many times now, i've stumbled across the word "faggot" on facebook, on various people's statuses and comments, and 2 instances have vividly stayed with me. in one, a cousin of mine, in an attempt to make a point via social media, posted a picture comparing Steve Jobs to Dennis Ritchie. the picture itself just tells of how little the latter was recognized at death, even though he had so much to do with so many things, while the former was elevated to pope-status. this in itself, obviously, does not bother me, but the caption of "Steve Jobs = Faggot" did. obviously, Steve Jobs was no homosexual, and the word was (probably?) not said with that particular connotation in mind. but i saw it, and it sort of hurt. i don't personally care for Steve Jobs, but i'm sort of sure it that it wasn't his fault that more people didn't know about Dennis. i'm even going to go out on a limb here and say that i'm pretty sure that he did nothing to stop the world from knowing Dennis or being aware of Dennis' death while at his own deathbed. just reading that caption was enough to grab my attention. and not in the oh-yay-i-looked-at-the-pic kind of way.
the second event in which the word "faggot" was used hit me even harder than the first. an acquaintance of my brother's posted a picture of him making some kind of goofy face, as usual. comments, however, were directed at the gentleman sitting behind him, with his legs crossed in that stereotypically uncharacteristic-of-a-male way. and someone called him a fag. i didn't say anything, as it wasn't a friend of mine. i've never met the person, nor have i established any other connection, where i felt i could say something and then expect to be listened to. but you know what i thought?
what if that was me? what if i happen to be in the background of some random person's photo, and i'm smiling just a bit too happily at the hubs while we're at lunch? what if i'm enjoying a beer while we hang out at our local delicious food place, and i also happen to cross my legs in that same stereotypically uncharacteristic-of-a-male way? and what if those people share that photo and made fun of me and called me a fag to all their friends through use of social media? i may never hear it or know of it, in the same way that this kid in the pic probably won't ever hear or know of it. but someone else would, just like i did. and someone else would hurt, just like i did.
i should've said something. it hurt, but my thoughts instead told me to keep from causing some kind of childish fight on the internet. so i'm choosing to do this instead. and i posted something else, just before this, to act as a stand alone statement:
"listen my friends and family, every time you use the word FAGGOT, i want you to envision yourself saying it to me. every time you call some kid, or some loser, or some nerd, regardless of the reason, a FAGGOT, i want you to remember that the word has been used against me.a bit preachy, i suppose, but i'm gonna stick by it. i don't usually get preachy and post things like that on FB, as a large percentage of my connections there are family, but this had been bubbling up for a while.
if, as my friends and family, you can still stand to say the word... if you can, as my friends and family, still refuse to hear the word and not say anything... then please let me know. so that i may immediately sever all ties with you. you don't deserve to be friend or family if you can still stand to say/hear the word and think of me, and feel nothing."
let's see what
so it's way passed my bedtime. let's finish off (ha!) this post with a smile. <3
