The Most Important News … Nonsense!
Published in Asharq Al Awsat
(Pan Arab) on 4 June 2015
by Moshari Al-Thaidi (link to original)
What does it mean when an American celebrity changing from a man to a woman leads the headlines and is widely discussed in social media internationally?
A few days ago, Bruce Jenner, father figure of the famous Kardashian family, including controversial American celebrity Kim Kardashian, appeared completely transformed into a woman on the cover of Vanity Fair saying, "Call me Caitlyn," posed in a risqué way, wearing racy nightwear.
What is important here is not the moral or legal discussion of a man turning into a woman, or a woman turning into a man; this discussion is old news in the West, like the discussion on gay marriage. I speak specifically of a voluntary decision to change gender, not of a change because of bodily defect. These issues are treated quite prominently in Western societies. This is not to say that there are not men who have changed to women or women who have changed to men in other societies, but the political, legal and media discussions surrounding these issues are exclusively Western.
Just to add to this discussion: News agencies say that when he, I mean she – that is, the distinguished father that became an exciting lady named Caitlyn instead of Bruce – opened her Twitter account, her first tweet was retweeted 213,000 times. Caitlyn Jenner's account was one of the fastest growing Twitter accounts in terms of followers. According to Guinness, it is a record. Jenner received 1 million followers in four hours and three minutes, breaking the record set by American president Barack Obama, who took five hours to receive the same amount of followers.
Caitlyn wrote in her third tweet, "Another Jenner world record, and at 65? Who'da thought! Humbled & honored to have reached 1M followers in 4 hrs. Thank you for your support," expressing her appreciation for all the support she received, starting from her venerable family, who appear on reality television. She even was congratulated by President Obama himself, just as ABC announced that he, or she, will be awarded the Arthur Ashe Courage Award.
What matters here is the degree to which vacuous nonsense dominates social media, and how these platforms provide an attractive environment to promote nonsense and preoccupy ourselves with it, compensating for a lack of serious work and real concerns.
We, the whole world, live in the nonsensical planet of social media, where issues come up and quickly die down, where campaigns begin and end at the same time, and humans immerse themselves in it, floating in a sea of inanity. The result of all this is not good for activity in general. It results in a systematic subversion of taste, morals and a knowledge-loving upbringing. It accustoms all to audacity, impulsiveness and extravagance.
Yes, the prevailing education systems, especially in the Arab world, do not impart depth, liberty or a love of science and justice. However, this is an old affliction, which was in place before the torrent of the Internet, and with the flood of social media applications, the affliction only gets worse and the cure more elusive.
People of the next generation will discover how much these applications have ravaged public and civil peace, and how much they have deepened the abyss of asininity.
Until that day, there is no escape from the flood of frivolity but a mountain of solitude.
A few days ago, Bruce Jenner, father figure of the famous Kardashian family, including controversial American celebrity Kim Kardashian, appeared completely transformed into a woman on the cover of Vanity Fair saying, "Call me Caitlyn," posed in a risqué way, wearing racy nightwear.
What is important here is not the moral or legal discussion of a man turning into a woman, or a woman turning into a man; this discussion is old news in the West, like the discussion on gay marriage. I speak specifically of a voluntary decision to change gender, not of a change because of bodily defect. These issues are treated quite prominently in Western societies. This is not to say that there are not men who have changed to women or women who have changed to men in other societies, but the political, legal and media discussions surrounding these issues are exclusively Western.
Just to add to this discussion: News agencies say that when he, I mean she – that is, the distinguished father that became an exciting lady named Caitlyn instead of Bruce – opened her Twitter account, her first tweet was retweeted 213,000 times. Caitlyn Jenner's account was one of the fastest growing Twitter accounts in terms of followers. According to Guinness, it is a record. Jenner received 1 million followers in four hours and three minutes, breaking the record set by American president Barack Obama, who took five hours to receive the same amount of followers.
Caitlyn wrote in her third tweet, "Another Jenner world record, and at 65? Who'da thought! Humbled & honored to have reached 1M followers in 4 hrs. Thank you for your support," expressing her appreciation for all the support she received, starting from her venerable family, who appear on reality television. She even was congratulated by President Obama himself, just as ABC announced that he, or she, will be awarded the Arthur Ashe Courage Award.
What matters here is the degree to which vacuous nonsense dominates social media, and how these platforms provide an attractive environment to promote nonsense and preoccupy ourselves with it, compensating for a lack of serious work and real concerns.
We, the whole world, live in the nonsensical planet of social media, where issues come up and quickly die down, where campaigns begin and end at the same time, and humans immerse themselves in it, floating in a sea of inanity. The result of all this is not good for activity in general. It results in a systematic subversion of taste, morals and a knowledge-loving upbringing. It accustoms all to audacity, impulsiveness and extravagance.
Yes, the prevailing education systems, especially in the Arab world, do not impart depth, liberty or a love of science and justice. However, this is an old affliction, which was in place before the torrent of the Internet, and with the flood of social media applications, the affliction only gets worse and the cure more elusive.
People of the next generation will discover how much these applications have ravaged public and civil peace, and how much they have deepened the abyss of asininity.
Until that day, there is no escape from the flood of frivolity but a mountain of solitude.