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Sitting me down, my father passionately recounts the story of his childhood—how he walked an hour up a steep-rugged road just to reach school. For him, receiving education at that time was a distant dream fraught with all sorts of hardships; an idea of a sense of fulfillment. Alien to such an experience, his story gives me a layered understanding of his world of the yore.  

Reflecting on his story, I am contrasted between his experiences of thought and mine. The world is shaped by the instant world of information bombarding today. The world we live in is “participatory culture” Henry Jenkins states in Convergence Culture: where old and new media collide (2006). Stalder (2006) writes about unlimited accessibility to information materials achieved with just one finger tip by referencing Manuel Castell, adding that youth culture develops in the spaces of flow.  

To read and write is no longer a confined dream now, but a hand to hand willing-reality that all of us can tap on anytime with virtual classrooms, webinars, youtube channels, podcasts and content creations awaiting us, eager to deliver information and knowledge.   

The digital space has brought everyone closer to reality and altered our lives. The more advanced technologies have become, the more of our identity sharing and building connections. Social media apps such as Tik Toks, Facebook, Instagram provide us with an opportunity to show and to be seen. Smartphones use advances more for our comfort. The sharing culture has made the world a global village (Easa, 2019) as we can connect with friends by sitting in opposite corners of the world and discussing similar contents. Yuval Noah Harari points out in Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (2015): For the first time in history, young people all over the world listen to the same music, watch the same movies and idolize the same celebrities. This reinforces the idea of a sharing culture that, according to Anthony Giddens  (Runaway World, 1999) fosters similar values that bind us with a single framework of aspiration.  

As people moved to online spaces, the concept of global consumer culture widened and things that were brands in the 60s or 70s remained no longer a brand. As many changes occurred including the choices and tastes of people, certain names like Nike, Apple, Netflix, k-pop became a global brand that established themselves with an identity. This “identity” as identified by Zygmunt Bauman in Liquid Modernity (2000) is constructed more from shared consumer cultures than inherited traditions.
Today’s youths are shaped more by smartphones, which makes them more inclusive, individualistic and anxious (Schmitt, 2023). They have started to become more vocal about contemporary issues as movements like #BlackLivesMatter and #MeToo have shown. 

At the same time, the Arab Spring is a testament showcasing the power of a globalized culture to come together for a purpose with social media acting as a fundamental tool for protests and advocacy.  

Moreover, this distinct psychological nature shaped by the media among youths has made them approach things in life flexibly. 

On certain aspects of the society such as marriage, gender issues and career choices, youths are more likely seen as liberalists. For them, finding love is important, daughters are not a burden and nor are family business responsibilities as they have the confidence to carve out their own life paths. 

Local Knowledge: Further Essays in Interpretive Anthropology (1973) by Clifford Geertz emphasizes the importance of understanding culture through the lens of local, specific contexts, rather than relying on broad generalizations. The integration, therefore, implies intergenerational beliefs and thoughts. 

When I listen intuitively to my father’s story of what he used to do in the past, I only sense that I was born in a time when the internet was booming. I don’t decline his lived experiences but they don’t resonate with me because they seem distant to me at this time. Hence, I agree to disagree—not in the act of defiance but in the act of forging a networked co-existing path shaped by a dialogue, respect and discussion. Our world lenses are not much different but it’s just that we see the world differently.

So much importance is given to our physical appearances but rarely do we realize what it means to be bullied, to receive negative remarks over weight and height. It is always convenient to pass a quick comment judging a person on the basis of their appearance rather than waiting for the latter’s reaction. These days, there is so much noise around the ‘right’ body type. The desire to acquire validation and happiness stems from commercial advertisements that put too much emphasis on your body. Culturally, from early on, we are so used to societal standards that we forget we are much more than just our physical form. Even today, we think thinner bodies are preferred over larger bodies. Interestingly, back in the 1800s, paintings and portraits of ‘plump’ people were revered. For many years, people perceived larger bodies as having access to food and money while condemning thin ones for being poor. Amy Erdman in her book titled ‘Fat Shame: Stigma and the Fat Body in American Culture’ traces the transition of heavy bodies to the right body type. By the 19th century in England, everything was perceived the same way. Author Sabrina Strings states in her book titled ‘Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia’ that fatphobia was drawn from colonialism and race. The body size parameters aren't supposed to be calculated, they are supposed to be compassionate. Believing that standard body types will make us feel good and look good has filled our mindsets. So, by comparing our bodies with that of siblings, cousins and friends, we are not just discouraging bodies but disconnecting from humanity just to fit in the norm. Practicing to look the standard size has always had a negative impact on the body as it has often led to mental health issues, including depression, anxiety and low self-esteem. Body is always visible so what you think and feel exactly shows out. It is therefore important as a socially-inclined being to understand that whatever body it is, most important is your heart and head as they truly represent you. As kids, when they laugh and hide their mouths under shitty jokes, which they aren’t aware of, it’s not at all surprising because they too learnt from what they saw and heard. When you say things like ‘hey, you’re too small to play basketball! or ‘hey, my breath can blow you!’, many do not understand what it gives people. Just a quick pleasure of being superior? No one can ever be completely at ease with how they look because someone may always be better, smarter and two steps ahead of you. This doesn’t mean you should look for things that can change your body. You got to remember that you chose this body because it was meant for you. Remember, there is always a reason to be that way. And it’s completely fine. Many do not understand that the body is not an object to fixate. It's supposed to be unique. You and I, why we look so different is also the reason why this world looks so beautiful! That we do not need to look for our bodies but we want our bodies to look for what we are in the creation. The constant emphasis on bodily appearance means we will keep pretending, which will swap us from our original identity. This isn’t real and this isn’t who we are supposed to be. People associate with our identities more than our physical form. Our bodies just help people to visualize. Do you think all that is left of our identity is our body, even then? The author is a third year student of English Literature and Journalism. She is interested in reading and writing about society, gender and identity