The Reasons Of People’s Sacrifices
As one begins to develop an identity, one starts to value and treasure elements that make up one’s life. These components are what make one feel a sense of individualism. However, in some cases, one may have to give up some – or all – of these elements for many reasons. Human beings may give up things like, for example, their future, their relationships, their privacy, and even their culture. Multiple reasons may cause this choice, such as social pressures, loved ones’ betterments, desires, reputations, social acceptance and more. On some occasions this sacrifice is necessary, but in other cases, it is not. In this paper, I will mainly focus on how personal space, relationships, dreams, and culture may be given up to and will go into detail as to why, and if these are reasonable explanations of why people do them by giving examples of well-known essays and real-life scenarios.
Famous people have spotlights on them every day due to working on areas in which they are pretty visible to the world. These spotlights cause them to lose something most people would not think is precious, which is one’s privacy. In an essay called “A Tale of Three Coming Out Stories,” Roxane Gay talks about stories in which celebrities, or very well-known individuals, were open about their sexualities. This author expresses that famous people can barely have any personal space in their lives as a result of the public wanting to know every single detail about what they do on a daily basis. She also explains that in return of this “type of harassment,” they receive popularity and power. Even though every human being is entitled by law the right of privacy, famous individuals do not have the opportunity to enjoy it.
Some individuals are willing to give this up due to the desire of being well-known in society, which is what can pressure one to do anything in order to obtain fame. Social media influencers are the celebrities of today’s generation, who also give up their personal space. One of the things they must do in order to keep themselves “relevant” and “popular” is showing every single event that happens during their lives. From waking up to getting ready, then eating lunch and working out, finally going out with friends and doing their night skincare routine. At the moment these individuals show more about their lives, people will want to consume more and more content, leading to the influencer to lose their privacy. Sometimes some of these social media celebrities would not care about losing this part of their lives as a result of desiring fame and popularity. However, if an individual becomes an influencer, one must not do it for the fame. In my opinion, this sacrifice is not necessary due to the fact that one can do many things, projects, and more in one’s life; it does not have to be based on popularity.
A situation more realistic in which a “regular” person would have to give up something that they value is when they are put into a circumstance in which they have to say goodbye to a friendship or a relationship due to social pressures. In the essay “We’re All Someone’s Freak,” Gwendolyn Ann Smith discusses how individuals compare each other in order to feel “normal” and better about themselves. Her text argues that members of the LGTBQ+ community are always trying to make each other look like a “freak” in order for themselves to look like the more normal person. She even mentions that a technique some transgender people used to do, and still use to this day, is not hanging out with other transgenders. The reason as to why they would do this is to go unnoticed because if they were seen with another transgender individual, their sexual identity would be more noticeable. People, who use this “method,” are willing to give up friendships and relationships just so that people do not criticize them. In real life, having to give up a friendship occurs very often due to the pressures an individual may have from their friends’ group.
Take as an example a group of friends in which two of them get into a very serious argument, causing them to not be friends anymore. Now it is up to the other friends to decide with whom they stay friends with and with whom they will end up their friendship. Even if this sounds childish and immature, it does happen, and the reason for it is if one person stops talking to another, one’s friends are expected to not talk to the other one because if they do, they are the “fakest” person ever, which causes drama and criticism. The sacrifice of giving up a friend due to social pressures should not be necessary. I personally believe that a person should not stop a connection with someone due to society criticizing this relationship. People who expect this behavior, from all of their companions, have a lack of maturity.
Individuals may also have to give up something more abstract, like their future. In “Working at Wendy’s,” Joey Franklin talks about what it is like working midnight shifts and mentions the stories behind every single co-worker he has. In his story, he explains that he stopped going to college and decided to get a job in order to take care of his child and his wife, who is currently trying to finish college. Until then, Franklin has to work the midnight shifts at Wendy’s for a source of income and to also take care of his son during the day while his wife is away. This person had to give up their education, which was going to get him to what he wanted for his future, for the care of his child. A vast group of people goes through similar situations like this and have to stop their learning stage to give their full attention to their loved ones. In most situations, this type of sacrifice is necessary, and even though people – going through this situation – are often criticized, this hard choice deserves more praise. I have personally not experienced what Franklin had to go through, but I am well aware of the fact that it was definitely not easy.
Lastly, I wanted to focus on something that I believed I had to give up when immigrating to the United States. Immigrants and first generations are usually very close to their families due to practicing their culture and their first language together. But some individuals may feel as if they had to give up this bond in order to perfect their second language. In the story “Aria,” Richard Rodriguez talks about the experience he had when immigrating to the U. S. , in which he explains that at the beginning he had a very close relationship with his family. However, people outside Richard’s family believed that they should communicate more in English in order to improve it, to which they did. This family decided to give up an element that had kept them close for many years just because they were told this was going to improve their second language.
Many people would think this sacrifice is necessary due to giving one more opportunities, but in my opinion, it is not. When I moved to U. S. A. five years ago, I was told by my family that without English, I was not going to be able to do anything, which made me start to believe that I had to stop speaking my mother tongue. But eventually, I realized that I did not have to make this sacrifice, and that I could keep my native language and improve my English. The only things I had to give up were my negative thoughts. Human beings sacrifice valuable elements part of their lives for reasons that affect them either emotionally, economically, or socially. In some situations, it is necessary to give up what we treasure for the betterment of loved ones. However, there are some other occasions in which drastic changes should not be done due to not being needed whatsoever, for reasons such as having to give up a friend as a result of not being socially accepted, or giving up one’s personal space just to get in return popularity. People should always choose their decisions, on what to give up, carefully because any sacrifice can change their future.
