Sunday 8 June 2014

Boxing Others Off...

I recently watched a Ted Talk about the way society defines people and puts us into boxes based on our personality and the way we live our lives. Now, if you haven't watched a Ted Talk before, it's where people in their certain fields give a talk on something that is important to them. I wanted to write about this, especially in the Gay Culture section of the blog, because as soon as you identify yourself as LGBTQ, you are automatically put into a box by society and other gay people.

Humans almost instantly when meeting you categorise your personality and tick off certain boxes in their mind to where you belong. Through no fault of our own, we instantly judge and stick labels to the defined boxes 'fat' skinny' 'tall' 'slut' 'whore' along with pre-conceived notions passed over from our parents, family and the media. All of which you will find hard to change. 

Coming out as gay you already become a minority in the world, through no fault of your own, and you are put into a box. Religion boxes you off into a life of sin. Some straight people (not all) box you into Gay (insert name) or Lesbian (insert name.) If you are trans, you are put into the tranny box. