Why are we still putting up with societal and cultural BS?
Seems like society has backslid into allowing behavior we proved was unacceptable.
I guess the learning was only temporary due to the pandemic.
We make excuses for the worst people.
Call out bad behavior.
It's the only way we'll grow.
A deleted Redditor wanted to have a discussion about what we as a society need to eradicate, so they asked:
"What toxic behavior does society still make excuses for?"
Being rude to waiters, because I'm 'just demanding.'"
If you are... you're evil.
Doctor's Note
Sick Season 4 GIF by FriendsGiphy"Looks like we are quickly returning to the 'go to work even when you’re sick' way of thinking."
tickingkitty
Gimme Space
"That Family is allowed to not respect boundaries. It's something I see a lot and often trying to set healthy boundaries with them makes them treat you like the bad guy. And media and society tends to promote this behavior as love, when it's often actually dysfunction."
"There's a difference between being close and taking care of your loved ones and being expected to give up reasonable rights to personal space or to self sacrifice for them."
thrashmetaldinosaur
Not so Bad
"White collar crime. And it often appears that the more money involved in the crime and/or fraud, the less likely commensurate repercussions will be brought. The consequences of big money financial fraud are widespread and significant. It ruins many lives and often leads to the death of innocents."
NoHedgehog1650
To the Bone
Working Out Of Office GIF by This GIF Is HauntedGiphy"Overworking and lack of sleep."
sesameball
"Plus missing meals to work more."
The_Hot_Stepper
Work. Work. Work. All the way to death. Welcome back to the office kids.
Hot/Crazy
Christian Bale Oooo GIFGiphy"The 'cute but psycho'; mentality. It’s not cute to be toxic or treat people like crap because you think it’s 'cute' or acceptable because of your attractiveness."
lemonlady7
Bandwagon fallacy
"That if you agree with a majority of people, you are correct."
saltysaltedsal
"Not even the majority of people. If you can find people who share the same belief as you, it makes that belief even stronger. The internet has exasperated this problem."
"It use to be if you were into a niche taboo or out there conspiracy theory, you were pretty isolated. Now there are thousands of others who share the same thing connected from all over the world, so it’s no longer weird. In fact, it’s normal and everyone else is wrong. And they now have a thousand other people who will back them up on that!"
tie-dyed_dolphin
Calm Down
"Hustle Culture. You don’t need/have to monetise every moment of your private life to make more money - you don’t need a side gig or to start your own business or to turn your hobby into a job to be happy."
"It’s actually really scary that so many people get drawn into this way of living and don’t realise they’re literally missing the living part of their lives."
Action-a-go-go-baby
"Not to mention, turning it into a job can destroy it as a passion. I’ve talked to so many artists who, once they turned that hobby into a job, couldn’t even enjoy it anymore cause it felt like they were always working, even if they were just at home late at night doodling for fun."
Propain98
No Susan...
"Mistaking partner's possessiveness for love/caring."
SailorLuna41518181
"Sooo true many girls of my age think that he is possessive of me because he cares about me. No Susan he isn't possessive because he loves you he is possessive because he sees you as an object solely accessible/unique to him."
No-Possible4124
Misdemeanors
Check This Out Saturday Night Live GIFGiphy"Filming someone making a mistake (not crimes) and posting them on the Internet, without censoring their names and/or faces, for them to be judged and humiliated."
NoUsername817226
Snoops
"This weird culture where couples go behind each others backs and snoop through their phones is really weird to me. Especially when they get mad for not finding anything. Or when asked to see their phone they get defensive. Its very childish imo, especially when it's 30+ year olds doing it."
woahts
Production Abuse
"How corporate America looks down on pregnant workers and having kids. All they see is decreased productivity instead of treating new parents or parents-to-be as humans. I know we’ve gotten better, but it’s still bad out there for a lot of people."
ryoon21
As usual, society falls backwards.
When you're young, being the victim of bullying can be a common problem. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, "One out of every five... students report being bullied."
Bullying comes in all forms, including verbal teasing, physical violence, and cyberbullying. Bullying also focuses on a variety of different "reasons."
The National Center for Educational Statistics reports that students are bullied for uncontrollable factors, including, "...physical appearance, race/ethnicity, gender, disability, religion, sexual orientation."
