Freaks and Geeks(A Two Part Blog)

Freak, a person who has something unusual about their appearance or behavior.


Geek, a person who is overly intellectual, peculiar or otherwise unlikable person.

These are the basic definition of the words as most people know them. Why?




Freak

You have the people who are "freaks" as in people who were born different from so called normal people, and then there are the people who are called freaks because they choose to modify their bodies to fit what their self image is in their minds.




People who can't help how they were born aren't freaks anymore than someone born with black hair and blue eyes, although in the past this was also considered "freakish". People who modify their bodies with piercings, tattoos, implants, hair dye (in so called unnatural colors) or other wise alter their body aren't freaks either. They are simply people who are brave enough to go against what society considers normal to make themselves happy.

You don't see someone who has had a nose job, breast implants, or tummy tucks called freaks, but its pretty much the same thing, it is only acceptable because society says it is. I hear so many people say, oh I wish I could get this or that pierced, or I wish I could get a tattoo.
Why don't they, no one is stopping them but themselves. I hear it all the time, so and so would be mad, I cant do it because of my job. Blah Blah Blah.

I think its pure and utter BULLSHIT. To me this implies that a person with pink hair and piercings cant do as good a job as a person with brown hair and no piercings. What, do they think happens when a person dyes their hair, that they loose brain cells? What, all the piercings and everything that a person ever learned leaks out the holes now in their body. I can understand that some companies its a safety matter. With piercings I can understand the safety issue, but hair color? Um, no, I don't think that will effect the safety on a job. You allow little miss so and so to dye her hair red, black, or bleach it blonde, so whats wrong with dying my hair any other color? I assure you the color of my hair will not affect my safety at work.
With other companies it has to do with the appearance aspect of it.

The way I see it if you sit on a phone all day and never come face to face with a customer it shouldnt matter one iota how you dress, what color your hair is, or how many piercings you have. I also don't see what companies have a dress code anyway. Yes, its all about appearances.
I can tell you right now that if I walked in and saw a guy with neon blue hair, piercings, and was wearing a nice shirt with some bluejeans I would be more comfortable buying or purchasing a product from that company than buying something from a company with a bunch of Ken doll look-a-likes. Why, you might ask?

Its simple, in my mind a company that allows a person to express their own individuality is more likely to treat me like a human and not just another number in their profit margin. However, according to societies labels a guy who is clean cut and dressed nice is more likely to be successful. A big question mark is hanging over my head right now. Why is he more likely to be successful? Just because he bought a suit and shaves everyday? Do you know how many businessmen have tattoos and piercings under their suits? How many of them are covering up their "freak" because society says that to be successful you must look a certain way.

I wonder what kind of world we would be living in if society didn't impose these invisible restraints on people? Would people be happier being "allowed" to express their inner beings with out fear of being labeled a "freak"?

Why are some people so scared of us "freaks"? We aren't so different from everyone else, maybe we are better off, because we threw off the shackles and freed ourselves from society, and proudly display our freedom on our bodies.

So the next time you see a person with a lot of piercings or tattoos, instead of seeing a "freak" maybe you will see a person who is not afraid of expressing who they really are, maybe they will inspire you to express who you really are inside if you do not already do so. No, tattoos or piercings arent for everyone, not everyone expresses themselves in the same way, if we all expressed ourselves the same way then the world would be a boring place.