My son, who is a voracious reader, mostly of classic literature (he’s a really smart guy), told me recently that there is a tiktok trend going around, complaining about people reading in public, calling them “performative readers.” In other words, they’re not really reading those books, they’re just pretending to read to show off. Now he seems a bit intimidated to be seen reading in public. I told him to ignore the idiots. They’re just people who can barely read, and think everybody is as stupid as them, so they must be faking the reading.
Most adults eventually learn that trying to look cool to the strangers of the world is just too exhausting and not worth the effort. The sooner you learn that, the sooner you can truly relax and just enjoy YOUR life, without caring what anyone else thinks. They can just go fuck themselves, thank you very much.
My son, who is a voracious reader, mostly of classic literature (he’s a really smart guy), told me recently that there is a tiktok trend going around, complaining about people reading in public, calling them “performative readers.” In other words, they’re not really reading those books, they’re just pretending to read to show off. Now he seems a bit intimidated to be seen reading in public. I told him to ignore the idiots. They’re just people who can barely read, and think everybody is as stupid as them, so they must be faking the reading.
Ironic, because posting TikToks is like the most performative nonsense possible
I really despise these trends of shaming people for just enjoying shit. Good on you for encouraging him to ignore them.
Most adults eventually learn that trying to look cool to the strangers of the world is just too exhausting and not worth the effort. The sooner you learn that, the sooner you can truly relax and just enjoy YOUR life, without caring what anyone else thinks. They can just go fuck themselves, thank you very much.