Since the beginning of time there has always been people who stand out from society outcasts,misfits,foreigners,rebels.People who don't fit in and sometimes don't want to fit in but are outsiders simply those who are misjudged or misunderstood?
First of all,one has to know the meaning of ‘outsider’ an outsider is a person who has unusual traits or does unusual things and for that does not belong into a certain group,outsiders are found in every single group where people join together and have to deal with each other,schools,work environments,friend groups and even families usually have their black sheep that does not belong all the time.
Looking back at history,outsiders have existed everywhere and their anxieties have filled countless of tales,for example in greek mythology,the god Hades was forced to live in the underworld guarding the souls of the dead while all his immortal brothers and sisters rejoiced on mount Olympus,this went so far the name Hades means “unseen” in greek,in this case Hades was excluded by his own family,so he did not become an outcast willingly,Likewise,in ‘The metamorphosis’ by Franz Kafka,Where a man named Gregor Samsa transformed into a ginormous beetle and then was alienated by his own family until he died in mysterious death,probably caused by starvation because of his family´s neglect,Gregor did not choose to transform into something that would obviously make everyone around him to be disgusted by him.
Based on the last analogy,in real life some people become outsiders,not by choice,but because other people decide that they are not normal enough to be accepted into society ,this is caused by the belief some people have that dictates that people who are different from their standards of normal can be dangerous or just not worthy enough to be treated with respect.
These differences apply to minorities,people of different races,genders,religions or sexual preferences,in these cases people can not help but being different,for example Ruby Bridges,the first african- american girl to go to a all-white school when the racial segregation period was over in the United States in the 1960´s.In her first day elementary school,she had to be escorted by federal marshals to the entrance of the building because there was a mob of people blocking it and shouting things at her,after that,Ruby had to take classes alone for a whole year because none of her classmates´s parents wanted their children to go to school with a black child,she also had to take classes from only one teacher because the rest of the teachers of the school refused to give classes to a child like her,all of this senseless hate because of her skin tone ,something that no one can choose and that should be considered trivial but never has been.
Through time, countless of others outsiders have let their legacies in history ,Joan of arc was burned at the stake for fighting for her rights,Jesus was crucified for promoting his speech of love and forgiveness,Martin Luther King,Malcolm X,all persecuted and killed for being different and standing up for their rights and saying differences should not matter.
On the other hand,some outsiders become that by making the bold choice of just being themselves,in other words being unapologetically weird ,liking the things they like and doing the things they enjoy to do(while it does not cause harm to others) instead of trying to change themselves in order to please someone else,because at the end of the day,most of people have felt like outsiders at least once in their lives and you just have to find people who share some traits with you or if not,who care to listen about your interests ,even if those are unconventional. At least in my experience in the past sometimes I felt like I did not belong in certain groups and even if I tried to belong I would have never felt happy and comfortable faking a personality that is truly not me,then I decided that I was better off being myself and not having a lot of friends or not being ‘popular’ than pretending to be someone else and having a lot of friends,and in the end showing my true personality brought me friends that I actually feel comfortable and happy with and who share some of my interests and personality traits.
“Be who you are and say what you think because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind”-Dr.Seuss
Most of these types of outsiders become really accomplished because their weirdness makes them unique and makes them have the ability to think out of the box and create new things,like inventions and art .
In conclusion Outsiders can be those who are misjudged or misunderstood,those who can not choose the trait that makes them different,who have to learn to accept themselves and stand up for themselves even if the whole world is telling them they do no not belong in society but on other hand outsiders can also be people who do not really want to fit in and just want to live freely as themselves even if other people judge them for it.
By Isabella leal/ GCF Student