Facing our Fears
Whether we like to admit it or not, everyone on this planet has a fear. Some people have acrophobia, the fear of heights, while others may possess trypophobia, the fear of hole patterns. In our society, it’s acceptable to have these fears; in fact, when Kendall Jenner revealed her trypophobia, a wave of people rushed to sympathize. However, it’s important to ask why some fears are socially acceptable, while others are made fun of, or even frowned upon. Is it because some fears are more rational than others? Are certain fears more acceptable if more people possess them?
These rhetorical questions provide the perfect segway to the main topic of this blog: the fear of olives. Specifically, the atrocities committed on the Maury show. I’ve never watched much of the Maury show, but from the few clips I’ve seen, the show reminds me of Ellen, but even less captivating. In essence, the Maury show is your run-of-the-mill daytime talk show. However, one clip captured my attention:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bAm9VY0XFU
In this clip, a middle-aged woman named Sally has an extreme fear of olives. The majority of people that watch this clip would probably think that Sally is crazy: how could anyone possibly be afraid of olives? Regardless, the fear becomes significantly more sensibly after you learn about the reason behind Sally’s fear; Sally’s grandfather died when she was seven, and upon watching her grandfather (who had green eyes) get lowered into the grave, she developed a fear for olives. To make matters worse, the Maury show did a horrendous attempt at exposure therapy and started to chase Sally around the room with olives.
I would argue that Sally’s fear of olives is far more rational than trypophobia or the hundreds of other phobias that are socially acceptable. Yet our innate reaction to watching Sally screech across the room at the mere word of “olives,” seems to delight us (after all, the Maury show has an entire segment on exposing people with irrational fears). In contrast, if a person was placed in a box filled with snakes and spiders, we would share a sense of empathy. I guess what I’m trying to say is that fear itself seems to be a social construct. Yes, we all have fears, but whether or not the fear is accepted solely depends on the number of people that possess that phobia.
I agree. Although some fears indeed tend to be ignored or made fun of when it is not widely accepted in our society, we must strive to make a community that at least shows respect to different kind of fears and people. Most of the time we do not know what others have experienced or fought their way through until now, and we should not just assume their fears as stupid and ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting proposal that seems to hold merit, especially framed through the lens of "a social construct." The gauge by which we measure how worthy a phobia is by popular consensus, and your blog presents the interesting issue of disregarding another persons fear. Well done!
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting blog post on an interesting topic too. At first I have to admit that watching the video of Sally did make me laugh a bit, but upon reading your blog post, it definitely got me thinking and allowed me to empathize with Sally. Many things in society that don't go with the "general public" are often viewed as weird, different, or even comical in this case, but your blog post definitely presents an argument against that mindset!
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