While bullying is in no way okay, and should never be accepted, it might help to know no one is ever alone.
That may have been the thought process behind the question Redditor Melkermyrendal asked:
"What have you been bullied for?"
May The Force Be With You
"Some d*ck tried to make fun of me cos I liked Star Wars. He went over to another one of his friends and told them I liked Star Wars."
"The response: "Yeah, Star Wars is awesome""
– SkyGuy675
What's In A Name?
"My name. I was never teased about it until I was in 1st grade and went somewhere new. Being the new kid with no friends and a funny name made me an easy target for future bullying."
– Tibbarsnook
Classism
"Poverty. When your richer classmates realize that you're wearing cheap clothes, sometimes a couple of times in a row, because that's affordable while they have no concept of clothing or laundry costing money, that's a wide open target."
– GNPTelenor
Acne: The Forever Problem
"Dude...acne is sometimes worse than people. At least you can get away from them. I've had acne since I was 7 and I'm almost 30 now... But if you have a big, nasty one you could pull and Osmosis Jones and explode it on them! XD"
– AlBloodCk26
And The Best Gaming Console Is...
"preferring nintendo games over xbox and playstation"
– Decent-Pizza-5977
Not Pretty, Just Girly
"For having big eyelashes as a boy, they thought I looked girly"
– Kitchen_Holiday_7443
Making It Work For Me
"People used to make fun of my weight as well...I would just sit on them. Shut them up real fast! XD"
– AlBloodCk26
Nothing To Be Ashamed Of
"Reading books"
– OneSidedDice
Coming Out On Top
"Having red hair. Im pretty much bald now, so f*ck em'"
– DeplorableKurt
This Is The Way To Be
"Not bullying others."
– LR-II
Sometimes it can be easy to go along with the behavior of the majority, but simply not taking part on the bullying of others can make a positive impact on the person who is being bullied.
According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, other helpful behaviors from bystanders include. "...spending time with the student, talking to him/her, helping him/her get away, or giving advice..."
You don't have to be the one to step in yourself, however. If you or anyone you know is being bullied, telling a trusted adult, such as a parent, teacher, or family friend can help.
You can also contact the National Bullying Prevention Center through email at Bullying411@pacer.org or by phone at 952.838.9000.
You can also find them on social media.
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There was a time when cyberbullying wasn't taken seriously, believe it or not. Times have certainly changed, haven't they?
Now that smartphones are so ubiquitous, people take cyberbullying more seriously than they ever did, not that there weren't cases of cyberbullying that made the news before.
There was a time when people were just instructed to not take cyberbullying so seriously, to the detriment of everyone.
It's a kind of bullying that is now treated with the attention and seriousness it deserves.
People shared their thoughts after Redditor moth-flame asked the online community:
"What do people not recognise as bullying, but actually is?"
"Belitting people..."
"Belittling people for asking genuine questions, or shaming them for not knowing what is polite based on your specific culture and lifestyle."
koolaidgirl40
This is true. And it's very common online because people assume others aren't acting in good faith.
"Dating someone..."
"Dating someone through a dare."
AussieTeenager
This sounds awful for someone's psyche. Even worse – there are teen comedies with this concept.
"My teachers..."
"My teachers sure didn’t recognize things like kicking the back of my chair over and over again and laughing as bullying, but it was to me."
obsertories
Some teachers are guilty of really just ignoring bad behavior, aren't they?
"Provoking someone's anger..."
"Provoking someone’s anger so much that almost anyone on earth would eventually retaliate physically, thus leading to the bullying victim getting into trouble."
whitehack
An excellent observation. If you push someone enough, they will snap – and there's no reason to push anyone that much.
"Exclusion..."
"Exclusion is pretty bad."
"It's not "bullying" because they're not hurting or otherwise harassing the person but it fucking hurts badly. This includes everything from your friend group being upset with you and excluding you when you're 8 and when you're in college and all your "friends" are ghosting you."
"It's so psychologically damaging. It hurts your confidence, self-image, and much more."
Snapple207
When your so-called "friends" exclude you, it can hurt immensely. That's not what actual friendships are made of.
"People insulting..."
"People insulting your interests. Music taste especially. Please just let listen to my rock/techno/pop in peace."
