I was on Facebook (as per usual) and my friend Suzy put up a link to this blog about the death of a trans gender teacher whose story had been highlighted by that bastion of middle England behind a twitching curtain, Richard Littlejohn in the Daily Mail. I have no time to describe how I feel about him or that newspaper... Oh no, I do, I believe the word is 'Cunts'. Anyway, I did a little reading around for the original story, and, lo and behold, the original article has been taken down. Something similar happened when the Daily Mail got all uppity about how ethnics and mixed race families were being presented in the Olympic opening ceremony (you can see more about that here).
This attitude, that anyone 'different' in any way should be exposed, ridiculed, examined or feared, is still a major problem for our culture. Barriers are constantly being breached but as long as there's still that group of people who are 'right on' in public but have funny conversations with their friends down the pub about the 'poof at work', there will always be a section of society who genuinely believes the bullshit entitlement the media has fed them.
I know these are not new or surprising views, but it still makes me angry. Bigotry and hatred are not things to be proud of. Nobody would write it on their CVs or a mortgage application, so why say these things? Why carry this fear? Someone, or something, is telling them to.
I don't blame the media entirely for this attitude, but it does a hell of a job of backing ignorant people up. Look at any film, TV show or magazine. In 2013, the healthy Anglo-Saxon male is still King. Despite the fact that there are over 7 billion people on this planet and most of them have brown or black skin, the majority of people deemed most powerful and successful are middle aged white men. There's always an exception to the rule.
 |
| Hello Mr President |
In advertising, who sells me food and household products? Middle aged, middle class white women with 2.4 children. A woman who doesn't want or have children by choice by an unspoken certain age is considered 'selfish' or unfeminine in some way. I didn't plan my child, I am very happy to have had her and at the age I did, but I think if I'd gotten to 40 and it hadn't happened, I wouldn't have tried. Why? Because society tells me it's not right? And I would have listened.
Images of poor people, disadvantaged children or hurt animals are used by rich people and corporations to tell me that it would be so simple to give a few quid a month to help, when they have accountants finding new and inventive ways to stop them paying much of their earnings into the financial system. Yes they donate too, but why should I be guilt tripped?
Overweight people, despite thinly-veiled sales opportunities disguised as 'campaigns' by companies such as Dove, are seen as ugly and greedy. If you're fat, you're unhappy or so fucking jolly to make up for your hideous blubber. There are a billion and one diets and systems to help people to lose weight. Hardly anyone is telling you that it's your body and it doesn't actually matter to anyone else if you like your shape and eating doughnuts. Ah, yes, but us pesky fatties are a drain on the health service. Well, like smokers (I don't smoke but y'all can do what you like with your lungs), we pay taxes too, and probably a lot more with all the junk we buy! I am in the process of trying to lose weight. In the past I was always hell bent on an image, this idea that it was so easy to get rid of the fat and look like this model or that actress, and that I'd be running marathons and having my picture taken in fabulous places and people would actually like me and want to be around me, because, as we know, LOSING WEIGHT MAKES YOU A MUCH BETTER AND MORE ATTRACTIVE PERSON!! God, I was stupid. Let's not get it twisted, there's a certain amount of vanity that comes from wearing a nice pair of jeans or being able to shop somewhere that doesn't have the word 'plus' in the description. It's taken me 20 years to realise this is meant to be for me, to stop feeling so damn ill. It should be about health. A person can eat doughnuts all day and feel great, but if you're doing that and you feel like shit, in all senses, then you know deep down it's wrong and you know what you must do.
The gay character in a show is another token gesture, doing gay stuff like cracking double entendre jokes and self-deprecating and searching for a mate, because God knows they can't just have normal problems or actually like themselves. Again, I'm not gay (I have no interest in licking another woman's vagina), but have many gay friends who I love and support. Even my support or friendship with gays and lesbians has been questioned in the past. I've never understood that. Why would being friends with someone or sharing their views make me the same as them in someones eyes? How am I endangering the fabric of society by thinking people should have the same rights and be treated equally across the board? And why do bigots always see LGBT people as deviants of some sort? This is what infuriated me the most about the comments Richard Littlejohn made. From quotes I've read, his whole argument was "Those poor kids she teaches will be corrupted by some pervert" (he actually referred to Lucy Meadows as a 'he' throughout the article, being utterly disrespectful, for what? Pettiness!), as if that's what anyone with a bias towards same sex relationships/gender displacement does, goes around kiddie fiddling. No, I think you'll find there's a lot of 'straight' white male celebrities who are responsible for that...
Anyway, I think half the problem is we freaks tend to accept our fate. More of us are out there, in the mainstream, fighting our various causes, but the majority still bow our heads when called out for our differences. We still carry a banner over our heads "I wish I wasn't like this, please notice my self loathing and prod my wound to make it bigger." Well, I'm saying No More. This is who I am and I will not be made to feel ashamed of it!
I'm black. I love my culture and my skin colour, which I tend to find most racists spend time and money trying to achieve! And the same bloke who'll shout abuse at me from a passing car with his mates will be the one messaging me privately on social networking saying they've "always fancied doing a black girl". Well, fuck you. Not literally!
I'm fat. I made this happen, and I'm trying to correct it. But I'm not going to be a skinny model and I don't buy into fashion trends or expensive shops, no matter how many of the high street 'bigger clothes' stores you take away. I'm a good looking person despite your idea that I can only attract a mate if I wear a certain size.
I'm a woman. This means I can (and want to) do a hell of a lot more than a man can, and stand more pain (which is why Mother Nature wasn't stupid enough to give Men the ability to give birth), and if I have to work twice as hard I will, because I don't believe everything is my birthright. I like men, they are funny and charming and without one I wouldn't have my daughter, but I'd much rather be a woman any day.
I've also suffered from depression, I've been assaulted, I've been used, I have a condition called PCOS which gives me too many male hormones and some awful side effects, I swear a lot which is considered unladylike, I talk about people behind their back, I envy people, I have lied, cheated and taken things without permission, I have made a hell of a lot of mistakes. Because, and this may blow some people's minds... I am a human being. Just like everyone reading this. Which means, funnily enough, I am the same as you and you have differences too, which I could mock, but who cares? If you're happy and what you're doing doesn't hurt anyone, go ahead. But you don't need my permission, right? So why the hell do I need yours?
Unfortunately, not everyone will understand this. Oh well. I will not apologise, personally or to society, for being me. I will live, overcome the inevitable obstacles, and those poor ignorant fools will be twitching their curtains in fury because I'll be doing well, and I'll love it!
If you're a freak, be it. I love you.
Lucy Meadows should have felt the same.
No comments:
Post a Comment