Culture Peanut Butter and Jam

I agree with Torie that this book does make you wonder about who you really are. I've been aware for some time that "rebel" is a label in itself. The quote "... and youth rebellion was looking more and more like an empty gesture inspired by Nike." kind of hits a nerve. That's why I've always hated the phrase "hippie". "Hippie" is misused massively today. There are lots of students at UVM who call themselves hippies, but do not vote- it is a reference to fashion and drug preference. As an Environmental Studies major, I get called a hippie a lot. I am not a hippie, my father was. He is not anymore, the Vietnam War is over. And I am not a vegetarian. Just because I'm skinny and like animals does not mean I don't eat meat. There is plenty hypocracey in my being.
This quote also bothered me, because early today I went to the sports store to buy a new pair of running shoes, and my mother bought me some other gear as a birthday present. While I was there, I noticed everything, even the sports bra she bought me, was plastered with a label. I run to clear my mind of all the other crap going on in my life (media included) and yet I am forced to wear it if I desire to be appropriately attired (which is necessary during the Vermont winter). I pride myself for never going to the gym to run on a treadmill, and always running outside no matter what weather because I enjoy being outdoors, and yet here I am still a subject of the media.
And on the topic of clothing, I have tried to avoid being judged by my attire for some time now, but have recently learned that one is judged when wearing second-hand-clothes, men's pants, and baggy sweatshirts just as much as the most styling of people. I now try to follow a happy medium, which means tighter jeans of course, just to blend in. Not that I want to be like everybody else, but I want how weird I am to be a surprise, not a fashion statement.
Another part of the introduction of this book that hit me especially was the part about belonging. I've often told people that when I ran competitively in high school, I did not enjoy running so much as I was addicted to winning. When I started running in middle school, it was a huge confidence boost because no matter how much smarter, prettier, cooler, or whatever another girl was, I could run faster (in a half mile up). Like cool, winning gives one a sense of belonging or acceptance and is short lived. I had to win every race in order to keep the high going, and when I didn't I would be devastated.
Lasn's discussion about noise was also very poignant for me. It did not remind me of myself, but more of my roommate. She literally "Can't work without background music. Can't jog without a Discman. Can't study without the TV on." I don't know how she does it. I admit I like to drive, get dressed to go out, and do household chores with music on, but doing homework with the TV on?! I do homework in dead silence. I can't read with music with lyrics playing, and I talk aloud while I type (which my roommate thinks is weird). Sometimes the TV is on in my apartment and she isn't even in the room watching it, but when I turn it off and then walk away it's magically back on. I can't run listening to music (though sometimes that does seem like it would be nice), earplugs make my inner ears sweaty and the noise makes it hard for me to control my breath. My roommate says she can't run with me because she needs to run with her ipod (this is really a made up excuse to not exercise). It's almost like she can only exercise alone because it's a chore, like homework, not an enjoyable activity. All anybody wants to do socially these days is party, and how social is that if you can't remember most of what you did last night?