This post about Narcissistic Personality Disorder has one serious flaw. It has NO paragraph breaks, making it extremely difficult to read. Sorry, I had to mention that because not having paragraph breaks is really overwhelmingly bad. But I managed to get through the whole thing. It’s an excellent description of a kind of person we have all met.
As the essay says, we all have narcissistic tendencies. I wonder if there’s something about the modern world that encourages and rewards these tendencies and that’s why we’re seeing so much narcissistic behavior. Perhaps some popular psychological theories, which narcissists allegedly disdain, are actually a contributing factor. The “experts” push self-esteem and self fulfillment and though consideration for others is still taught it is overshadowed by the appeal of thinking about and doing for oneself.
I hesitate to say this because it’s an unpopular viewpoint but I especially hate what has happened to womanhood. Our role used to be nurturing but now young women are encouraged to have careers and to seek self-fulfillment. Those things are fine but it seems to me that it’s translated too far into a culture of Self. Having a career is great, self-esteem and self-fulfillment are great, but we shouldn’t act as if nurturing and other traditionally feminine things are outdated.
April 6th, 2012 - 9:03 am
Maybe I’m being too prejudiced, but whenever I see a long article with no paragraph breaks I assume it’s some impassioned screed rather than a well-though-out essay, and don’t bother to read it. It’s not as if adding a few breaks is any burden on the writer.
April 6th, 2012 - 9:56 am
“Our role used to be nurturing…” “…traditionally feminine things.”
Uh, no. Count me out of that game. The idea that women are the “nurturing” sex and men are the rough, tough, macho sex, is an artificial cultural stereotype that is perpetuated by the culture because people who fit themselves into pre-set roles instead of figuring out what kind of person they really are and being true to themselves are easier to control. Being a “nurturer” isn’t a characteristic of just one sex; men have needs to be nurturing too, and discouraging them from being so is just as damaging as forcing women into the roles of nursemaid. The role of “nurturer” is a narcissistic role just like other roles. Be yourself. If part of being yourself is being nurturing, then be nurturing. I am not nurturing except possibly in a very little bit as regards my cat. I have spent my life rejecting all attempts to force me into that sort of behavior.
I didn’t read that person’s screed, by the way. Painful tiny light text on black is painful. Also, the no paragraph breaks. Also, The Last Psychiatrist is a much better go-to for information on narcissism.
April 6th, 2012 - 10:48 am
Yeah, I knew someone would have a problem with that. I’m not suggesting that all women should go back to being house slaves. Of course everyone should be allowed to be whatever they want to be. Unfortunately, “opinionated old lady” is a role I’m quite comfortable in.
April 6th, 2012 - 3:52 pm
Everyone is taught now that self is more important than others no matter what. Precious little snowflakes and all that. Sad.
April 7th, 2012 - 6:57 am
1. I find the lack of paragraph breaks makes an article tiring and hard to read. HOWEVER, in “New Blogger,” if you don’t pay attention to what you’re doing, and you write in (I think it is) “HTML” mode, and don’t insert the br tag…you don’t get breaks.
I’ve had to go back and fix a few blogposts where I did that because I know I hate the lack of breaks.
2. I think the larger problem with narcissistic tendencies in the modern world (and yes, I agree that we all have them, and something about the modern world encourages them) is that you get people who believe ANY attention is GOOD attention. So there are people who seek notoriety by doing things that 100 years ago, only the most desperate or the criminal element would do.
Also, you get people who figure that everyone is interested in the minutia of their daily life. (And yes, I say this as a blogger who writes about the minutia of her daily life. But, I would argue, you opt-in to read my minutia: it’s not like the person who buttonholes you in the Post Office line and tells you about their botched facelift surgery.)
I do see some narcissistic tendencies in myself and I try hard to squash them down, because I’ve seen how unattractive they can be when allowed to run rampant.