Force Me and I Shall Do The Opposite

Before a man understands and utilises the merits of his uniqueness (if there are any), he is inclined to first cultivate uniqueness. This is with the assumption that he finds being differentiated a desirable trait, as it is worth remembering that there are men who do not wish to make themselves easily recognisable or in my opinion, they simply have not yet found any reason to do so. Returning the focus to men who aspire to be different, it would be apt to infer that they despise conforming to similarity as much as they are fond of refining dissimilarity.

Herein also lies the rhetorical advantage of persuasion over intimidation. A man believes he does something of his own volition when he is convinced of it, even if it may end up harming him. In contrast, any beneficial action if forced will usually be regarded as oppression due to the lack of freedom. Another lesson here is that one must remember freedom does not exist unless one is allowed to commit actions both beneficial and harmful. One without the other is not freedom.

Conjure the world map within your mind, I now point my index finger on Malaysia. In the Malay Muslim community, I have recently noticed a behavioural pattern so obvious I find it embarrassing I did not realise it during my school years. In the subject of religion, the majority of young Malay Muslims of this generation are inclined to follow the opposite of what their parents have forced unto them. The keyword here being forced. Extrapolating from this observation, I believe the same attitudes exist in any matter that the lack of freedom was present in the parent-child relation.

Apparently, a majority of Malay Muslim parents force their teenage daughters to wear the hijab. I observe that most of these young women grow up resenting this decision and in their assertion of personal freedom, find it favourable to not wear the hijab. Interestingly, a reverse of this situation also exists. Some parents force their daughters to not wear the hijab and in their assertion of personal freedom, they find it favourable to wear it. Of course, these are mere observations, not statistical evidence of societal behaviour.

I believe this behaviour of "force me and I shall do the opposite" is present within most human interactions and thus it would be wise to further observe it. No doubt, psychologists around the world have devoted time and effort into studying similar behaviours. I am eager to read about it.

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