Bringing back the flattop

Does society condition for lives of narcissism?

Jono Cowgill Mast Op-ED Columnist

It was recently brought to my attention that the haircut in my columnist picture looks like knockoff Will Smith from “Fresh Prince of Bel Air.”
Since I never read my articles once they are published, I hadn’t been aware. I took a glance in a recent Mast publication and saw the horror that is my head, and am now in shock at how long it took me to notice.
There are a few things that my flattop haircut and its surrounding issues have led me to realize.
Most importantly, the tribulations that surround my haircut are simply an anecdote that lies in the sand upon a much larger beach of a cultural phenomenon.
When I published my first article in October, my erstwhile girlfriend told me that I looked “cute” in my picture. That assurance had hardened my ego into a plaque and I went about without reservation telling people to read my article, really hoping they would just look at my picture. “Did you like my article?” I would ask later. And I would get a lukewarm “Yes” in reply, everyone too nervous to say how glaringly deficient my picture was.
Now how could my girlfriend have given me such an untimely compliment? Upon mowing my brain for blades of memory, I realize that her comment came while she was trying to stop talking with me. It was possibly the last compliment she gave me, a joking one at that.
But I am not attempting to paint my erstwhile girlfriend as a malicious individual. I only mention our discourse as precedent for discussion of a larger issue.
My narcissism has bred this fledgling insecurity about my picture, and I wonder how far it may go.
No doubt, today we live in a culture paralyzed by narcissism. From the ease of posting personal pages across the Web, to the convenience of the digital camera, we are able to frame our image and our persona in more (flattering) ways (except for me) than ever.
We have the opportunity to easily place within a public sphere a bit of ourselves to be judged by others. There is the possibility for all to garner some level, be it an earthquake or a tremor, of celebrity-like fame.
The fallout of this is a honing of our ability to contrive a public image.
To be sure, I have become aware enough of my image that I am bereaved at the notion that I am advertised across the Pacific Lutheran campus as one who sports a flattop. This advertisement does not fit the contrived image I have of myself, and so I notice it. I have become a conscious player in an ever-expanding game for approval.
Jono, what are you going to do about your newly realized narcissism? Haven’t you read the Greek tragedies? Don’t you know the consequences?
I do, but I have decided to accept the societal conditioning that I have embraced so haphazardly these past years of media boom.
I see that my girlfriend’s spurious compliment was in fact a bit of well-in-order wisdom.
I also notice that no one rocks the flattop these days. If there was one thing that the self-awareness of technology has taught me, being a trendsetter is the best way to get noticed.
So I will keep the haircut in my picture, embrace it not because I want to reject my narcissism, but because I want to expand it, expand it until I cannot expand it any more.