Children are indoctrinated into Shouldland from a very young age. We are sold the lie about how we must BE from almost the time we are born. We must behave in a certain way or else others will withdraw their love, at least the appearance of love, from us. You see this with fathers who show between subtle and obvious disappointment with their sons who don’t fit into their ideas of ‘male-ness’ by playing, and excelling in, various sports.
Shouldland is in existence when parents dress their baby daughters in the colour pink. When they are old enough to choose their own clothes to wear for the day, girls will select pink clothes because their parents, and their society as a whole, have determined that pink is the colour that you should wear to appear feminine. They unintentionally bond certain colours to gender stereotypes. Peggy Orenstein in her insightful book ‘Cinderella Ate My Daughter’ takes it one step further with her statement that wearing pink “repeatedly and firmly fuses girls’ identity to appearance”.
Girls have the added pressure of the imposed ‘princess wedding fantasy’, which costs many girls their sense of independence and stays with many of them for life. There are millions of young women who have given up true happiness and freedom chasing this princess fantasy: to find a man who needs you and gives your life a sense of purpose. Such a waste.
The ironically named singer ‘Pink’ sums it up well in her song ‘Stupid Girl’: “What happened to the dreams of a girl president. She’s dancing in the video next to 50 Cent… Disease’s growing, it’s epidemic. I’m scared that there ain’t a cure. The world believes it and I’m going crazy. I cannot take any more. I’m so glad that I’ll never fit in. That will never be me. Outcasts and girls with ambition. That’s what I wanna see.”
Shouldland guides children to have a boyfriend or girlfriend from a young age when there isn’t the genuine interest in members of the opposite sex or dating in general. 11 and 12 year olds seek out a partner a long time before they are ready, in order to seek approval of not only their peers, but the rest of their tribe as well. Their parents allow, and even encourage, this behaviour because it fits in nicely with their Shouldland beliefs, and gives them the opportunity to be seen as ‘cool’ parents.
These parents, suffering from CPS, or ‘Cool Parent Syndrome’, do serious and sometimes irreversible damage to their children by giving them everything that they want, without any of the boundaries. Far too many parents want to be friends with their children. IT DOESN’T WORK. Countless parents, many of who are from Generation X and younger, allow their kids too much freedom and adult rights far too young. They attempt to be trendy and popular to impress their kids and their own peers.
A child’s mind is not equipped or ready for the freedom imposed on it, with the individual often maintaining an aura of immaturity into adulthood. We see this all too regularly with teenagers and even young adults not mentally or emotionally equipped to deal with online social networking. They cannot handle the freedom and the lack of consequences that the internet allows, resulting in them not being able to show maturity when communicating, either online or in real-life relationships.
It is ironic that as children, we are taught to resist peer pressure. To say no to smoking, drugs and anything silly that others will try to get us to do, but will potentially cause us long-term harm. Fair enough too, these are things best not to start in the first place. We are told to be strong and resist what others are doing, and make our own choices.
Why is it then in others areas we are told to give in to peer pressure, that we should not make up our own minds, but to go along with what everyone else is doing? This IS peer pressure. This exposes the lies told by the citizens of Shouldland: on the surface promoting independent thought, but in reality attempting to hinder any genuine attempts at independent thought.
Previously I have stated that from the time we are born we are taught the rules of life, how we should live. These rules come from our tribes that have a very deep, very collective subconscious to keep the group even. Shouldland tells children how they should behave, to inhibit their attempts to rise up beyond the other members of their tribe. Behaving more confidently than the vast majority of (insecure) people causes society to pass judgement on them, giving them labels such as ‘Arrogant’. Boys and men who act more confidently than their peers will often be given this label by others afraid of one of their tribe trying to reach a little further in life. Just like the caged monkeys. This is classic ‘tall poppy syndrome’, a favourite pastime in many cultures.
Shouldland 