BeansReallyAreGood
Just let people enjoy things! It's really that simple. Why bully someone over what they like?
"Whenever I invited..."
"Whenever I invited my "friends" somewhere they'd always come. But they never invited me. They'd talk about how much fun they all had over the weekend right in front of me."
Spencer2091
Now's a good time to remind people of something very important: Friendship is a two-way street.
"When people..."
"When people get called on their terrible behaviour and try to pretend they’re the victim instead of actually taking accountability for their actions."
awkwardlyherdingcats
Taking responsibility is a real sign of maturity. Sadly, many people don't ever seem to reach that point.
"People in relationships..."
"People in relationships who manipulate the other if they're growing as a person out of fear of them changing too much or losing them."
KitchenPackage9605
People who do this are incredibly insecure and it's in your best interest to stay as far away from them as possible.
"It's more subtle..."
"It's more subtle, but I think toxic positivity is just bullying someone into shutting up about their unpleasant feelings."
Both-Glove
People's emotions are valid. It's a good idea to not make them feel like they can't speak about their feelings candidly or honestly.
Now that you've been informed about behaviors that also count as bullying, you'll be able to stand up for yourself more effectively. Even better: you'll be able to defend others in similar positions.
Have observations not included here? Feel free to tell us more in the comments below!
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Kids can really be cruel. Why is that? Simple answer, because adults don't know any better. Bullying is a learned behavior and it's time for parents to step up.
As much as we discuss bullying out in the open nowadays, it still seems like an enormous amount of kids are suffering.
We definitely have social media to thank for that. Too many people have access to easy ways to spew their hate and vitriol.
Let's hear some stories...
Redditor FarSheepherder3880 wanted to hear from the survivors of bullies, they asked:
"What did you get bullied for?"
I was bullied a lot as a child. There were an endless amount of reasons; none that matter, because none of it is justified.
300+
"Fatness." ~ -SonOfHam-
"Being 300+ in high school was rough. It was either: making fun of me for it, or assuming I was someone who was strong. I was neither, just a shy kid who liked cars and got fat because of health reasons and stress. Misery. Honestly. If there's one thing that everyone should avoid, it's being extremely overweight. It ruins so much of your life." ~ Saaaaaaaaab
I was in 5th grade...
"Well… I got beat up in the bathroom because some kids asked who my dad voted for and I said George W. Bush. I guess that wasn't the right answer. I was in 5th grade. I had no idea who my dad voted for. I barely knew what an election was. George Bush was just the only name I remembered hearing about on TV. Probably why 20 years later I really, really hate politics." ~ 4d3d3d3__Engaged
Appearances...
"How I looked, what I wore and what I liked (Harry Potter, etc). Class of 2008 here and I've only gotten one apology from one of the people that bullied me." ~ horsetrek
"I'll admit, I was a bit of a bully in school and a lot of times I've wanted to reach out to people and apologize. The only thing stopping me is that maybe they've moved on from it and that I'm better off as just a past memory to them." ~ Zeldaaaaaaaaa
hey red...
Ed Sheeran Dancing GIF by Lip Sync BattleGiphy"Red hair. More specifically, being a male with long and red hair." ~ on-the-h
Why can't we just let people be people? Is it internalized hate or psychopathy? I don't even want to know.
Money
donald duck disney GIFGiphy"Used to get bullied for being "poor." I was a middle class kid in a middle class town that bordered a rich town where I went to school." ~ placeholderNull
Elementary
"In elementary school because I was filthy (I was severely neglected) and in my teenage years because I had crooked teeth and was told I was ugly and disgusting (the hygiene thing sorted itself out when I got older and managed to uphold routines on my own). I've been an adult for a long time now and shower daily, have a very neat apartment - and I still feel like I am dirty and filthy." ~ Actual_grass
The Reader
"Introverted and loving to read. Also just because I wasn't in the A group, but my younger sister and cousin were. Imagine being bullied by your own sister and it never stopped, not even at home." ~ Thin-Union-7712
"That sucks. I remember a bully of mine was a friend of my big sisters, the bully talked about me negatively to her once with a group of the bullies friends. It's not the same as what you've been through, but it was still horrible. I can't imagine what it felt like to be in your situation where you had it worse." ~ JaySkopezz
Newbie...
