This is something that I have been thinking about since yesterday when I was on my way home and this lad who was fatter then me called me a fat b***ch, now I didn't take this to heart at all since I turned around and said "You can't talk" So anyways it got me thinking, do we really insult other people, weaver they are like us or not, just to make our selves better, or is it just because we don't like the person?
Interesting question. I don't tend to insult people unless they particularly annoy me and usually they said something first to kick it off. Then I let them have it. However, I do think some people do try to elevate themselves off the misery of others that they cause. It gives them some sense of power to possibly make them feel better and have a dominance over 'something' in their lives. It's a shallow thing for someone to do but I'm pretty sure most of the time that is the reason. When you insult them back or ignore them, they lose dominance of a situation and you can make them really look stupid and the looks on their faces is enough to say they have stumbled on someone out of their league. Your response to the person and brushing it off was probably enough to make that person realize that he was not going to win over getting a 'pathetic' response from you so hopefully he's done with it. However, to make himself feel 'bad ass' he may go the other route which is to get 'friends' to make a person feel cowed that way. Of course, if you can snap off responses like that and walk on unaffected, it won't even matter. He'll probably try to find some other person instead. It's all about the reaction.
Yes. It is a funny joke for everyone except the victim. If you get it directed at you, you have a few options. 1. Outdo them. No one is going to do it to a person with witty comebacks. 2. Prove it wrong. E.G. if you are called stupid, do better than the taunters. 3. Find someone more pathetic than you to direct it against. Not paticularly nice, but it gets you out of the situation. There is no other option, short of moving away. Trying to become a friend does not help, as you will be considered a friend, and the jokes will continue. So unless you do this at the very start, it will not work. Very difficult to shake once it has a grasp. I think that the baton pass technique to work okay.
I Think people do ake it a bit far with insults but when they sart on me... They are in for it... I Have an insult for most things... :) But Yea I THink People D it to cheer themselves up. I Think Its Just stupid, I never insult somebody unless they start it or take it Way To Far!
Yes, many people do that. But there are few that are above it, which means that we aren't totally horrible. I personally don't do that, and when someone does it to me I just come up with a comeback that either shows that I'm not bothered at all, or it makes the other person feel guilty that they have to insult people to feel good about themselves.
I'd have to say both. Reason? It's because we first know them and then they call us something so now you then hate them and then you make yourself equal with him by saying something back. It's part of life and some of us can control it by not saying anything back. For me, I can't control it.
yeah, people hurt others to make themselves feel better... but by doing so, make the victims feel worse... I am (at this time) being victimized for no reason... so,I know how you feel. LITERALLY! I did nothing to this kid and he makes fun of me...
This is an interesting question.I would have to say both.I don't like to insult people unless they end up provoking me at a point where I can't stand it.But most of the time I just ignore it.I do believe that most people just insult other people just to make themselves feel better.For example I've been told many times by friends that I'm pretty.But people that don't know me would say they think I'm ugly.I just ignore it.If they don't like the way I look oh well,not my problem.And if people know who you are and they insult you it could possibly be both.They insult you to make themselves feel better and because they don't like you.
I would say both. People make fun of eachother to think that they are better than the person and they do the same when they don't like the person. In some way it makes them feel better about themselves by making others feel misery.
