Photo credit: Google
It would be amazing to log onto social media without seeing someone being offended about something. It seems that in this day and age, everyone wants to cry wolf and scream that something is offensive or racist. I hate to be that person but honestly it is the younger generation (mine) that’s quick to call something out as offensive. If someone doesn’t agree with you about certain things, whether it be politics, music, or your views on controversial topics, you are made out to be a villain. We can all handle things as adults, it makes no sense to get so upset because people have differing views than you. Below is a list of things that people get offended by that aren’t technically offensive:
Sexual Orientation:
This is one of the number one things people like to get offended about. How does it directly affect your life if a man wants to date a man, or a woman wants to date a woman? Whether you are straight, gay, lesbian, or bisexual, it has nothing to do with anyone else. You don’t have to agree with their choices but it’s not your choice to make, so exactly how does this offend you?
Race:
This is another big issue. How are you offended by the color of someone else’s skin? We all bleed red, we all have the same organs (unless you’re missing a few), and we all are human beings. Maybe the problem isn’t their skin tone, maybe it’s you.
Religion:
Just because you don’t believe in what I believe in makes it okay to hate you, right? Wrong. There are so many religions in the world, so not everyone is going to believe in the same things that you do. Does it make them wrong? No. Speak to them about it and maybe you’ll learn a thing or two.
People Breathing
I know this one sounds silly but currently it is so common for someone to be offended by someone breathing. “OMG! Did you just breathe? I’m so offended.” Basically, if you’re breathing too hard then people will get “uncomfortable” and it’ll bother them because you know, we’re not supposed to hear you breathe. Cry me a river here, folks. Not exactly sure how this is offensive, but maybe you shouldn’t breathe because you wouldn’t want to risk offending someone.
Halloween Costumes:
Photo credit: Google
With Halloween just passing, I saw so many people that were offended by costumes. I get the whole cultural appropriation thing but I don’t think that anyone was dressing up to be malicious (there are a few cases). For example, there was a group of people dressed as Target employees and people were going crazy on them saying, “This is very disrespectful. They work so hard.” Or when Kim Kardashian dressed as the late singer Aaliyah. People were attacking her for the costumes, saying it was cultural appropriation, when in reality all she was doing was paying tribute to an artist that she admired. It is so easy to complain about things that are trivial, and to lose sight of what is important. A Halloween costume is definitely trivial when the person is probably going to wear it once and put it away. Complain about things that matter.
Your Opinion
Photo by SaMaria Boyd
Everybody has one. Whether you agree or not is beside the point. No one has the right to be offended by someone’s opinion unless it is really offensive (i.e. racist, homophobic, insensitive), but if it’s just something that they believe in then it’s not really your place to make judgments. Not everyone will believe or agree with the same things, but that’s what makes us all unique.
These are just a few examples, because the list of what the internet is offended by today is probably 800 miles long. Not saying that anything on the list can’t be offensive, because most of it is not, but we really need to pick and choose our battles about what we are offended by and what we are not. In most of these cases, people are just complaining for the sake of complaining. Please don’t be that person.