Ask a random kid today if she wants to be popular and she’ll tell you no, even if the truth is that if she was in a desert dying of thirst and had the choice between a glass of water and instant popularity, she’d probably choose the latter. See, you can’t admit to wanting it, because that makes you less cool. To be truly popular, it has to look like it’s something you are, when in reality, it’s what you make yourself.
I wonder if anyone works any harder at anything than kids do at being popular. I mean, even air-traffic controllers and the president of the United States take vacations, but look at your average high school student, and you’ll see someone who’s putting in time twenty-four hours a day, for the entire length of the school year.
So how do you crack that inner sanctum? Well, here’s the catch: it’s not up to you. What’s important is what everyone else thinks of how you dress, what you eat for lunch, what shows you TiVo, what music is on your iPod.
I’ve always sort of wondered, though: If everyone else’s opinion is what matters, then do you ever really have one of your own? (p. 241)
Is popularity more important than anything else…dying of thirst?
What is the difference between being popular and belonging to the group?
Can everyone be popular?
28 comments:
I dont think that popularity is important at all, you take 1 wrong step and your off, and if u arent there but you are trying to get there you desert all of your true friends. The difference between being popular and belonging in a group is being popular is that every body knows what you do and when you do it and they call you out on every thing. no i dont think that every body can be popular because there has to be unpopular kids for there to be popular kids
-Kyle Abrams
Can everyone be popular?
I feel that popularity really isn't that important. Its just as if a lot of people make it out to be that way. And in my opinion popularity isn't more important then getting a drink of water. The difference between being popular and belonging to a group. Is that if you make one wrong mistake or as kyle said it " one wrong step" and your done, but if u belong to the group then you no that if you take that one wrong step they will be there to help you get back in order. And in my opinion, yes everyone is capable of being popular. You just need to keep an eye on what you do, and to make sure you don't make any mistakes.
~~michaela howell(:
i dont think popularity is important at all. its definatly not worth dying for. being popular means you have to be perfect every minute of everyday no matter what your feeling like. you have to put so much effort into being popular that you can never be yourself and you will eventually forget who you really are. and i dont think that being popular would be easy or worth it.
The difference betwwn being popular and being in the group would be that the popular kids stick out more than the other kids in the group. But i think that being in the group makes you popular but not as popular as the "leader".
I dont think that everyone can be popular because if everyone was popular, popular wouldnt even have a meaning.
*bridget*
Popularity is not better than dieing of thirst because if you die still trying to become popular, you won't get to know how it feels to be one cause your now dead. The difference between being popular and belonging to the group is that when your with the group it's more like a pack of wolves and more people know who you are and sort of fear you more because your with the others. When your just popular without the group, its just like another person almost. Everyone couldn't be popular because popular means to be on some sort of higher rank then someone else, so if everyone was popular and equal, there wouldn't be popularity anymore.
-jessica s :)
Popularity isn't important at all. Never will it be worth dying for, you just need to be happy with yourself. I know I always say this, but I consider a person "popular" when they are well liked. Most people say it's that they are perfect at all times and rule the school, and those people are not normally well liked because sometimes there not the kindest of people so I don't give them that label...if anything there lower. So if your looking in the way I consider being popular, it can be can be like an honor and you know that people like you. Say the group your in and there is someone in there that is more popular then you are, and it's obvious. They would tend to stand out more then everyone else. Not everyone can be popular, if everyone was popular, we would all be the same. If everyone was the same and equal the words, "popular", "loser" etc. wouldn't even exist.
~Hayley
I don't think popularity is important at all. You always feel like if ypu do something that you won't be popular. And I could not deal with that. !!! The difference of being popular and having a group is that popular means you are the beat and cool. Being in a group doesn't mean that your yourself.
