Why Respecting Boundaries Is Important
We all have boundaries that should be respected. This includes artists who also deserve to be treated with respect. And recently, Ms. Lea Salonga has been badly painted on social media because someone tried to walk into her dressing room, violating her boundaries. She then made a statement explaining her side of the story.
Social media, while offering certain benefits, is a double-edged sword as it has the potential to both be advantageous and prone to misinterpretation. Good thing, many netizens viewed this case morally as they sided with Ms. Lea.
Why Respecting Boundaries Is Important
Facebook | Screengrabbed from Christopher Carpila
Ms. Lea‘s reaction is the perfect example of why we should respect everyone’s boundaries. Even though she’s a well-known theater star and an overall artist, she’s still a human being.
Moreover, having a VIP ticket or connections with her team doesn’t justify invading her privacy. Her reaction is normal, and how she took care of it is decent enough to still show respect to her fans.
Even though if you feel like you know them, they don’t know you.
As I have mentioned, they’re normal humans. They just have more publicity compared to any other human beings. This is why some fans may develop the feeling that they’ve known them for a long time.
However, on the side of the artist, they can’t know their fans on a deeper level due to their busy schedules, and the skyrocketing number of people who admires them.
This is the reason why we, as fans, shouldn’t feel entitled to approach them as if we personally know them.
Yes, we may admire them so much to the point that we feel like we just want to shower them with all the admiration that we have. But doing such can be uncomfortable for our luminary.
Going back to Ms. Lea‘s defense regarding her social media backlash:
“You’re a stranger [the fans], and I don’t know what your intentions are.“
She also added to her statement “We also have responsibilities to keep ourselves safe,“
No matter what the intentions are, people should still know that artists have the right to protect themselves. So it’s best to understand why there are some artists that seem to snub their fans when they felt like their boundaries were being violated.
Moreover, even ordinary individuals deserve their boundaries to be respected.
This insight doesn’t only apply to artists, it applies to everyone. All of us were created with diversity — we are all built differently.
There are people who love hugs, and those who love to hug. On the other hand, there are also people who aren’t much of a hugger. Those people find hugging somewhat uncomfortable, and that’s okay.
And generally, there are people who aren’t okay with something, but that doesn’t mean that they have something against you. It’s just that — they have boundaries. And we should respect it.
Most especially if we just met someone, we shouldn’t go all-out on the first meet because we have to consider their comfort. At least, get to know them first, and learn if they’re okay with the things that you love to do to people who are close to you.
However, if it really won’t work well, it’s okay too. Because not everyone can be your friend, they could be just an acquaintance.
What’s important is that we respect everyone’s boundaries, and they should respect ours as well!
