“You can be/do anything you want!”
No, you can’t.
I was watching Glow Up (because I have run out of gentle competition shows to watch and reluctanctly gave it a shot. It’s not bad, but it’s so out of my interest zone. I think there is a lot of art on display, but the restrictions of the medium irritate me. Such as all the models are thin and stereotypically pretty. And that while the judges urge the makeup artists (MUAs) to be creative, it’s within a very limited scope. VERY limited. Also, while I appreciate that Val is passionate, she borders on being a caricature with her Ding. DONG! and other catch phrases) and more than one person uttered this banal phrase.
“You can do anything you want.”
NO YOU CAN’T.
I understand wanting to bolster kids’ esteems, but giving them false promises is not the way to do it. Look. I knew from since I was a little kid that I could not be president.
“Minna,” I hear you say. “You could be president if you want! Anyone can be president.”
Or, “Minna. That’s being ridiculous. Most people can’t be president.”
That’s my point. There are things I can’t be. Yes, technically, I could be president, but let’s be real. America is not ready to elect a fat, queer, areligious Asian AFAB person who defies all definition. Hell, i’m not ready to elect me. You may say it’s a technicality, but I say it’s reality. We weren’t ready to elect an established white woman, for fuck’s sake! No way in hell I could ever be elected. I realized this at a very young age, so it exposed ‘you can be anything’ as a lie.
It’s a form of gaslighting, honestly.