"I don't think that being a strong person is about ignoring your emotions and fighting your feelings. Putting on a brave face doesn't mean you're a brave person. That's why everybody in my life knows everything that I'm going through. I can't hide anything from them. People need to realise that being open isn't the same as being weak."

- Taylor Swift

Sunday, February 21, 2010

The Subtlety of Evil

Mood: tired
Listening to: 'Am I Not Pretty Enough?' by Kasey Chambers
Hungry for: milk

I am not a very subtle person. This often gets me into trouble, and into embarassing situations. Ask Crunchie.

But I've also noticed that the most evil of people who haunt the schoolyard and makes the word 'school' synonymous to 'hell' have mastered the art of subtlety to perfection.

It is, as you will agree, very easy to 'dob' on someone if they've punched you in the nose, and easier still to architect their punishment and social downfall. It is also easy to incriminate someone if they call you a slut or something like that.

But a small, snide comment is harder to blame - yet, if said often enough, the impact is devastatingly huge. And since when has it been a crime to exclude, or do all those other subtle things that are so hard to describe, and therefore so hard to avenge? They're not criminal acts, sure, but they still hurt. And they get away with it, that's the sick thing.

There are always going to be idiots that do the most blatantly obvious things, but I go to an elite school. There, the bullies are not so dumb. They do things they know they'll get away with, things they know will have huge impact on a person's morale and self-esteem. I call it sly bullying. It's the kind of bullying I've suffered for nearly a decade now, and it's the kind of thing I've rarely been able to report, so I'll have to weather it out...for how long? When will subtlety die?

2 comments:

Adelaide Dupont said...

Here is a tip which is especially good for people who go to elite schools.

Say: It's a shame you're so talented and so mean.

The author of that quote, Maggie Hamilton, said that people who go to performing arts schools and independent schools find it easier to be themselves. As do those who are in church or youth groups.

Yes, both evil and good are subtle.

Jump on it while it's still little: and provable.

Adelaide Dupont said...

And here is another link.

Melinda Tankard Reist (do read Unleashed often, perhaps between music and homework) has said something about a voodoo doll.

Sticks and stones, pins and needles