Whose Life Is It?

Should we care what other people think of us?

Image credit: Her Norm

There are many human cultures on Earth in which other people’s opinions assume a tremendous importance — so much so that people within those cultures will often suffer terribly for decades rather than take actions that would potentially leave them open to criticism (either overt or silent) by others. Thanks to social media, we also now have billions of people anxious to garner “likes” and other pixilated forms of transient approbation from people they’ve never met, and who are dismayed when they receive negative messages on their shiny screens.

Which is all, frankly, quite mad.

In the real — as opposed to the virtual — world, it’s not uncommon in several Asian cultures for women to endure abusive marriages that make their lives a misery, because the alternative — leaving the relationship — would supposedly bring shame and disgrace upon them and their relatives. In some cases, the abuse can become so great that the woman’s life is at risk. Even when such extremes aren’t reached, the behavior patterns set very poor-quality examples for the children of the household and can inculcate the belief that such abuse is normal.

While lefty-trendy types in the West, who are at limited risk of such things, can pretend that “all cultures are equally valid” and that it’s…