Interesting topic. I have experienced this more than once myself. Just the other day, because I wouldn't move over to let one of my friends lie down, she called me fat and I was like, "Yeah, whatever." Then she said, "No, I'm serious." I looked at her and was like, "I'm pretty sure you weigh more than I do, so I would watch your mouth." And she didn't say another word. Out-witting them shows that they were just being stupid and immature, trying to make themselves feel better. No, I didn't say it to her to make myself feel better. I just wanted to prove to her that she shouldn't be talking snap. Most people, yes, do do that to put other people down and make themselves feel better. This is just in their own mind. In reality, they're making themselves look like total idiots with no life of their own. If someone ever says that you're stupid, you could easily bring up a subject where you got a better grade than they did on a test. Like the other day, my brother-in-law was counting my sister, my nephews, and myself out of Wendy's when we were leaving. He didn't say "Four" when it came to me, so I said it and he commented, "You can count to four! I'm so proud of you." I walked out the door, not looking him in the eye, and said, "And you're highest is three." My sister laughed, and so did I, but it was just a family joke. We always pick on each other that way. Anyway, that's a bad example, so scratch that. But it is true that if you're friends with someone who makes comments like my friend did, it will continue. I have two friends like that, and my other sister (that's a year older than me) has heard me talk about it and has decided to take the matter into her own hands, which won't exactly do any good. I'll just get more sarcastic and mean comments about her confrontation with them. They pick on another girl too, and she's not even their friend. It's a pure example of bullying. If you're friends with someone or some people like that, end the friendship or tell them straight up that you're sick of it and hope they'll stop. It may just be that person's nature and in their own personality to do that, but it still needs to be stopped before it reaches a higher level. I think I should be taking my own advice... -Kairi
Hrmm well back when I was in middle school a few kids did insult me once in a while. I usually brushed it off though and I think the reason why they used to insult me was because they were jealous of me and/or wanted to feel superior to me. I was kind of a nerd in middle school and so I always scored higher than those people on everything. I do recall this one particular girl who would always insult me in middle school, when I entered high school, her friend told me that the reason she didn't like me and insulted me was because in elementary school she was one of the smartest in the school. Apparently my being at the same school with her stole her glory and made her look... not smart. O.o So I'd say it pretty much seems like she insulted me because she wanted to make herself feel better by making me feel worse. I'd have to say what she did didn't work, though I still harbor somewhat of a grudge against her. ^^; People tend to be more careful about what they say about me in my presence now though, must be because they realize I tend to be a bit violent when you say something that particularly pisses me off. I have noticed that I also insult people but usually I'm just kidding about what I say about them, and usually I say it straight to their faces. Times when I am serious, sometimes I guess it is to make myself feel superior, but other times it's like you actually insult a person to make them stop whatever they are doing that pisses you off. For example, I had a friend who had a boyfriend yet still dressed a little on the ****ty side and flirted with other guys. My other friends and I discussed her behavior (a lot of insults were thrown in that discussion) yet the reason for the discussion was how to get her to stop acting like that. There wasn't really any personal gain from having that discussion, it didn't make us feel better, if anything it only made us feel more angry at her for acting so stupid.
I guess it's pretty much both. Throughout middle school and high school I'd get picked on and bullied for no apparent reason, and I think it was mostly due to the fact that they just wanted to feel better about themselves by putting someone else down.There was this one girl who always called me fat, bullied me around for doing better in school, and teased me for liking sports and things that guys usually do, so she'd call me queer. I went home for a visit during spring break and what I ended up finding out what she'd dropped out of school, was easily 80 pounds heavier than I am, and lo and behold, HAS A GIRLFRIEND. Nowadays, I work in retail, and people will always try to ruin your day by trying to prove they're smarter than you somehow. After the first few days you just shrug it off, because these are adults trying to prove they're better than someone half their age. Plus, I always get a good laugh out of a 50-year old man throwing a hissy because something he wanted isn't on sale and we just won't give it to him. :D Now, my group of friends tease each other all the time, but they're never meant to hurt. We have one girl in our group who is an English major, and we'll tease her when she says something that sounds way wrong, like "I wouldn't have falled" or something like that. But it's all out of fun, and she always finds it funny. And jsko90, I have a friend excatly like the one you mentioned. She's always got a boyfriend(s), and always acts flirtly and ****ty yet she always denies it, and it just angers us. She's always flirting with our boyfriends, and we'll talk about her when she's not around and while we do insult her, we're not trying to make ourselves feel better. We're trying to figure out how to make her see that she's acting this way.
I got real pissed off one day at school....some boy said i was a lesbian just because i show few interests in men (they all are immature and not my type) Just because i wear large sporty shirts and not wear makeup doesn't mean I am interested in girls sheesh....and i look so much more feminine than those others anyway! i HAD boys ask me out but i dropped them cause i'm looking for something else....does anyone else have this issue?