Zach Wood
ahhh popularity, my favorite topic to write about. first of all, i freaking hate the word popularity more then mr g and ms carr hate the word bullying.
ok well when it comes down to. i agree with jodi picoult in her paragraph on pg 241, i believe that a person would want to be popular more than anything else..even dying of thirst. i know 99% of people writing on this blog will say that popularity isnt important to them at all. but in the words of mr g, that's when my "bs meter" goes all the way to bullllll shiitttttt. come on guys we all know people would do anything for popularity, well i would. but im not gonna bs you guys, i see myself as popular. and i dont know what it feels like to be at the bottom of the social pyramid. if anybody who has been there of knows what it feels like wants to tell me, go ahead and respond to this.
when it comes to comparing groups and popularity, i think that most people say that when they are in a group popularity doesnt matter because that group is their friends and that's all that matters. but what the people in that group dont realize is that that "group" of friends is either popular or not popular. sorry mr g i gotta mention it, like in mean girls when janice is showing cady the lunch room and she is naming all the groups and giving them descriptions like, "dont hang out with them", or "coolest people you will ever meet" so even if you are in a group you are still wrapped up in popularity.
i do believe that everybody can be popular. but i dont believe that everybody should be popular. 1) everyone can be popular, but it comes with a price. with josie she was never popular, but then when she worked with courtney on that project and discoved she looked good with makeup. ever since that moment josie has been going down hill, with that useless mask on her face covering up her real personality. so if you were not originally popular and you want to become it, you may have to become some one who you are not. word of the wise, stay where you are on the social pyramid. dont take the risk of screwing everything up like peter almost did to josie on his project.
popularity = chaos
dan o
I don't think that popularity is important at all. Being popular is not being in a group, it's being with people who don't really have to like you... theyre the only others who are popular so they think that all of them have to be friends. But a group is a tight knit group of people who are there for each other and most of the time all close friends who actually like each other and don't talk behind each others backs. I would much rather have true friends than be popular... and for so many reasons.
Technically anyone can be popular... you don't have to be in the "popular group" to be popular. You can be popular within your own group of friends. People who have a lot of friends can be considered popular. There are many different types of popular... people can be popular within there own groups, people with a lot of friends, popularity with sports, and ofcourse..."the popular group". People consider different people popular because there are so many different ways ppl can be known as "popular", so therefore, anyone can be popular. (=
~Jackie~
I gotta be honest and say that in the begining of the year and seventh grade I wanted to be popular. But now i've realized popularity doesnt matter at all to me. Ive said this a hundred times before and ill say it again just be yourself. The difference of being in a group and being popular is when your popular and you make a mistake they will make fun of you and spread rumors. But if you make a mistake in your group they usually will forgive you. Also in groups you can go talk with other groups without getting shunned by your original group.
-ROBERT-
i dont think popularity is worth anything. why cant everyone just be them selves ever? i get probably everyone is them self at home why cant we just all be that way wen were not laying on the couch or watching a movie? and i dont think that everyone could be " popular " because then there would not be a hierarchy in the school wich most schools have sadly
austin
I dont think being popular is important. Its deffinatly not something to die for. Being popular means your expected to be perfect every single second of every single day. Your under a radar and people are killing to watch you fall. Even the people in your own group so they can laugh at you and make fun of you. Being popular isnt anything its just a name. Something your given when you dress a certain way, date the right guys. Being normal and being weird is what the popular think is stupid.What they dont know is that their not afraid to show who they are, they dont care about the way they dress and they dont care if they fall they know that their friends will be there to catch them when they fall and that no matter what there not under a radar and is gonna go tell everyone every littel secret that that one person tells the group.
-nichole :)
I think there are so many things that are more important then popularity. On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being like least popularity is like a -1. Being popular is a status, not a lifestyle. In the book Josie wants to be popular so everyone will be envious of her, but whenever she's not surrounded by people judging her she just wants to be herself. Being popular is having everyone watch you at all times, and putting on a mask. Courtney Ignatio is popular. She enjoys being mean, while Josie doesn't like it, but it's her only way to stay in the group. That's why Josie is in the group. If you act exactly the same way as the popular people you could be considered one of them. Everyone could fake it and act like the popular people. But I'm not sure if everyone could be popular because when I refer back to 19 Minutes I think could Peter become popular even if he wanted to? His reputation might make it harder for him to become popular, because everyone thinks of him as the "homo."
