Anti-Assimilation

The pressure to "fit in" surrounds me (and you) constantly. I (and you) think that once we exit high-school we will enter into a free world where people will understand our desire to be individual.

This is where the game begins. You (and I) hear shouts to "be yourself" while all the while little signals - small warning signs flash in our faces. Each stop sign, yellow light, and siren tell me (and you) to let go of who. we. are.

I am - you are, encouraged to drop the identifying factors which make me Tsionah and you (you).

I laugh too loud.

My hair is too long.

I'm fat.

I'm too conservative.

I'm too liberal.

Expectations of equal (being interpreted, the same) opinions bully me (and you) into believing that somehow our own identity isn't enough.

And then. Assimilation.

We are each expected to give up pieces of ourself in order to be socially acceptable and politically correct. Our personal beliefs, lifestyles, and dreams are picked apart and we are left with a fractured culture, a broken identity.

I say, "I'm Tsionah". I tell a lie.