1998 School Magazine

Girls Grammar ^Ich001313risbane 1998

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WinXER:

SENIOR MERLE WEAVER (~7TH DECEMBER f 99n

ne of my friends ITarbours a deep, dark, potentially even embarrassing secret. She happens to be a huge Bon 10vi fan. She insists that, as well as being a writer of catchy melody lines, 10n BonJoviis actually a tortured soul, and a poet at heart, and his songs are filled with poignant and deep observations about Life, the Universe, and Everything. This apparently makes it good music to listen to when you're feeling a bit depressed, and so she says that when she describes her mood asJovi-al, this usually implies that she's not feeling happy. One BonJovi song that is amongst her personal favourites opens with this embit- leted social commentary by a disillusioned 10n: "You think you know me, just because you know my name. You think you see me because you see every line on my face" <01 words to that effecO. If any of you were wondering what the name of this song is, I unfortunately can't tell you because I don't know either. I guess when it comes to music of choice, 10vi'SIust not my thing However, my general lack of enthusiasm about the tune these two lines are set to did not affect my appreciation and recognition of the deeper meaning that the lyrics contained. The frustration contained within the line, "Yoti think you know me, just because you know my name", is that of all people who have found themselves, at one time or another, misinterpreted and misunderstood. in particular, this is the frustration of anyone who has found themselves the victim of a SOCietally-imposed stereotype This formation of stereotypes is a condition common to all people, due 10 our very human tendency to niake quick judgements based on superficialities. However, Australia of the late 1990s seems to be suddenly facing many high-profited social problems that stem from the constrtiction of stereotypes One of the most high-profited and damaging of these problems at the community level has been the recent contro- vetsy about the apparent hidden level of "racism" in AListralia This has been ftielled by racialIy bigoted outbtirsts of certain public figures, politicians and interest groups. There have been renewed calls to stop fun ther immigration, especially of the Asian lyellow peril" kind. "After all", it was argued, "we have to consider what we're going to look like in 100 years". Slanty- eyed? God forbid! Hype about the flame-haired Oxleymoion swept the front pages. Children of interracial marriages were labelled by one politician as "mongrels". it was even seriously suggested tlTat eveiy Australian ITousehold shotild nave an automatic weapon for when the Indonesians invade. However, this has also been one of the most exhaListively-discussed topics for the year, as no dotibt some of yo\I have noticed, and therefore in the interests of your sanity no more nine will be spent on it ITere. The only comment that I will make is to quote

somebody else, who said that the reason that these people seem to have an issue with most of the Asia-Pacific region, is because they wouldn't have the intelligence to use a pair of chopsticks, and they're just jealous On a more individual level, everyone has found themselves, at one stage or another, frustrated or annoyed by other people's preconceptions about what they'd be like. This could be in relation to intellectual capability, personality, or any other personality feature. Everyone has probably found themselves also on the other end of the deal, making assumptions about someone they only vaguely know. it's human nature to do this in fact, most of our interpersonal relationships are based purely on first impressions. However, when this becomes damaging is when your socialsituation ISIimited by a tendency to make snap judgements about others, or when the happiness of others is adversely affected To take an extreme case : America was shocked recently by the shooting rampage of a school student, which caused some serious injuries, and even a couple of fatalities. This student was a boy in his inId-teens, who was not very good-looking and a bit overweight, and consequently pretty unpopular. He had just broken up with his girlfriend, and so it was originally thought that this was his way of dealing with rejection. However, what was more disturbing, and infinite Iy niore tragic, was the statement that the police got from this boy only a few hours after he had shot dead a couple of classmates. He said that he was sick of being treated like dirt eveiy day by the more successful, better looking, and more popular students at his school, who viewed him as the stereotypical pasty-skinned, glasses-wear- ing, oveiweight loser - and treated him as such. He said that as he packed his semi-automatic for school that day, he wanted to teach these people a lesson: he wanted to show them that he wasn't the pushover they all thought he was He said that he ultimately has no regrets about what he did So what I'm not saying today is "Hey girls, heal the woi. Id Make everyone your best friend and IList give love a cliance", because 1'1tl not Michael Jackson and we're not living in a talk- show world. It's inevitable Inat everyone In eels people they dislike: that's life. When people 1