It's funny how being "awkward" has become the new, coveted cool. People actually take quizzes to prove their awkward-ability to their friends and take comfort in knowing that Marie Claire magazine has declared Taylor Swift to be just as awkward as anyone else (I mean that's a total lie). The truth of it all is, when someone is actually awkward, it doesn't work that way anymore. For instance: me. I used to be painfully awkward to the point where I knew not what to say to people in new conversation aka smalltalk ever. I would jump right into the most random corner of conversation possible before saying "how are you" or "what did you do last night." Although those things bore me, they aren't things that most people are comfortable skipping (refer to my last post where I speak about how geniuses must first master the basics). Not to declare myself as a genius, because I clearly just disproved that theory, but I like to think I was unique in being assuredly, consistently, painfully awkward to the point where there was such a thing as a "Classic Katie."
In today's world of Lena Dunham and celebrities such as the self-proclaimed "real" and "super awkward" pixie named Jennifer Lawrence, awkward is on the rise. Gone are the days when Audrey Hepburn and all of her perfection are the accepted, nay coveted, norm. In rush the days when embracing the extra five pounds and extra scraggly tooth around your eyebrow are widely accepted. Fine, teeth don't grow on eyebrows (huh?). This is all okay and funky and cool-tastic until one event happens: when someone proudly declares themselves awkward, they are no longer awkward. The very thing about being awkward is that you are often unable to accept or realize the fact without admitting that you tried to be otherwise. If you know that what you do is weird, the bubble has been burst...and I only chew Double Bubble Bubble Gum so that is quite impossible. But see, this puts me in a quasi sort of lame limbo (maybe that explains the lightheaded feeling I had earlier today). While I realize I have awkward tendencies, I am no longer as ashamed of them. Although, when someone who I don't know is only able to experience my awkward tendencies without being in the presence of the awesome ones, this creates a problem. I am no longer Jennifer Lawrence, saying awesome things then tripping over ballgowns; I am just awkward. And everything I say from thereon out will be seen as only rendering everyone in the room instantly uncomfortable. I have been told I have a gift for doing so (was a painful day). This true awkward is an isolated "herp" in a sea of "herp derps." The use of the entire phrase, aka awkward with funky, is understood by the gaggles (gaggles of geese and humans alike). The use of just "herp" just becomes weird, as is the awkward without the nifty-with-a-twist of cool.
So this is why Taylor Swift is not truly awkward. It's not that she is beautiful or even graceful that removes her from this category. As a matter of fact, she used to be awkward and it was because she was blissfully unaware not of the fact that she was but rather of what it was about her that made her be perceived as awkward. She has been groomed by society and expensive hairdressers etc. to comb the awkward right out of the mane that is her (ew). So when Marie Claire tries to call someone who has been so standardized by society as an "awkward" individual just to make the public feel more comfortable with themselves, I say nay. Calling someone awkward makes them feel more human and closer to the rest of us, but we don't realize is that not all of us are truly awkward.
I suppose the moral of the story is something like this: I suppose I should be glad I am awkward in a society where this is growing in acceptability (awkward wording lol) but hope I can remain that way while developing my suave self. Though this has yet to come out in full, I hope that one day, one year, in my fourth feline life, that I will be able to ask someone what they did last night.
In today's world of Lena Dunham and celebrities such as the self-proclaimed "real" and "super awkward" pixie named Jennifer Lawrence, awkward is on the rise. Gone are the days when Audrey Hepburn and all of her perfection are the accepted, nay coveted, norm. In rush the days when embracing the extra five pounds and extra scraggly tooth around your eyebrow are widely accepted. Fine, teeth don't grow on eyebrows (huh?). This is all okay and funky and cool-tastic until one event happens: when someone proudly declares themselves awkward, they are no longer awkward. The very thing about being awkward is that you are often unable to accept or realize the fact without admitting that you tried to be otherwise. If you know that what you do is weird, the bubble has been burst...and I only chew Double Bubble Bubble Gum so that is quite impossible. But see, this puts me in a quasi sort of lame limbo (maybe that explains the lightheaded feeling I had earlier today). While I realize I have awkward tendencies, I am no longer as ashamed of them. Although, when someone who I don't know is only able to experience my awkward tendencies without being in the presence of the awesome ones, this creates a problem. I am no longer Jennifer Lawrence, saying awesome things then tripping over ballgowns; I am just awkward. And everything I say from thereon out will be seen as only rendering everyone in the room instantly uncomfortable. I have been told I have a gift for doing so (was a painful day). This true awkward is an isolated "herp" in a sea of "herp derps." The use of the entire phrase, aka awkward with funky, is understood by the gaggles (gaggles of geese and humans alike). The use of just "herp" just becomes weird, as is the awkward without the nifty-with-a-twist of cool.
So this is why Taylor Swift is not truly awkward. It's not that she is beautiful or even graceful that removes her from this category. As a matter of fact, she used to be awkward and it was because she was blissfully unaware not of the fact that she was but rather of what it was about her that made her be perceived as awkward. She has been groomed by society and expensive hairdressers etc. to comb the awkward right out of the mane that is her (ew). So when Marie Claire tries to call someone who has been so standardized by society as an "awkward" individual just to make the public feel more comfortable with themselves, I say nay. Calling someone awkward makes them feel more human and closer to the rest of us, but we don't realize is that not all of us are truly awkward.
I suppose the moral of the story is something like this: I suppose I should be glad I am awkward in a society where this is growing in acceptability (awkward wording lol) but hope I can remain that way while developing my suave self. Though this has yet to come out in full, I hope that one day, one year, in my fourth feline life, that I will be able to ask someone what they did last night.
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