issue 17// vol 45 opinions // no. 15 The #10YearChallenge focuses too much on physical beauty » Recent social media hashtag reaffirms what we truly love Naomi Ambrose Staff Writer Soc? media hashtag enthusiasts, | request your attention. For those of you who enjoy participating in social media challenges, you must have felt like you were living in hashtag heaven if you participated in last week’s #10YearChallenge. If you missed out on this experience, don't despair—I will take you back to the #10 YearChallenge photo fair. When I scrolled through my Instagram feed, I noticed that a lot of my friends were posting side-by-side photos of themselves showing how they looked 10 years ago and how they look today, with “#10YearChallenge” written in the caption. The hashtag piqued my interest. Deciding to find out the magnitude of this challenge, I entered it into the search bar. What I discovered made me ponder our never- ending obsession with flawless, spotless physical beauty. x vu 2 e . oO £ na & 9 x & uv a o £ When I did the search, there were 1.3 million posts with the #10YearChallenge hashtag. Of the dozens of photos I scrolled through, a lot of them consisted of people who posed provocatively, while emphasizing the stunning changes in their face, chest, stomach, and the popular gluteus maximus. Yes, it’s true that some of the photos could have been viewed as opportunities for people to show their incredible body transformations during their 10-year weight loss journey. I’m all for celebrating achievements and goals. However, if the celebration is just done in a boastful, narcissistic way, then I think it’s worthwhile to re-examine the purpose of posting these photos. On the other hand, perhaps the #10 YearChallenge is a unique way for people to inspire others to overcome obstacles, like one of the photos I saw of a challenge participant. She posted a photo of herself as a child who appeared to have Rants in your Pants >» Demonizing people who have different political beliefs is counterproductive Jessica Berget Opinions Editor na time where there a such a divide between left- and right-wing politics, I think it’s important to hear what the other side is saying. You can learn a lot about what the other side believes, and you may find that there are a lot of similarities with your own beliefs at the core. It may also strengthen your own opinion and make you think differently, instead of being stuck in an echo chamber of similar political beliefs and ideologies. Hearing opinions that are different from yours, no matter how much you hate or disagree with them, also challenges your beliefs so that you can learn and evolve from them. It’s important to realize that everyone has different life experiences, and that influences their beliefs. That doesn’t mean they're wrong—it means they think differently, and what’s wrong with that? It’s just a matter of perspective. Furthermore, we shouldn’t assume people are stupid just because they think this way. Such judgment is not productive and we're never going to learn or grow as people—or a society—if we just shut down anyone or any opinion suffered some physical abuse or trauma—as illustrated with the image of a large burn-like wound across her chest and a bandage on her right shoulder. It seems this child grew up to be a tall, confident woman, based on the other photo she posted. I wish there were more heartfelt photos like hers. If only there were more photos posted that illustrated the social, emotional, and mental hardships that people might have overcome during their younger years and show them presently as people who overcame these adversities—instead of how attractive they've become. Photos via beautify.basics on Instagram I await the next hashtag challenge. I hope that when the next social media fad of this sort does emerge, we'll be inspired to post meaningful photos that show more than just physical beauty. Still from ‘Wisdom Teeth Removal’ video by Collins Key What gets your goat? Jessica Berget Opinions Editor we disagree with. Ialso find people disagree with the conceptions they have of the other side. They assume that others think or feel a certain way and disregard them because of it, which doesn’t allow any room for dialogue or growth. I think if you talk to someone on either side without assumptions, you'll find they’re mostly reasonable people. You'll probably even find some common ground. Tam reminded of a Star Trek episode called “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield.” In the episode, a feud ensues between two sworn enemies. The hostility began because one character has black on the right side of their face and white on the left, and the other character has the opposite—white on the right and black on the left. By the end of it, they are so divided because of their beliefs and assumptions of the other person that they end up destroying each other. It’s a campy episode, a little too on the nose, and a story that has been told time after time, but the analogy is nevertheless apt in our political climate. We shouldn't let our political differences become our last battlefield. we you get your wisdom teeth removed, the doctor warns you about the possible complications post-surgery—dry socket, infections, damage to nerves. What they don't warn you about, however, is the possibility that someone might film you while youre high off your ass and post it on social media, which I think may be the most painful post-surgery complication of them all. Videos of people in the aftermath of wisdom tooth surgery are something the internet is all too familiar with. You can even find multiple video compilations with a similar title. People recording and laughing at their friend or family member while they’re still high from the anesthetics is an uncomfortable trend that needs to stop. This goes for all people who film others while they are incapacitated or just not in the right mind. My biggest fear when I was told I had to get my wisdom teeth out was not the pain, nor was it the fact that I was going to be put under. I was afraid of being high on the drugs and having someone film my embarrassing, high-out-of-my-mind antics to post online. The mere thought alone was enough to embarrass me. Thankfully my mom never did >» Wisdom tooth aftermath videos that, but many other kids aren't as lucky. I think to do this is an extreme invasion of privacy and respect. These people are trusting their friends or family members to get them home safely after their surgeries; instead, those friends or family members exploit their positions for viral videos. If my parents did that to me, I would never be able to trust them again. Furthermore, people who are filming the post-surgery patients at this time are often doing so without their consent while they're saying or doing things that aren’t normal or rational for them. If someone isn’t coherent enough to be having a normal conversation, they should not be on camera. Most of these videos consist of the patients sobbing, screaming, or just rambling because of the drugs, while the filmers laugh and sometimes even try to freak them out even more. It gets to a point where it’s actually concerning. Often, I find these videos cringy and uncomfortable to watch for these reasons. Also, they're never funny. Can we stop making them now? It’s highly embarrassing to have a video of you being high and doing things that you don't remember go viral on the internet. It’s wrong to take advantage of people in that situation, especially if they're a member of your family. It should be a private affair, not a viral one.