Nothing says "help, I've been possessed by an evil wax statue" like a selfie.
It's hard to ignore the lifeless onslaught of puckered lips, expressionless gazes, and submissively tilted heads that stare from the profiles of many women's social media accounts.
Even more frightening than the creepy selfie pose is a prevailing attitude that seems to affect many of my female acquaintances and even, at times, myself.
Many young women seem to struggle to develop original and autonomous identities. Instead, they form identities that echo their boyfriends', friends', or sororities' interests, ideology and characteristics without independently developing their own.
Although intellectual autonomy is difficult to attain, narcissism is easily achieved and demonstrated through sharing constant streams of personal updates and photographs. Unfortunately, egotism isn't a substitute for individualism.
However, the culprit of this phenomenon doesn't seem to be the fugitive spirit from Madame Tussauds's wax museum attempting to clone lifeless imitations of individuals.
Instead, I think many of us Plainswomen have inadvertently absorbed American culture's lack of appreciation of, and dedication to, originality.
Many of today's best-selling movies are remakes or a part of franchises, while television show spinoffs and book series flood the market. Many of the storylines feature mishmashes of old storylines (vampires anyone?) instead of innovative and original concepts. And, of course, many of our female pop culture icons aren't necessarily originality role models either. It's all too common for a woman to receive fame and attention for her good looks and sexuality instead of her talent, artistry or wit.
To compound the phenomenon, traditional women's culture often emphasizes inclusion instead of competition. This emphasis isn't inherently bad; however groupthink and "sameness" aren't necessarily discouraged.
Surrounded by our culture's creative and intellectual stagnation and its idolization of over-sexualized women, it's understandable that many women struggle to form their own identities.
Luckily, the solution doesn't require an exorcism.
Although easy to consume the vapid products of our pop culture in our free time, such behavior is counterproductive when forming an independent identity.
Producing something, rather than consuming, forces one to think. You must consider what you're going to do, determine how you are going to do it, and then critique yourself after you've finished. It's a process that allows for self-exploration, understanding and acceptance. This type of, often creative, thinking is an essential component of de-clonifying yourself and forming an independent identity.
Learning, when paired with deep, analytical thinking is likewise helpful in the de-clonefication process. Although it's fun to read an informative book, it's also important to spend time reflecting on what you think about the given topic and why you think it.
Although our culture may not encourage self-discovery, creativity or intellectual independence for women, that doesn't mean we should allow ourselves to stagnate. If each Plainswoman worked to think deeply and creatively in order to understand herself, we could use our rich senses of self to change our entertainment industry's vapid, mindless pop products and create a better, smarter, more innovative culture.
Until then, it would be nice to see women possessed only by their sense of self.
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