The year is 2016. Children of all colors, religions and races walk the same halls and attend the same classes. It is legal in all 50 states to marry someone of the same sex. The United State's first black president is finishing up his second term. More than a handful of celebrities have built their social platforms and succeeded to do so in spite of announcing their sexuality, being afflicted with AIDS or cancer. It is very obvious that, when compared to 65 years ago, our world is evolving.
If you take a step back and look at our society as a whole, you think how much easier it is to be accepted today versus 65 years ago. After all the legislation and work that has been done over time, I ask you to look deeper, is it really better? You see, 65 years ago, people would rather you be fat than gay. They'd rather you be an alcoholic than transgender. They'd rather you be disabled than have a different skin color. But that was 65 years ago, and the world is a lot different now.
Today's generation faces a whole new set of problems, problems no legislation will ever be able to fix. We now live in a world that thrives off of Instagram likes and Twitter followers, people who feed off approval and acceptance from those they've never met.
There are girls who have started saving funds so they can afford to pump their lips full of fillers in hopes they'll look like Kylie Jenner. (Spoiler alert: Kylie Jenner doesn't even look like Kylie Jenner.) There are people who post hot bikini pictures on Instagram, but you'll find them shoving their fingers down their throats in the bathroom. There's a man who's picture has been retweeted and ridiculed all over the Internet with the caption "Meth Curry," that just celebrated his fifth year of being free from cancer. We have created a world where the person you really are is way less important that the person you are on social media.
And so I ask you again, is the world really that much better? It's OK to be different as long as you look good doing it, as long as you've got a pretty face, rock solid abs, and at least 1,000 followers. Yes, 65 years ago, the color of your skin mattered and no one had ever heard the word "transgender"—but you weren't a trending joke on a website seen by over half the world's population. So when you think about how far society has come, remember that being hated by your neighbor is a lot easier than being hated by the millions of people on the Internet. And don't forget what you do and say on social media can never really be deleted.
