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don't be such a baby
May. 19th, 2023 11:02 amI find myself thinking about this expression, and how often I heard it in my childhood and younger adulthood:
“Don’t be such a baby.”
So often, this was the reply we received when we found something difficult or stressful or painful, and dared to express this. The clear undercurrent to such a sentiment was that it is somehow morally superior to endure a situation rather than improve it. The deeper and subtler message was Don’t try to change things.
Nowadays, at least in some circles, I can see resistance to this whole dynamic becoming more vocal. People are speaking up about the fact that we are not all equally abled, and some people need more help to navigate the world than others do, and that it is A Good Thing® for those people to get it.
I think this is a social change for the better, and I hope it progresses. I have some regrets that this change in perspective is arriving too late for me in many ways, but I don’t begrudge it for those who need it now.
“Don’t be such a baby.”
So often, this was the reply we received when we found something difficult or stressful or painful, and dared to express this. The clear undercurrent to such a sentiment was that it is somehow morally superior to endure a situation rather than improve it. The deeper and subtler message was Don’t try to change things.
Nowadays, at least in some circles, I can see resistance to this whole dynamic becoming more vocal. People are speaking up about the fact that we are not all equally abled, and some people need more help to navigate the world than others do, and that it is A Good Thing® for those people to get it.
I think this is a social change for the better, and I hope it progresses. I have some regrets that this change in perspective is arriving too late for me in many ways, but I don’t begrudge it for those who need it now.
