Personal responsibility and the princess culture

The princess culture in America was conceived primarily as a way to market materialism/narcissism to younger women.  When these characteristics become predominant, Madison Avenue has won.  Their job is to create cycles of behavior that drive consumption of material goods, either directly or indirectly via their parents.  In order to sell a product, a deficiency must first present itself.  The thought, "I'm missing something from my life" must needs enter the picture in order to create what I call "the void."  The void is any and all feelings of inadequacy one might experience in the presence of peers or those whom one is seeking acceptance/reassurance.  In theory, consumption or accumulation of products, adopting attitudes, and projections of future happiness are the only remedies to keep this void at bay.  This is where beauty, glamour, and their never ending pursuits find an eternal sense of job security.  This is why I really don't get into fashion.  Trends change when designers decide it so, thereby creating a new fad to be bought.  The fad one month may be faux pas the next, and vice versa.  Either way, an impetus to buy has been established.  Many people chase these rainbows, in hopes that they will find fulfillment in the end.  Of course, the media isn't selling you the idea that you are complete, or that there is nothing wrong with you.  If they were, the need to buy anything that doesn't pertain to survival would be greatly reduced.  Understanding the motives behind programming of all kinds, not just Toddlers and Tiaras, is fundamentally important to understanding why personal responsibility is crucial to effect change in our lives, if it is so desired.  Maybe you're totally fine with the constructs of society and the roles which others have intentionally created for you.  If so, feel free to stop reading at any time.  I write these things to elucidate a process which I've become privy to in my years spent in the world of business.

In the past year, several people that I know have told me they are on the brink of a meltdown.  Their apathy toward life, coupled with the fear of an uncertain future has them in an existential conundrum they simply can't see their way out of.  Most of the time they tell me that they just don't believe in anything anymore, or that life is all one big lie.  After years of consuming messages of unattainable cultural "ideals,"  as if they were superattainable has certainly led to a great deal of disillusionment which the prescription drug industry is more than happy to oblige.  Having faced a number of these scenarios in my own life, I gave them the best advice I could think of.  I told them that they couldn't do anything about the lives they were "promised" by television/media when they were children.  Instead, I proposed the idea that they can control which ideas they are buying into, now that they are adults.  Personally, I don't buy into 99% of the material I am exposed to, whether it be professors, politicians, TV shows, or talk radio.  They all carry messages, which contain narratives, which contain motives, which are tied to their livelihood.  By taking personal responsibility for the degree to which I accept the premise of their message, I'm able to form unbiased decisions about my sense of adequacy and self worth.  I am, in essence, removing the lens of consumerism, upon which almost every facet of society is founded.  I can no longer be subject to the disappointment and disillusionment that can result from "buying in."   Also by casting a non-vote, as it were, I am reducing the incentive for media to create shows which aim to exploit myself and others because I exercise choice, and choice is precisely what makes a capitalistic society tolerable.

There appears, to me, to be a great unraveling of what people generally associate as the fabric of normative American experience.  In generations past, it may have been easier to ignore or deny that individual beliefs and core independent values were eroding on a mass scale.  It has become increasingly difficult with the sheer volume of media with which we're exposed, to deny it any longer.  I can't remember a time when the lives of those around me have been (1) in such distress mentally, emotionally, and financially; (2) so dependent upon social media, entertainment, and visual stimulation; (3) so powerless as to help themselves recover.  I am not implying a correlation, but if you enjoy observing human behavior as I do, an argument can be made that many Americans lack not only the self-awareness to diagnose their malaise, but the critical thinking skills to do anything about it.