Bully Suffocating GIF by DrSquatchSoapCoGiphy"Being new at school." ~ decentralizedgear
"Hey, everyone, let's go and pick on the new kid school! I never understood this mentality. You see it a lot in movies and I just don't know why." ~ PapaTwoToes
Don't let the bullies get you down. It gets better. Just keep breathing...
If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/
The things that cause us psychological damage aren't always the things people expect, and some events can be way more traumatic than you might think. This is especially true of things that happen to us as children.
Reddit user Zutroy2117 asked the folks on AskReddit:
"What's a lot more psychologically-damaging than people seem to think it is?"
Poverty
I'm gonna go with poverty. It's insanely expensive and stressful to be poor and the sort of thinking that allows you to survive when you're poor kind of messes you up once you aren't. I know people who WILL NOT fill their car to the top even though they could absolutely afford to. The logic is when you're struggling, you only put enough in to get around for the week or so because you'll be kicking yourself if you get to the day before pay and have no money and no food but half a tank of fuel.
This. Poverty also doesn't end when you simply have more money. It sticks with you when you hang out with people that grew up well-off, who never had to worry, making you feel like a muggle-born. It drives you to compare prices at the restaurant even if somebody else treats you to dinner. It makes you fear to lose your job or your appartment because you know your status hangs by a thread and you can fall down again.
Bad Parenting
Bad parents
Even if they “tried their best” to be good parents. Unintentionally being a bad parent can be just as bad. See “emotional neglect.”
I totally agree with you. My grandpa visited me recently and we talked about my mom. He thought she was a good mother until I told him how she always told me that I'm not good enough because of my weight. Also everything I did was wrong in her eyes so everytime I tried to stand up for myself she said "I gave you life, I can also take it from you." I always thought every parent says something like that to their child. My Grandpa told me that it's not and now I don't want to know what else I thought was "normal" when it clearly isn't.
We Need To Communicate
When parents use the silent treatment. It makes a child feel so helpless because it knows instinctively that its life depends on its parent‘s care. So if you stop any interaction with your child, it will feel life threatening to it, causing the child to loose its personality just to behave like the parents want it to. Which later will turn in an overly adjusted adult with mental problems.
Silent withdrawal really messes your mind because you spend all your energy trying to get the person to engage or figure out what you did wrong.
It’s not just damaging when parents do it to children.
It’s also an incredibly damaging thing to do to a partner or friend. It elicits the same reaction you’d get from a child, a feeling of helplessness, lack of care, confusion, and deep fear. It can make even a confident adult feel worthless, unloved, unwanted, etc.
It’s not something anybody should do to anyone else, especially someone they care about.
Unrealistic Expectations
When a parent makes their child terrified of failure. Yes, it’s good to instill that one always tries their best— but I was told basically from kindergarten that if I ever got a bad grade on literally ANYTHING EVER at ANY point in my academic career, I would only be able to work in fast food. If I ever brought home anything less than a “B+” my mom would make sure to spend the next week telling me I was gonna spend my life “flipping burgers”. It really did a number on me and left me without coping skills for many years— so any time I failed in life in any way (not just academically) I would be SUPER hard on myself for extended periods which led to extremely negative self talk and eventual self harm. Hate ya, mom.
The first time I came home with a B on my report card, my grandparents had to kick out my parents because my mom would NOT stop laying into me. I was in third grade, I think? I had always had straight As and my mom refused to let me do any less. That meant crying in front of either parent when I didn't understand a math question and they'd berate me saying that I'm better than this and know better.
I absolutely detest how I grew up. I went from loving school to finding it something dangerous and something I hated. Any form of effort meant I wasn't as good as I was supposed to be and I'd shut down. When you know you're berated for anything below perfection, knowing you can't achieve that perfection is the fastest way to tanking your grades. Took me years to get out of that mentality.
Bullies Suck
Bullying.
Whilst some people see beginning to pull through with the awareness of the issue, there are still many who don't think it can cause much harm.
Bullying f**ked me up more than anything else in my childhood - learning in your formative years that you can't trust your peers, people want to hurt you, and that anyone who could stop it either doesn't care or doesn't believe you... well, that severely f**ks up your social development.
