Popularity Isn’t Everything

In society, we all attract towards the feeling of being honored, respected, and crave to be known and liked by our peers. “Popularity” is a term that seems seeks importance in schools from kindergarten through senior year. Many people strive to fit in by altering who they are to be appreciated or honored by a certain group of people. “Popularity” is being liked or known based on your social ranking, this idea entirely is irrelevant in the grand scheme of life.

Ten years from now, it won’t matter if you ate lunch with the “popular” girls or if you won best dressed at your formal dance. These little things do not define the type of person you are.

The movie, Mean Girls, displays the idea of “popularity” and what people will do simply to fit in. The main character in the movie, Cady Heron, was home-schooled all her life until her senior year. She attends her first public school and instantly finds two new friends.

The three friends devise a plan to sabotage the most popular girl in school, Regina George. Regina was popular for her looks and her wealth. In order to ensure her plan with success, Cady changes her wardrobe, her slang, and her overall demeanor. As she undergoes these changes, it seemed she forgot about her initial values and morals. The more she hangs out with the popular girls she is trying to sabotage, the more she was turning into them. She loses her two best friends due to her selfish ways, falling into the cracks of society.

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Cady let this idea of popularity get to her head, which resulted in people’s opinions on her to control her life. Towards the end of the movie, Cady finds her true self; the same self she was prior to attending high school. She let these fake morals and values instil her brain just to fit in. The feeling of being wanted by a specific group of people is craved by many individuals.

I believe that everyone could learn something from Cady Heron when she realized that popularity isn’t everything. She became aware of these altercations she had made for herself and that she was no longer the same person she was prior to attending high school. People should learn to love themselves and not change who they are for anybody. We all need to realize what is in fact important in life, the morality and kindness of your heart..

“Popularity” being liked or known based on your social ranking. This term is defined by those who judge others upon the activities you participate in, your looks, and your age, and most importantly, your financial status. Those who have money to wear the newest clothes, buy the newest iphone, and are able to always have their makeup and hair done to perfection are always looked up to by the other girls in school. The ones who are considered “popular” let the term go to their head and start to judge the less fortune on things they have no control over. This feeling of empowerment is simply an enigma. No one realizes the consequences in altering the person you are inside to fit in with a specific group of people.

Some consequences that someone may suffer when trying to fit in is the feeling of losing themselves. This feeling can travel from your childhood to your adult years. because you are changing your overall whole persona to fit the “qualifications” to become apart of a specific group. It’s amazing how important it is to teenagers to feel wanted or known. As we grow older, we meet new faces everyday. And you’re bound to find a group of friends to accept you, for you.

Throughout high school, I viewed myself as my own individual and accompanied myself with whoever I felt was worthy. I based my judgements from a first hand standpoint, not based off of what people have told me. Before judging a person, it is crucial to atleast have a few conversations beforehand. I was never the type of person who did not want to associate myself with people based on the house they lived in or the clothes they wore. I had a few close friends who I spent all my time with so I never felt the need to seek out new friends, but I was never opposed to meeting new people. Being open to begin friendships with others is not being popular. It is important to be social, but popularity is irrelevant.

My high school was a very clique-based school. We had the jocks, the nerds, geeks, band, dancers, freshman, seniors, and so fourth. And for each clique, they were branded as a group based on their social ranking. You would never see a cheerleader dating someone in the band or the football star hanging around someone in humanities. You would just never see it. When someone is attending school, it’s easy to worry about how everyone views you. Considering, you have known most of these people since elementary school. While growing up with the same people, you experience their breakups and who they’re crushing on. There is drama on who is dating who and who is friends with who. With the common goal, everyone is just trying to be liked, to be popular.

It’s difficult to know what makes someone popular and what does not. For some, it’s puberty resulting in clear skin and a skinny waist while others struggle with acne and their physical appearances. For others, it could just be listening to cool music or always having something fun to do. And for the lucky ones, they are just destined to be popular for no good reason. For me, I was a cheerleader, but none of my best friends were. I was not apart of a certain clique because some danced, some played softball, and some were not involved in anything. Because we all did different things, we got to experience different aspects of high school. I loved being able to branch away from the cheer squad sometimes and to be able to just relax and talk about other things once in a while. The types of people who would only mingle within their “group” never got the full high school experience. Being around the same people can get boring because it’s the same drama and conversation. Many teenagers feel they may break their social status if they surround themselves with people who aren’t as known. But, branching out to other types of people can be entertaining and fulfilling. You can get to know a lot of people which can lead to future connections. “Popularity” is a made up term that becomes evident to most after high school. This hard truth is tough for some to swallow.

People from all over attend universities and colleges. Different states, counties, and towns all joining together a bunch of unfamiliar faces. No one cares anymore about this perception of being liked or known. This eliminates the same friend groups and cliques people were used to back in grade school. No one will care about what you did in high school besides yourself. How many likes you got on a picture or if you dated the guy from the football team. You won’t remember the friends that ditched you or the guy that rejected you. What you will remember is watching that movie marathon with your best friend or night swimming with a friend. Popularity didn’t matter in those moments of your life. After all, the “popular” people in high school will be forgotten as you enter college. There’s more important things going on instead of how many friends you have or who you’re hanging out with.

I saw people I knew from the cheer team becoming friends with some of the “band geeks” they would make fun of, just a year before. Life is about expanding from your comfort zone and discovering who you are as a person. Being “popular” does not hold you to some type of higher power. Letting popularity get to your head can result in modifying yourself and who you are, just to feel accepted. Compassion is the greatest form of affection that humans have to offer to society. It does not matter if you were the prettiest girl in school or if you shot the winning point in the game. The feeling of being popular fades overtime as we continue our lives. It takes such a toll on a young person’s life to feel accepted and cherished. And eventually, it becomes evident that “popularity” or the idea of being “popular” is irrelevant and is overall a mental illusion. What people will remember is how good of a person you are, inside.