By implementing imaginary sets of rules for different communities to follow, teenagers have become accustomed to picking and choosing who is part of different social groups.
If you’ve been on social media recently, you’ve probably witnessed an example of gatekeeping. Whether it’s someone duetting another’s TikTok or leaving comments on other’s posts stating that they don’t belong in a certain social group, the internet is littered with gatekeeping
This type of behavior is childish and it needs to stop.
Many times, the social groups in question are composed of people who may already feel as though they are an outcast or don’t “fit in.” When gatekeeping is mixed into these types of groups, it makes people question, “Well, where do I fit in?”
A great example of this is alternative culture or “alt” for short. By definition alternative means that one does not act like everyone else; people in this community don’t fit one description.
When people try to claim this style and pick and choose what can and can’t count as alt, they completely take the meaning of alternative away. They are trying to take people who don’t fit into one specific category and force them to check specific boxes to fit into the “like no one else” group.
Another community that has experienced a lot of gatekeeping recently is the LGBTQ+ community. Oftentimes, I open TikTok and find a video of someone claiming that people who identify themselves as a certain gender or have a certain sexual orientation are invalid because they don’t fit the criteria in this person’s head.
Lo and behold, the critic also identifies that way. How could they be any more valid than other people?
I don’t quite understand why there are such people who choose to gatekeep within their communities. When one identifies as something outside of the societal norm, they should be embracing others who they can relate to.
We need to start finding comfort in the communities that we identify with, instead of reprimanding each other. Lift others up, don’t tear them down.