Yeah, yeah, before the Grammar Nazis come at me, I know ‘Introvertism’ isn’t an actual term, and it’s ‘Introversion’, blah blah. I used it for a reason. Hear me out.
I’m pretty sure most of you must have seen an exponential growth in the usage of the word-‘introvert’. It’s just being thrown left and right, whether it be apt to the situation or not. People have been justifying just about any behavior under the garb of the term ‘Introvert’. I, personally, a member of the ‘Introvert’ community, am pretty offended by the blatant utilization of the word, by people who clearly defy the very definition of it.
And how would you define an ‘Introvert’, you may ask? The very first Google Search gave me this very short but incomplete definition- ‘A person, who’s shy and reticent.’ Is that all an introvert is? For me, it’s a person who finds comfort in being in one’s own company, rather than external sources of stimulation. Who are usually shy, in touch with their own feelings, and definitely reticent. Introverts are usually of four major types. There’s first, your typical definition of introvert-‘Social Introvert’. These are basically people who prefer being by their own self or just very close and small group of company. ‘Socializing for fun’ isn’t really their strong suit. Next, we have the ‘Thinking introvert’. This type is very much hyped recently(Thanks to Netflix Romcoms). These are the artistic daydreamers who are all spacey, lost in their own sweet La La Land, not a care in the world, out putting their creative minds at work- type of people. Next comes the ‘Anxious Introvert’. They tend to feel anxious or nervous in social settings or around new people, and for fear of that, usually tend to be labelled as a ‘recluse’. A person may not always be born as an Anxious Introvert, but it may be something that develops over time, or due to certain events or scenarios. And lastly, we have the ‘Restrained Introverts’. They may be seen as ‘slow’, but they just take more time in taking action, instead of going on a whim. The word ‘spontaneity’ doesn’t come naturally to them.
But lately, all thanks to our dear old friend, Social Media, even Introversion, a personality trait that used to be viewed as ‘boring’, ‘stuck up’, ‘a wallflower’, ‘egotistic’ is now a cool factor. A fad. Everybody wants to become an introvert. The spread of ‘Introvertism’ really got some people, pretty hard.Its like a fever, where you get to enjoy a leave, minus the actual sickness.
“Being regular is boring, I am going to call myself an introvert even though I just came back from a huge Rager thrown in my honor, would upload 10 posts about the super fun night, and save the 10 new contacts I made in one night with different emojis. Didn’t I just upload a meme on my Insta Stories, just the other day on being ‘Such an Introvert’?!? A total Homebody. # SoMe.”
And ironically, it’s these same people who give a hard time to someone who is actually happy by their own self, an introvert. Someone, who doesn’t label their self as some word that’s just trendy in recent times, but is an inherent part of their personality.
And don’t get me wrong, normalizing the word definitely makes it more relatable. But are we also taking away its authenticity by doing so? Are we also justifying our unpleasant behavior at times, under this ‘Umbrella Term’, hoping it would pass up as being -Normal or more Relatable to others?
