“Did you see her outfit? Why does she dress like that if her stomach always hangs out?” You hear the whispers surround you as a girl walks by, head hung low, holding her stomach with both hands and clearly regretting her decision to wear that top. She pulls out her phone, and a crystal clear tear slowly slides down her face, like a raindrop on a window. You catch your gaze slowly shifting downward, looking at your own outfit. Is it cute enough to the point where you won’t be judged? Does it cover up all of your insecurities? Your makeup, is it peeling off? Does it look bad? Self-doubt begins to cower over you, and you find yourself, your confident, fun self, doubting your own appearance. You start to wonder if people will start to make comments about how you look, the way you sound, or even all the bad things that you’ve done in the past. Why do you care so much if no one has said anything about you, or to you? Why do we care at all? 

Our reputation and the idea that it needs to be perfect creates an unrealistic standard, so why should we care so much about it? Should we worry about putting up a perfect image so that other people can see a fake persona of ourselves? This determination to make everyone think that we are perfect can drive a person crazy, close to insanity. We force ourselves to fit into this impossible standard that only binds us to the fact that humans are full of insecurities. We try so hard to “conceal our perceived flaw, [because] it will become obvious to everyone, who will then judge and reject us.” We get so wrapped up in trying to hide our imperfections that we start to second-guess every other bit of ourselves as well. 

We want our reputations to remain clean and pure, as it will be the part of us that sticks around when we are no longer present. In the play Othello by William Shakespeare, Cassio, a lieutenant, had recently lost his position due to a drunken fight. However, he does not worry about the fact that he has no job, he cares about his reputation. Cassio states, “Reputation, reputation, reputation! O, I have lost my reputation! I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial.” People feel the need to make their reputation as big and as glorious as can be because it is the one thing that will be left behind. Your reputation “determines the social standing of a person in the society. It is a measure of his or her influence.” Our influence. The one very thing that will let other people know, “Hey, I did this! I’ll be remembered now.” Everyone wants to be remembered, leaving their imprint on a world that’s constantly changing and evolving.

Our minds are constantly ticking with a timer that wants us to accomplish such revolutionary things with so little time. Our desire is to change the world. We want people to know that we did the things that we did. We care so much about our reputation because at the end of the day, we are all human and we all have the same capabilities. We just want to stand out and be the one person that revolutionized the world. Be the one that changed the direction in which the Earth turned in. We try to hide our flaws so that no one remembers them. We can cover up our bruises so we can be seen as the person who was never hurt, but we don’t want to be the person who caused pain. We want to be so many things at the same time just to ensure that our impact is made. Our reputation is what carries us throughout life. Our reputation is the one thing that will be left behind when we are no longer here. It is immortal.