Reflection On Transcendentalism

Transcendentalists believe that the human race is great, and everyone has something unique to offer to the world. Many times, those who have been tricked into conforming to society tend to shun those who reveal their unique qualities. I believe that instead of tolerating or simply accepting people’s differences, we should celebrate them. In this way, no one will feel like they are being tolerated, or that they are a burden to others and their peers are just being insincerely civil around them. Instead, they feel that they are being loved, as they should be.

Today’s world is so diverse in many ways. There are more than just racial, sexuality, gender, status, and religious differences. Each individual person is as unique as their thumbprint;

Especially young people, since they are susceptible to the opinions of others. Even those who seem super confident or even arrogant surely have insecurities. People who are valued and respected by their peers will feel better about themselves. They may not believe it at first because of their natural insecurities, but if you keep telling them over and over that they are beautiful, and you believe it, eventually they themselves will accept it as truth and gain self-respect.

We as a society tend to generalize individuals by giving them a label. It is easier to refer to another person as a jew, or as a jock, or as a white person, than it is to refer to them as Jessica or Reggie. Why is that? We do we always have to give people a label to talk about them? People should be referred to by their names and recognized for all aspects of their identity, not just the one part that may stand out most to you.

Not labeling people allows them to feel more rounded and personalized. Humans and their personalities are too complicated to be summed up in one word. There are so many aspects to a person’s personality. Trying to categorize a person based on one of those aspects is like trying to decide if a whale should be grouped with sea animals or mammals. A whale is both a mammal and a sea animal, and it doesn’t let anybody try to conform them to one

Sure, it is easier for us to refer to someone by one aspect, such as calling them a drama geek. However, that erases the rest of their identity if you only think of them that way. Such is the case for Rafe Goldberg from the novel Openly Straight by Bill Konigsberg. Rafe comes out as gay, and while he is accepted by his peers, he is just known around school as “that gay guy”. He can’t stand it, and he wishes for someone to like him for everything he is and not only consider his sexuality when they think of him. His solution to this dilemma is to start over at a new school and never come out to anybody, which works for a little while but eventually backfires when he falls in love with his new best friend. The lesson from this is that, while yes, you shouldn’t be labeled by one aspect of your identity, you also shouldn’t ever neglect that aspect because it is still a part of who you are. Every part of an individual is important in shaping them as a