Sunday, October 2, 2011

that awkward moment when...

One of the most common “body practices” I notice today is people constantly checking their cell phone or pretending to text. Have you ever been in a situation with someone you don’t really know and there is that dreaded awkward silence? One of the most common things I see people do is pretend like someone is texting them or doing something in their cell phone. I wonder what people did when not every single person carried a phone with them at all times? Did they actually have to keep a conversation going? This practice has become so second nature to many people that it could be because they don’t even realize that their doing it or they are trying to seem like they are popular or have a lot of important people to talk to.

Another practice commonly seen is girls (and guys) using the bathroom or going somewhere together. Obviously this was more relevant in middle and high school, but I have still seen it while in college. One of the main reasons both of these practices are so common is because of the fear people have of being alone or just being ourselves. This could also be because of the feeling that we are inadequate like Bordo states and have to prove to other people, strangers even, that we are cool. This of course is a “pursuit without a terminus” because we are only trying to prove it to ourselves.
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1 comment:

  1. AnonymousOctober 3, 2011 at 5:17 PM

    I am a a person that does this habitually! I usually end up checking the stock market to see how my investments are doing. (Body Practice:We are told over and over again by society that if we don't plan for retirement we will be the old person that is at the crappy retirement home and burdening our family, therefore you must invest your money to have a secure future) I think it is the culture of big city life, that you must always be connected and if you are not always plugged into the information superhighway you are a lesser person. The body practice I feel is that we must always display that we have a large social and multimedia network, and if we do not we are a lesser person.

    Nearly all cell phone commercials are starting to hit on this idea of connectivity. They have lots of commercials that pick on our insecurities that if we do not upgrade to 4g or 5g internet we will be the person late to the flash mob, or somehow miss out on life. I think we all have our little anxieties that we might miss something and the next time we are with our friends we will not be in the loop. Tthis is our "self" telling us to put on a display of acting as though we have mastered our social realm.

    If you go on a campout the entire opposite will typically occur and you will be labelled the "black sheep" if you even touch your cell phone or laptop for the entire weekend. In this circumstance we are told that we are on vacation and that we are to relax. Any connectivity with the outside world will result in thoroughly making you look as though you no longer care about your family or friends that are at the cabin or lake.

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