The state of the world lately...I just...I don't know anymore. I like to be positive. I try so hard to stay positive. But Sometimes it's just so hard. The way that people devalue the lives and hardships of others. I don't even know where to start. Here's what been getting me down, not necessarily in any particular order.
A while ago there was the rape trial. The one where the judge said that it wasn't rape because "sex was in the air". Just another way of saying that she was asking for it. No means no whether or not sex was previously implied. Here's the link for that story: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/rape-victim-inviting-so-no-jail--rape-victim-inviting-so-no-jail-116801578.html Then there was Amanda Todd. I talked about this in a previous blog, but it's just something I don't think should be forgotten. There was the Aurora shooting during a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises. It was something that killed a little bit of my soul. The people in that theater believed in heroes. They were people like myself and my friends who sought solace in something besides the darkness of this world, and twelve people were killed by that very darkness. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Aurora_shooting There was the Sandy Hook shooting. Possibly one of the most heartbreaking stories of the year. Children were murdered. Innocents who had their whole lives ahead of them, their futures were stolen. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Hook_Elementary_School_shooting There was the Stuebenville rape case. Terrible things were done to that girl. Pictures and video were taken. There were tweets detailing it. There were text messages. There was an abundance of evidence detailing the night that ruined a young woman's life. And what happened? Instead of the perpetrators getting maximum jail time, they were sentenced to two years while major news networks paid tribute to the attackers. http://www.upworthy.com/cnn-pays-touching-tribute-to-the-rapists-who-attacked-a-16-year-old-girl?c=upw1 There was a similar case to this one. The victim was recently taken off life support after attempting suicide following a rape where pictures of the rape were posted online. Even though there were pictures of the actual rape, police said there wasn't enough evidence to press charges. http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/04/09/rehtaeh-parsons-suicide-bullying-rape_n_3044885.html Finally the Boston Marathon bombings. Why? Why must there be so much terror and hatred in the world. What could rationalize something like this? http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/15/us/boston-marathon-explosions/index.html I just can't make sense of this kind of world.
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So something that I've been wanting to talk about for a while is bullying and the impact it can have. And with the recent news about Amanda Todd, I thought now might be a good time.
I'm going to talk about the particular brand of bullying that Amanda Todd went through. The pressure that many teen girls face that is written off as normal and "boys will be boys" I hate that saying, by the way. "Boys will be boys". It's so dismissive. As though the harassment, the pressure, and even the rape can be attributed to boys just being boys. No big deal. They're supposed to be manly. Supposed to chase girls around to show how manly they are. Teenage girls face so much pressure to be pretty. To be desirable. To be sexy. Teenage girls should not have to be sexy. Yet there is a fetishism for teen girls and if you walk into any high school in North America you'll see make-up and miniskirts on most of the girls. Teenage girls are vulnerable. And they're told that the only way they'll be worth anything is if they're seen as desirable. If they're not in the top 2% of "hot, popular girls" in high school, and often even if they are, they start looking for something to validate them. Someone to tell them they're worth something. Sometimes they find a legitimate way to validate their worth. But most of the time, they seek attention from boys. They put up with harassment because it signals that maybe someone would find them attractive. The bra snapping, the grabbing, the pinching. It's not ok. And the worst part is it's dismissed as normal. As boys will be boys. Amanda Todd was called a slut among many other things because of a boy distributing pictures of her breasts online and in her school. This was not her fault. These pictures were used to threaten her, and even when she moved elsewhere, her stalker found her. Even now, people are still bullying her, saying she deserved it and making fun of her first suicide attempt. This still boggles my mind. It's not okay to make fun of suicide. This is when I truly begin to believe that there is no hope for the human race. The damage that bullying can do is often carried along with people for life. I was a victim of intense bullying from elementary up to high school, and I can say that I understand the damage it does. The first time I attempted suicide, I was in third grade, and it was because I couldn't stand coming to school everyday to be tormented. I continued to be extremely depressed for most of my life. I attempted suicide a couple times again in high school because I believed them when they said I was worthless. Even now, when I have a wonderful group of friends who support me and a better relationship with my family, I still am on anti-depressants to keep the thoughts that I'm worthless and don't mean anything to anyone from becoming too much for me. Please, if you see bullying happening, stop it. All it takes is for one person to stand up, and you could be saving a life. |
T-Girl
The one with estrogen. Bisexual, student, poet. Intrigued? Well good thing there's an entire blog for you to read then. Archives
May 2014
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