I ended up being a late bloomer and getting it figured out but it still makes me sad when I think about how scared and alone I was as a child. Nowhere was safe and I was so vulnerable.
To make it worse bullying doesn't stop in childhood. There are grown *ss people who will bully the people around them and it's always treated like a silly issue when the victims speak out.
I wish we started treating bullying as socially unacceptable as we currently treat speaking out against it.
Sibling bullying too. When I was around 10 I told a teacher my sister was bullying me, she rang home and both my mum and sister were completely disbelieving that I’d think I was being bullied. And yeah, I mean she was only hitting me, calling me names, breaking my stuff, threatening me, throwing rocks at me, constantly making me cry, ganging up on me with her friends, calling me insults about my face / race / personality every day…
And friend bullying, I'm 26 and only just realised that all my "friends" in high school weren't just teasing me but were full on bullying me, which also explains the panic attacks and the constant feeling that people hate me unless I'm useful.
All In My Head
A person's own thoughts
I can't believe this isn't upvoted more than it is. This reminds me of a phrase by Henry Ford that says "Whether you think you can or you can't, you're right." A person's own thoughts are often the downfall because the lack of self-belief seeps into the actions taken by the person causing negative or unwanted actions to be taken.
Life's End
End-of-life care and seeing someone die. Anyone who's looked after a loved one in their last days will tell you it's nothing like you see in media. My grandmother died of cancer in June 2020 and I was able to act as one of her primary caretakers during her last three months while I was home from school, doing my degree online.
Sickness took away her strength and her autonomy. The grandma I decorated a Christmas tree with shortly after her diagnosis could barely walk three months later. Even hospice care at home is only so comfortable. She had bedsores that put her through horrible pain and spent her last months sitting in the same armchair for most of the day. Myself, my mother and her brothers rotated staying with her constantly because she needed two people's help to use her bedside commode. She often needed an oxygen machine, and it always scared the daylights out of me when it was all she could do to even choke out the word 'oxygen' or point to the machine because she couldn't breathe.
And of course, as visceral as life in hospice is, it doesn't prepare you for finding your loved one dead. Dead bodies don't just look like they're asleep. Blood pools, creating bruise-like spots and waxy skin in other places. Muscles twitch and relax and bowels loosen. Side note: mortuary makeup artists do not get the credit they deserve for putting life back on your loved one's face for their funerals.
But yeah. Definitely hard to do hospice care for someone you love. I have a lot of respect for the nurses who do it for a living, especially the ones who helped us with my grandmother at a critical stage in the pandemic.
Cheating
Cheating. Specifically multi-year lying and gaslighting, leading the person to question their own self-worth and value.
Just be honest and not a sh*t human. If you have fear of the reaction to your honesty, seek help and support from authorities and friends.
No one deserves to be cheated on. Doing so is a selfish, intentional action to harm someo ne
Relatable... I became a completely different person after a relationship with an emotionally abusive person.
I get incredibly anxious in any form of new relationship now (both romantic and other) and it’s almost a daily struggle to be ‘normal’ or confident in any decisions I make. I don’t trust my gut on anything and think constantly in the mindset of worst case scenarios/how to plan for them. It’s really f**ked me up (and this is with ongoing therapy)
Back In My Day
Parents or just any elder authority figure saying “I had it worse than you”. It’s a cognitive bias in the first place, they belittle the less experienced person’s feelings because they are using their current mindset/understanding to look at the less experienced person’s problem. Of course a child’s math test would look easier to you than your own university level math tests. Using this evaluation of ease, they then claim that it’s easier now than before.
It invalidates the difficult feelings/emotions/thoughts/experiences anyone can face. What’s worse, it’s often so that the elder authority figure can feel better about themselves whilst also mistakenly believing that it would encourage the target to work harder or feel better.
Don't Talk About My Body
Any comment or unwanted remark about physical appearance or personality. Sh*t hurts.
Jokes Aren't Always Funny
Jokes, jokes can have such an impact on people, positive and negative, i talk from experience, but not as the receiver, becuase i actually told jokes to people, that mightve made them feel bad, and i am very sorry about that.
Please think before you talk
Good on you for being willing to admit that you were wrong
The things that cause psychological trauma aren't always the kinds of things you might expect. If someone tells you something was traumatic, believe them.
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