...And we thought we knew! ...... Supporting vs. Chearleading
“I support X”, this is a sentence that pops up in conversations uninvited, for no good reason and with no clear intention but to show how smart, admirable, intellectual or super-cool the speaker is.
Everyone is “supporting” something. Some support institutions, some support places, some support people, some support ideas and some few support values.
But what does it mean to “support” something? I looked up the meaning of the word in the dictionary and was surprised that none of the definitions apply to what’s being described as “support” nowadays. I also found out that “Support” is not something to “show” but rather something to “become”.
Today, it’s all about showing and even the ways of showing are becoming more and more “supporter-friendly”, more and more convenient. If you want to support something, it’s only one click away, you can like a facebook page, join a group, write a status or retweet a tweet of a fellow supporter. You can also buy a t-shirt, hang a flag, attend an event, or do any activity of your choice in your free time that “shows” your support.
It takes an effort to do all these things and maybe they’re better than nothing. But that’s not “Supporting” that’s simply “Cheerleading” and we shouldn’t confuse the two.
The world doesn’t need more cheerleaders; it needs real supporters, and following the dictionary that means: people who “bear all or part of the weight”, people who are “capable of sustaining”, people who are “capable of fulfilling (a role) adequately” and people who are capable of “enduring”.
Unless I’m working on becoming that person, “showing” my support is as useful as wearing miniskirt, dying my hair blonde and performing some dance moves.
Andira Hayder
Everyone is “supporting” something. Some support institutions, some support places, some support people, some support ideas and some few support values.
But what does it mean to “support” something? I looked up the meaning of the word in the dictionary and was surprised that none of the definitions apply to what’s being described as “support” nowadays. I also found out that “Support” is not something to “show” but rather something to “become”.
Today, it’s all about showing and even the ways of showing are becoming more and more “supporter-friendly”, more and more convenient. If you want to support something, it’s only one click away, you can like a facebook page, join a group, write a status or retweet a tweet of a fellow supporter. You can also buy a t-shirt, hang a flag, attend an event, or do any activity of your choice in your free time that “shows” your support.
It takes an effort to do all these things and maybe they’re better than nothing. But that’s not “Supporting” that’s simply “Cheerleading” and we shouldn’t confuse the two.
The world doesn’t need more cheerleaders; it needs real supporters, and following the dictionary that means: people who “bear all or part of the weight”, people who are “capable of sustaining”, people who are “capable of fulfilling (a role) adequately” and people who are capable of “enduring”.
Unless I’m working on becoming that person, “showing” my support is as useful as wearing miniskirt, dying my hair blonde and performing some dance moves.
Andira Hayder
DJED eMag,
The only magazine dedicated to Wisdom in Egypt!
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