~ HaLeY :]
to me popularity isnt very important. all that matters to me is just trying to live my own life. when your popular you cant do this at all because you have to live in a completly different way. if someone sees you do one small thing wrong you can be kicked out of the group. So this makes being popular way to much work for me so i dont try to be one. its not posible for everyone to be popular because populars mainly just pick on kids so if theirs no kids that are not popular to pick on theirs no popular group at all.
the one with no name is Ryan Szelc's
ok i 10000000% agree with Dan its not even funny everyone is throwing out the bs i think when they say they don't want to be popular but that is really not true. maybe you say that because yo don't want to be the version of popular in our school. i think everyone knows what that version is. but if you could refresh and the pyramid was cleared and you were popular you would make a new meaning of popular from whatever your personality was like. I wouldn't consider myself "the popular group" but i would say that i get along with almost everyone in the school except for that popular group. at one point popularity is important to everyone because if you are popular and make a mistake in front of a non popular than you are safe because they will not stand there and make fun of you because they are afraid to. the difference between belonging to a group and being popular is that when you are popular you are the head of the popular group and no one can touch you AT ALL when you belong to the popular group you are considered popular but you are still made fun of and you still have what you used to be inside of you the little nerd that defended their best friend when they were in need.i believe not everyone can be popular because there are people that are sooooo nice and they could never tear someone down no matter how much bribe of popularity was put on them.
like Dan said
popularity=chaos
-jessica packard-
jp i really like what you said, "but if you could refresh and the pyramid was cleared" because, going with what jess said, people might say that they dont want to be popular because what they perceive popular of being. all these girls say they dont want to be popular because they dont want to be like those skanks who make fun of other people, and girls i know that's who you think are the "popular" girls. but they're not. those girls are just people who are so bored of their own lives they have to ruin someone else's. if i am offending anyone in that group i apologize, but it's true. so all those girls who look up to them, honestly, please stop. because they have nothing over you.
dan o
p.s pretty annoyed there arent any heated discussions on this blog because this is a great topic
i dont think popularity is anything. im not saying that i have never wanted to be popular; most of us have wanted that; but i am saying that sometimes its just better to be yourself. coming from me, i think i need to take my own advice because i do put on a mask everyday. i dont even think some of my real friends know who the "real me" is.
Being popular and belonging in a group are totally different things. I think that belonging in a group means that they accept you through thick and thin no matter what, whereas when you are in the popular group you never really belong because you have to be super focused on not messing up, because if you do mess up your out. end of story. end of being popular.
And i dont think that everyone could be popular. i think that if everyone was popular, there wouldnt be a "popular" group/ a hierarchy, and i dont think that our school could live without one.
~Autumn <33
p.s.
i wonder why more people arent posting to this blog. this is one of the best blogs of the year... i was expecting to see some really interesting posts.
~Autumn <33
I don't try to be popular at all. Today when Mr.G asked us if it was hard getting up in the morning and getting dressed. Yeah its hard getting out of bed for me, but only cause I'm tired. I also have troubles putting on clothes in the morning, but thats only because I'm half asleep doing it. The difference between popular and being with the group is the group you decide to hang out with. If you want to hang out with the popular crowd you are probably gonna have to work hard for it. If you hang out with your true friends you will be happy and not wake up panicking about what you will wear tomorrow. So just chill out and find a group that you are comfortable with. From what I see most people are where they should be. That means that no one is in a group just to be popular, because most people I see are happy where they are at. I bet most people would kill for a spot in the popular crowd, but like in the book said you'll end up dieing for it. :)MATT(:
I would much rather take that glass of water then be popular. You know I really don't get why anybody cares about being popular. I mean who cares. I mean I don't care about popularity and my freinds don't. Being popular I think is connected with treating people like crap and acting like a bad a--.I don't think that is the way poularity should be potrayed that is completely wrong. In my opinion these type of people are unpopular. And also your "freinds" are always calling you out and they could stab you in the back at any minute. If you have any real freinds they don't pull stuff like that. I think when you start worrying about stuff like ( I think this is mostly for girls) what you wear, what shows you DVR, what you eat for lunch , and what music is on your I Pod, You forget who you are as a person and you act almost like a robot.I don't know who would take their time and effort to think like that.I am glad my freinds and I don't treat people like that and don't think like that.
