What Does Maturity Really Mean?
By Rosebunse 27 Comments
I know this isn't a real comic-centric post, but I feel it needs to be addressed. As nerds, geeks, and fanboys and girls, I'm sure that we have all been accused of being immature and childish. I know I have. I am a young woman just getting ready to enter college, and if there is one thing that high school had taught me, it's that I am not as dumb as everyone says I am. Sure, I couldn't find a job thanks to the recession and my own laziness and school, and yeah I haven't had a boyfriend, but I also wasn't the person to fall into the ridiculous drug scene just because everyone else was, or the person to get the generic tramp stamp, or the person to post tons of nude pictures on the internet, or almost any other stuff that teens are usually accused of doing, or the person who got into a shallow relationship just because everyone else did. I am truly happy with myself, and know that I am kinda prepared for lies ahead. I didn't avoid anything, or was sheltered from any of it, but decided that I just didn't want any of it because it didn't seem to make anyone else happy. Why do that to myself?
So instead, I became a nerd. I found comics after realizing that anime just wasn't for me. But even before that, I found DBZ-yes, it's an anime, but Goku's close to SuperMan-and Beast Wars, a masterpiece of animation and story-telling. These gave me a foundation and stability, something I might've lacked in my single parent household.
But back on topic: it's not that these nerdy things prepared me for life, but they did kinda help me adjust. In fact, if it wasn't for the near constant harassment from the other girls-guys, girls are WAY meaner than boys will ever be-I would've been the most well adjusted person in the world. Ok, that's a lie, but I was doing pretty good. I just didn't realize it. Everyone treated me like I was less then them and it made me so angry, which in turn made me act like an idiot. But I was 9, so who cares? And then middle school happened. It was at this point where-upon seeing the fun after affect of binge drinking and unprotected sex-that I realized that maybe I wasn't doing too bad.
It was High School, though, where I realized that the whole concept of "maturity" is relative. You see, having a job and kids do not make you an adult, and neither does suddenly deciding that you are too old for cartoons or comics. i'm not saying that not having a job is a sign of maturity, just that being an adult is more than that. I was harassed four times a week by people who, yes, they had jobs and some of them even had kids, but they were also lazy, ungrateful jerks who didn't do anything if they thought it was "lame". They lied about their age, how many times they had sex among others. Yet among these were some of the most "mature" people in the school. And they called me childish and immature. Why? Because I couldn't find a job-not totally my fault-and because I like cartoons and comics. And I freely admit it.
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