LGBT

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Internet 101: Knee Jerk Reactions

“Quick! Grab your pitch forks! Someone posted an article on social media that I don’t like!” 

You can’t scroll through the newsfeed anymore without seeing knee jerk reaction posts…

“I am outraged that this is happening! We must all protest IMMEDIATELY!” 

So I click on the article and it turns out to be a dud. In fact, the article is twisting words to make it read a certain way.

Don’t buy into every piece of click bait on the internet. Take 5 minutes to do a quick search and see if there’s any validity. 

And please, please, please don’t make leaping assumptions about the message behind something or “how it’s poisoning us all” without doing some research.

It’s time to disband social media mobs. 

What is it accomplishing?

Most of the stuff you see smacks of fear and 95% of that fear is unfounded.

Be careful in our world of hyperbole. 

I know it’s not hard to believe that the machine–media and politicians–want us to be in a frenzy. When the people are in a frenzy, they will make rash decisions and allow things to happen that they might not otherwise agree to under normal circumstances.

And, no, this post is not about the Orlando massacre, but the same logic applies. 

What I’m referencing is a social media mob forming over a movie that’s coming out.

Seriously? Take a chill pill. It’s a movie.

If you don’t want to go, then don’t go. There’s no reason to stir up trouble about it.

Don’t blow up the internet with your rage about something that you read in an article. I mean, everything’s true if someone posts it on a website, right? 

Yeah. About that…

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A Moment of Silence

Since when did complete agreement become the goal? 

I’ve listened to the news quite a bit since the Orlando massacre and the amount of political talk and civil rights talk and gun rights talk is nauseating.

What about just being sad for 5 minutes before we launch into “These are the issues we need to address”?  

Which, by the way, is what everyone says EVERY SINGLE TIME after a tragedy of this magnitude.

Here’s what I want to say: Everyone, shut your mouth. 

This is not the time to start a conversation about gun control.

This is not the time to start a conversation about conservatives vs. liberals.

This is not the time for Christians and the LGBTQ community to stand off nose to nose.

This is not the time to pick a part Islam.

I just want everyone to please be quiet. 

There are 49 families who are mourning. Their son, daughter, brother, sister, mother, father, lover was killed.

If you can’t think of a kind, compassionate thing to say, please shut up. 

We can riot in the streets later.

We can debate for hours later.

I am sad about this senseless loss of life. None of those victims set out thinking, “This is it, my last day on earth.” They were just out having fun (albeit at a later hour than I like to be out) on a Saturday night. 

Please pray for the families. There are some hard days ahead.

Pray for ways you can show kindness and compassion to those around you–no matter how different they are. 

Pray for strength and wisdom on how we should all properly respond to this tragedy.

But for now, I think we all need to take a breath and just sit in this space for a minute. Let’s take a few moments to grieve before responding rashly. 

 

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The confusion of neutrality

I was asked to share my thoughts on gender neutrality, so here I go.

If Bob identifies as Sally, it’s wrong to not allow Sally into the ladies room. It’s also wrong to not call him a her.

The confusion and tension around these issues is palpable.

Universities now have whole departments dedicated to educating students on gender diversity. The University of Tennessee’s department made headlines for encouraging the use of gender neutral pronouns.

This year at registration, Harvard asked students to give their names and the pronouns they want to be identified by. This is to aid professors and create inclusivity in the classroom. Students at the University of Vermont have the same options.

You can even be considered “genderqueer” which is a term that indicates you fluctuate between masculinity and femininity.

Online dating sites and Facebook allows users to customize their genders. There are over 50 options to choose from.

Yes, many feel that gender is not limited or confined to sex. Gender is a continuum and each individual falls somewhere within the spectrum.

Parents are joining the war for gender neutrality by asking Target to remove gender signage. Little Jimmy wants to play with Barbies and Little Susie wants to play with Nerf guns.

I did a lot of reading for today’s post. My brain is about to explode….

I find it hard enough to be a heterosexual female in today’s world and if you read yesterday’s post, you know that it’s an even bigger challenge to still be a virgin.

Now I have to ask my friends for their name and preferred pronoun.

I could think John Doe is a cute guy one day and the next day he’s wearing a skirt.

There are no absolutes anymore.

All of these changes are supposed to make life easier for everyone, so why does it get more confusing by the day?

Gender is a subject that can never be made neutral–no matter how many pronouns we add.

For your consideration:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/gender-neutral-pronouns-when-they-doesnt-identify-as-either-male-or-female/2014/10/27/41965f5e-5ac0-11e4-b812-38518ae74c67_story.html

http://wjhl.com/2015/09/02/ramsey-threatens-action-after-ut-post-on-gender-neutral-pronouns/

http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/education/2015/09/01/lawmaker-senate-should-investigate-ut-pronouns-post/71529306/

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2015/09/03/harvard-allows-students-register-with-gender-neutral-pronouns/IM40t3nOzXT8kcvN40RHeO/story.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/08/education/edlife/a-university-recognizes-a-third-gender-neutral.html?_r=1

https://corporate.target.com/article/2015/08/gender-based-signs-corporate

http://time.com/3990442/target-gender-based-signs/