concerning their various imperfections fall into a despair that causes irreversible damage to self esteem and in some cases their entire life. The suicide rates of American teenagers is astonishing. When Americans fear things that fall under the category of vanity, depression ensues, followed by despair, and in some cases, followed by death.

Atychiphobia - Fear of failure.
Autophobia - Fear of being alone.
Cacophobia - Fear of ugliness.
Catagelophobia - Fear of being ridiculed.
Obesophobia - Fear of gaining weight.
Philophobia - Fear of love.

Fear is defined as "an unpleasant often strong emotion caused by anticipation" by Merriam Webster dictionary... Unpleasant. How can our news stations and governments officials encourage fear when it causes hatred, suicide, and a general feeling of unpleasant emotions? When Americans realize that everyone is equal, the intolerance of people based on their sexuality will cease to exist, and people can finally live their lives the way they were meant to; with the idea that LOVE is LOVE no matter who possesses it. The young and bold generation of American youth is perfectly capable of changing the way Americans live in fear. If we begin to instill a new idea of what beauty means in the minds of the American people via the media, this issue and many more would disappear. Organizations like To Write Love on Her Arms aim to raise suicide awareness, yet the issue still remains, and will continue to unless something big is done. If America's youth can begin a new trend of tolerance and acceptance of each and every race and ethnicity, the overwhelming fear of that which we do not understand will finally start to end.

Fear of Foreigners or Strangers: Xenophobia

The topic of illegal immigrants arriving from Mexico has become more and more prevalent in recent years, and American people have not neglected to show their standpoints and feelings towards the Mexican culture and community. Since 9.11.2001 Americans have had an extremely heightened fear of terrorism, which unfortunately has resulted in a fear of all middle-eastern people, and turned into a hatred by many Americans of the Islamic culture. Xenophobia is the fear of strangers and foreign people, which to me means all that do not fall into your societal grouping, religion or ethnicity, or into the category of your race.
Americans misunderstanding and fear of that which is foreign to them has always existed, from the beginning when immigrants arriving to this country were persecuted by other immigrants, to the idea that illegal immigrants are to be the demise of American citizens. The immigrants arriving from Mexico in recent years, while illegal, do not pose that large of a threat on our job market, although the argument has been made that they are "stealing our jobs". Honestly, which jobs are the people who state this referring to? Personally, I do not want a single one of the jobs that many illegal immigrants posses; the grunt work of American citizens. People who do not fully understand the events of September 11, 2001 have created an insanely large intolerance of the middle-eastern culture. By educating American students and pressing the idea of understanding in schools, we can not only learn to treat others with respect, but we can better ourselves as a country and as individuals.

What those who fear terrorism in America do not realize is that every country in the world has had some form terror brought down upon them. While many Americans fear, and even hate, the Middle-Eastern cultures, what they fail to realize is that the USA is frequently thought of as a force to be feared above all others.

Solving America's Largest Problem:

The solution to our overwhelming fear of all things lies in the youthful generation of America.

[It is our responsibility as a generation of willful and capable people to change the ways in which Americans live their lives.]

The young adults of America, generation y, are ambitious enough to solve this problem, and by elevating our all encompassing fear, eliminating the majority of hatred in our society. Kaila Krayewski speaks highly about generation y stating that "it is a generation of strong-willed, passionate, and optimistic youth. They have great expectations and are known for expecting (and demanding) to get what they want."

Be the change that causes happiness.

equality.
understanding.
tolerance.
acceptance.
LOVE.

Intolerance of Americans

To the Diversity Committee,

An overwhelming issue that envelops our society is the intolerance of people based on ethnicity, race, and other general appearances alongside intolerance towards those of different social classes. Citizens who fall into these social groups make up a vast majority of our country. Media like Cosmopolitan and People magazine depict an idea of the perfect woman and encourage young Americans to fit the mold of a cookie cutter type of beauty. Since the beginning of human interaction, an idealistic woman has existed. Literature like the Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison tells a story of this idea years before Cosmopolitan Magazine sat on the coffee tables of a large number of adult women and young Americans. The Bluest Eye exemplifies the idea of a stereotypical perfection in a group of African American people that drives them into hardships and even insanity. Through the Diversity Committee at the, a campaign should be made to stop this global and local issue of intolerance. The ideal woman today is seen as a tall blond with an hourglass figure and a perfect face, but this ideal woman does not exist in a natural society, just in our popular forms of media, and to become “perfect” is an impossible task.

In the Bluest Eye, Pecola Breedlove longs for the fair skin and blue eyes of popular American icons like Shirley Temple, until she drives herself into madness. This text shows us how Americans who struggle to maintain or achieve perfection often fall into depression when they fail. Popular media of every generation has deemed it essential for young people to fit into social norms of beauty and perfection that are almost impossible to reach. Today, when unable to fit into the cookie cutter version of beauty, many Americans develop eating disorders. One in every one hundred women in America suffers from Anorexia Nervosa, and two in every one hundred women have suffered from Bulimia Nervosa, these are two very difficult diseases of the human mind that encompass many members of our country, including some men. Ending this overwhelming issue of intolerance in America’s society is a vital task that the Diversity Committee should seriously consider taking on. If the committee takes on a campaign of this magnitude, it will impact the entirety of at least the Colorado universities if not gaining countrywide attention; considering that this issue affects all Americans. According to the South Carolina Department of Mental Health, around 8,000,000 American people suffer from an eating disorder, this statistic is too important and drastic to let pass. Considering the fact that 95% of people with eating disorders are under 25 years of age, this issue directly affects universities and colleges around the country. The condescending articles of magazines like Cosmopolitan and People seriously hurt our culture, and airbrushed made-up models being the basis of comparison for women in America must stop. If the Diversity Committee at does not do something, whom can we look to for the remedy of this nationwide craze for beauty? In the Bluest Eye, Pecola Breedlove’s character dreams for nothing more than what society regards as beautiful, and never achieves it. This idea Toni Morrison depicts is not unlike the way many of America’s youth feels on a daily basis.

Every woman hates something about herself; whether it is a social or economic place in society, their race and ethnicity, or something about their body shape, weight, or skin color. If no woman, and not many men, can feel beautiful in their own skin, then our entire nation, as well as our students, is doing something wrong. If popular literature like the Bluest Eye shows a family that is considered ugly based upon nothing but their race, and media like Cosmopolitan and People magazines show us the perfect, yet fake, American women we should idolize, intolerance will never disappear and more Americans will continue to fall into plastic surgery and eating disorders. This issue is nothing short of an epidemic in our society, and something drastic must be done.