Zach Anderson
really hate the word "popular" i dont know if i am or not to tell you the truth i dont like to be classified as popular. i deffinetly think people stride to be popular. being in a group is all i ever wanted to be in wheather its classified as popular group or not i dont care but im not worried about what i do or if i make mistakes cuz thats why i have my friends. see when your popular you have 7000 eyes staring at you at once maybe even more but you have pressure to do the right things wear the popular clothes hang with the right people there is so much you have to worry about why would you want that on your shoulder. yes i think everyone can be popular cuz its what you think of yourself of course the snobby guys and guys who think their all that and try to take you down. take all the the bullshit and it will make you strong cuz you call tell yourself that your popular.
Jake Ferrell
dan im sorry but my bs-er is going off considering that when i moved to burlington i was immediatly put into the popular group because of a bike sweatshirt i had on and the most popular kid in school was a biker and i just said forget it because being popular to me really doesnt matter and your probaly gonna say that is bull sh*t but i trully dont care because to me all of the superfical convorsations and jokes that go on inside of the popular groups may be funny to you but its kinda anoying to everyone else..im not putting your friends down or anything i just think that the only reason there are populars and regulars is so that it can make people with low self-essteam feel go about them-selfs when it is just a whollleeeee bunch of shiz thats never gonna matter and it shouldent matter now
MAGGS
I don’t think that everyone can be popular but most people can if they actually want to be. If they wear the right clothes and act the right way then I think that 90% of our student body could probably succeed if they actually feel the need to be a popular person or a part of that group. A while back I thought that it was an importance in my life to go on the pursuit of popularity but I found that hard way that being a stuck brat would be the worst decision of my life. I found out that belonging to a group means that you feel comfortable with who you are and aren’t afraid of the mean girl backlash of comments and giggles coming from them. That just being yourself and never having to compromise yourself for the respect of someone that doesn’t really care about you and would stomp on you to be respected by someone higher on the totem pole is the difference that I found. I finally discovered a group of friends that would actually defend me and cares about how I feel, and never deserting someone if they weren’t cool or liked a tuna fish sandwich with pickles and mozzarella cheese if everyone else in the group that that was gross. This makes me not care about where I stand on the totem pole, because if I’m happy where I am, even if I’m on the very bottom!
Ironman
i also like what jake said, he's right.
Megan
Yes, for kids who are popular bieng popular is thier life. its like a full time job. Every thing they do and say they have to think about.
dan hoffing
I love what Jake said. "Popular" is my least favorite word, and frankly I hate being classified as it. I'm not popular in my eyes and when everyone raised their hand in the class today to say I was... I didn't like it one bit. Popular kids aren't liked much in the school, but then again there are different types of popular. But anyways... if I had the choice between dieing of thirst or being popular I'd pick the water. Being popular seems like such a chaotic thing. As long as I have my friends, I'm fine. I also agree with Jake about the group thing, if I'm in a group I kinda feel better about myself. I don't feel "lost" which probably isn't a good thing.
p.s. Dan's was really good, he got me thinking... even if I do disagreeeeee with some of his thoughtttts.
-Alexis(:
John Maggs comment says it all. Sure Dan O their are some kids out there who want to be popular without a question. But Dan O its not any where near 99.9%. If their are any sane people out thier they don't give a sh*t about popularity. Cause in the real world treating people like crap doesn't fly, if thats how you see popularity.
Zach Anderson
i agree with zach! if you treat people like crap they will get you back and if you do it at work they complain..you lose your job...but dan this is a real question for you...why be that perfect..i like to screw around as much as the next guy but as peter said"i always laughed a little too hard a little too late" and after trying in like fifth grade i gave up because it was pointless i relised how stupid all this popularity bull shiz was...but please answer i really wanna know because i like to be me and do what i want..not follow a group..but create my own group where you can say what you want and not worry about loseing popularity within the group because we all like to have fun and i like the way my life is and if i had the choice between water and popularity..i chose water everytime..because in the quote it means the if you take the water you will live and you can be yourself..if you take the popularity your popularity is eventually gonna die and you will be thirsty and not "cool" so whatever forget all this popularity imma be be and live my life that way i want...you can live yours how you want..
Maggs
ps im not critsizing your way of live im just very ok with mine
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