Does it tell a thousand words?

A picture tells a thousand words. Or so we have been told.

Life today has been infiltrated with Snapchat filters, Photoshop, and the flash of the IPhone camera. We have forgotten to live in the moment- we instead focus on documenting in for later visitation.

Take a look around at concerts. Those attendees probably spent a great deal of money for their ticket; however, instead of enjoying the artist’s work, millennials today are busy documenting in on their social media.

Though this may be true, photographs also provide for basic framework to evoke nostalgia. A photograph may not tell all 1000 words, but it will definitely help you do so. Just remember the last time you flipped through an old photo album. Every single picture has a story, and yet no one but you and your close friends and family member know all those stories. In its most basic form, photo albums simply hold your memories, but to me, the only thing that makes photographs a memory is the story that accompanies it.

You see words and pictures go hand-in-hand which is why as young children we are first taught to read books with pictures and words. Why is that? It’s because we believe what we see and don’t have the ability yet to conjure up a mental image ourselves. Similarly, photographs provide with the purest form of truth. Nothing can be concealed or manipulated in a photograph- it’s exactly how you see it.

Photographs are ironic, huh?

On one hand they let you reminisce your past and use your imagination to turn those pictures into stories. However, on the other hand, they provide the simplest form of truth and reality.

P.C. Madness

The United States is the melting pot for cultures. This country prides itself on its plethora of cultures and inherent diversity; however, though equal by law, in reality, not all of those cultures are seen to be equal in society. Being “white” still signifies superioty as they somehow are the most “American.” But, these same people claim they are 20% Irish, 34.5% Italian, 7.75% Swedish and well so on so forth.. so therefore they’re immigrants too, right?

I am a Indian-born American- I moved to this country when I was 2 months old, and I am just as American as anyone else. Yet ignorant people ask me “where are you from?”  The first time I calmly answer Troy, Michigan but after repeatedly being asked the same question… I realized that saying India was what they really wanted to hear since that was the politically correct answer.

More and more this obsession with political correctness is seen to divide race and social classes. However, the politically correct answer is not always what is needed or warranted. It simply generalizes more specific words, which then lose meaning. For example, calling the poor “economically marginalized,” though politically correct, undermines the seriousness of the situation.

One example of extreme obsession with P.C. was seen in Seattle when some government workers were told that it was now offensive to use the word “citizen.” Imagine that… like what would call each other? U.S. people who can vote/live here?

In another case a Seattle student was told to call East eggs “spring sphere.”

Where does this madness end?

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Stop caring.

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. How many times have you heard that in your life? Time and time again teachers have reminded us to save paper and taught us the difference between what goes in the recycling bin and trash. However, these same teachers are also probably the ones who throw cigarettes out of their windows and leave trash out when camping.

The entire campaign towards saving our planet has become paradoxical as it has been commercialized and lost its true meaning. EPA condones the “Safe” amount of pollution, but doesn’t all and any pollution hurt our environment?

I could go on and on to talk about the hypocrisy of the government- as soon as Trump became president, the climate change page sudden became obsolete from the White House’s website.

However, all these only mater when we truly all believe saving our planet is important. Many people have the mentality that “climate change won’t matter till I die so I don’t need to worry about.” However, this is not the case at all. Just in my short lifetime of 16, I have seen the effects of climate change. When I was younger, I remember the distinct seasons as warm summer, cold winter, and moderate spring and fall. In contrast, seasons now all seem to blend into one with our “blessed” moderate winter and unbearably hot summer. Not just that though- our lakes and oceans are slowly being polluted and the life that thrives in them is being destroyed. Just this past year, the Great Barrier Reef was pronounced completely dead. Can you imagine that? I grew up hearing about the beauty and myriad of life that was the Great Barrier Reef, but due to all sorts of damage to the environment, it has been depleted of life all together.

The first way to battle these detrimental effects to our environment is to make sure we all understand why it’s important to do so. 

No Matter What

No matter what I wear, as a woman, I can not escape being marked. When I wear more covered clothing, I’m questioned whether or not I just broke up with my boyfriend. When I show more skin, I'm scrutinized for which guy I’m actually dressed up for.

I personally do not wear makeup to school; however, the few times I have, multiple people asked me what the “special occasion” was. People simply could not fathom the idea that I was wearing makeup just because I wanted to.

Every day I’m judged for what I wear and how I look and am put in some female stereotype because of it. Girls can not go a day without being stereotyped, a problem that males do not have to deal with. Males are not scrutinized as they change up what they wear and how they look- they instead are accepted for it without being judged or type-casted.

At home, I face the daily struggle of fighting my parents for my clothes. Countless times I’ve been told “Esha your dress is short” or “your shirt is too tight” from my parents.  And, every time I ask her why it matters, she responds, “what will others say?” This is because revealing clothing ahs been marked as belonging to a girl with loose character.. .

How can I ever go umarked in my society?

The Gendered workplace

The stereotypical gendered place in our society is the workplace. Though it may seem that society has propelled forward from the idea that a woman’s place is at home while a man goes to work, there is still a black and white divide in the professional fields for men and women. In hundreds of businesses, secretaries - usually women - do clerical work in while managers - usually men - work and make decisions behind closed doors.

Do you know the person who usually makes coffee for all the executives and business associates? It’s usually a female intern since apparently men are “too manly” for a job like that.

Do you remember walking into the staff lounge and seeking one of the female employees having lunch with four males?

For a week after that, everyone kept telling tall tales of how she’s disloyal to her husband.

Now, there is not a problem with female achievement. Women have caught up with men in terms of education. In fact, in the United States and a number of other countries, women now actually surpass men in educational achievement. The problem, however, lies in the society’s view. For some reason, in the 21^st century, women still earn 22% less than men, equally as qualified as them, do.

Honestly, I don’t even get it anymore…

Dating Absurd

To get a date on Tinder, OkCupid, Bumble, Shaadi.com (for Indian people), a lonely man has to create his own account in an unromantic search for "true love."
On another computer, a lonely girl holding a tub of chocolate ice cream creates her profile  with a risqué picture of herself, after her recent break-up.
Then the momentous journey of finding you true love begins. Swiping left and right, up and down, until there's been a match with the lengthy 20-word descriptions you write about yourself- that usually aren't true- and a picture which is probably from when you were 20 pounds lighter.

Finally, when a match has been found, the alpha sends the first message to allow the baseless flirting to begin. You begin forcing a relationship by asking for the snapchat of someone you've become attracted to after learning basics like their profession and areas of interest- and poof! there you have true love.

Remember that romantic first date at the local Wendy's as you awkwardly fight over who's gonna pay- honestly "the facsimile of proper [date] behavior" and take gawky steps together to the exquisite wooden booth (Didion 103).
From there, the first meeting begins. You talk about your family and where you grew up and within the first five minutes you've already made a mental note of whether they're worthy to receive a snapchat from you ever again. And after that romantic escapade, you return and continue u to swipe right and left until you find a match again.

- This is the evolution of love stories in this day and age. Connections that used be made by stealing glances in the local coffee shop and shyly asking for some cute guy's number have become completely based on good wifi in order for Tinder to work. Love has simply become finding your right "match": truly dating absurd. Has this generation forgotten how to obtain true love? -