Masks are what we wear or use to cover our true identity from others, but sometime masks differ in what they hide or what they are.
People often wear masks for various reasons; sometimes it gives them a sense of security. This kind of people usually suffers from a constant sense of insecurity, so they seek asylum in the masks they wear or hide behind.
Some people wear masks because they just don’t want people to know who or what they really are. This kind of people wear masks so that they can do whatever they want without being recognized, sometimes it maybe illegal or immoral, and sometimes it’s noble or heroic.
Some people wear masks because they want more privacy. And this kind of people can usually be called “Watchers” because they watch everything that happen around them, from behind their masks, they watch carefully and silently without interfering, and by watching they learn a lot about the people and the things around them. This kind of people are usually loners, they may tend to cut themselves from the world, they watch, listen and learn and as the time goes by, they grow smarter, wiser and even stronger from the knowledge that they have collected.
But what about the masks, there are many kinds of masks, some of physical nature and others are not. An example of physical masks is the mask people wear in certain professions such as: clowns. Clowns wear masks to replace their identity with a fake funny one so that they can make people laugh, sometimes by even doing silly things. But the masks protects them by protecting their identity and thus their dignity since no one know the real person behind the mask, therefore he can go on with his life without being embarrassed when not acting as a clown. Another example is pro-wrestlers. A lot of pro-wrestlers wear masks to hide their identity so that they don’t have to worry about their normal life being affected by their professional one. In the ring a wrestler may seem rough or even barbarian, but this is probably not what he really is, in a matter of fact he maybe a loving and caring person in real life but the barbarian personality is a fake one that his masks provided.
Another kind of physical masks is sunglasses. People who use sunglasses as masks are usually the “Watchers” type, as they hide their eyes from the people around them, and they are usually good at hiding their emotions as well. Sunglasses provide the perfect cover so that they can monitor everything that goes around them without being noticed or accused of being nosy.
There are also different kinds of nonphysical masks. Alternative personalities can be considered as masks, there are a lot of people who may have multiple personalities, in a matter of fact most of us do. We may have a certain personality that suits our line of work, and another one for our family…etc. But the problem is that some people may take this matter to an extreme by having a different personality –a different face- for everyone they deal with. This kind of people is the worst, they are usually cunning, selfish, immoral and even traitorous. They usually do anything to get to what they want while ignoring anyone else who may get hurt in the process. We should avoid dealing with this kind of people at all.
“Without the mask where will you hide? Can’t find yourself… Lost in your lies….”
Evanescence – Everybody’s Fool
Aliases and nicknames can be considered also as a kind of nonphysical masks. They are widely used among Internet users, especially in chatting since nobody logs on with his real name, instead they use aliases. People choose aliases or nicknames according to what they will be used for, some may choose attractive names to lure others to chat with them or whatever they want, this kind of people is very common and –I must say- very silly. While there are people stick with one alias for a long time.
Aliases are usually used to cover the true personality and/or identity of the person using them, they allow them to say what they really want to say with bounds or restrictions since they don’t have to worry about the consequences, in other words; aliases allow them to be virtually free.
“The masks we wear is not what we are, but if we don them do we not become them?!”
Anonymous
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Submission Name: Masks: Alternative Identities
