Making Peace With Violence

Violence is not a rare occurrence in society. It also can come in vastly different shapes and forms. It can be very subtle like an insulting comment towards someone or highly detrimental like in the case of the recent mass shootings. Compared to largely devastating violent events, subtle things are often over looked and ignored. This action can be potentially dangerous. Domestic violence, unhealthy body image, cyber bullying, and self harm are only a few types of violence that often go under the radar.

In this day and age, society is concerned about their appearances more than ever before. People become consumed by their efforts to improve their image and often feel insecure and inadequate in the eyes of others. Consequently, people have become more violent towards themselves in their stride towards their ultimate goal of a “perfect body”. This mentality towards body image is undoubtedly unhealthy. People who struggle with their body image are often troubled by their violent mentality towards themselves. As a result, this violence plays a large role in shaping their perception of the world and of the others around them. However, it seems that society has almost intentionally forced these unrealistic and unattainable images onto others. In terms of advisements and marketing for products and services, there is almost always a model that personifies the ideal person. Nonetheless, there have been efforts to combat this trend. In 2006, Dove released their Evolution of Beauty campaign (video embedded below) to bring awareness to the fact that corporations have the ability to manipulate their advertisements. In doing so, people receive an unrealistic portrayal of body image from the media.

Another form of violence that is frequently neglected is domestic violence. Domestic abuse often goes undetected based on societal norms and expectations of domestic relationships. Some people assume or believe that it was justified for men to abuse their partners. However, this kind of violence is unacceptable and should not be ignored. The victims of domestic abuse are often too afraid to seek help or do not believe that anything is wrong. As a result, victims suffer through numerous emotional consequences from the violence that is displaced on them.

Cyber bullying is an example of a type of violence that has only recently become relevant in society due to the modern era of technology. Although cyber-bullying is limited to constraints of the Internet, countless people are still affected by mental abuse that can be caused online. Often people underestimate how great of an effect this type of abuse can have on others. This is yet another example of how violence can be disregarded and overlooked.

Violence plays a large role in how others interact in society. In turn, violence, such as an unhealthy mentality towards body image, domestic abuse, and cyber bullying, works to shape an individual's identity in a maladaptive manner. These types of violence are often ignored and disregarded by society. Change must follow through to prevent others from this abuse and violence should be challenged appropriately.