A “snowflake” – besides being a slippery, delicate white thing that falls from the sky – is also the urban dictionary term for anyone considered overly sensitive or easily offended by a particular subject.
In the current climate of social media and technology, these snowflakes can be anybody you come across; although they often tend to be a youngster with an opinion they do not like opposed.
Now, some topics like slut shaming, homophobia and so many more unnecessary acts are definitely worth getting offended by and worth voicing your opinion over. But going on a Twitter rant about un-PC jokes on a sitcom from the 90s (that’s right, Friends), is, in my opinion, a massive waste of time and effort.
Something about me – I am Indian, and taking offence has never been a part of my growing up. Where I’m from, you just aren’t taught to be offended by a comment on your weight, or the way you look. It might be a product of where I’m from, or it might just who I am as a person but I am not easy to offend. I take most things with a pinch of salt and a sense of humour.
I see someone being unintentionally racist towards me or anyone else – assuming I don’t know English or liking a fair skin for the simple fact that it is fair- I give them a pass because I understand cultural differences. If I am touched at a club by accident, I give them a pass because, one it’s a packed club with a million people in close quarters, and two everybody there- including myself- is most likely drunk out of their minds.
What do u expect from the snowflake generation
— Futon (@futonrs) December 3, 2018
People are often offended by these- and other- things because that’s what they see other people do, that’s what pop culture and social media dictate as the right way to react. It’s a hard thing to wrap your head around, and while I agree that racism and sexual assault are both horrible acts that unfortunately still happen around the world and need to condemn.
Sometimes it’s not racism or cultural appropriation, it’s genuinely just a culture gap. Sometimes it’s not sexual assault, it genuinely just a wrong brush of a hand. There are people who act with malicious intent, but not every action by every person is malicious.
And reading this, I am sure many are offended themselves, who feel like their “safe space” has been disturbed.
But there may also be some people who resonate with these thoughts. Youngsters today are often dubbed “Generation Snowflake”- a generation of over-sensitive millennials – but within it there most definitely exist people who don’t need a safe space, who understand and are willing to face the harsh realities of the world.
They exist, and they aren’t offended right now.
By Malvika Padin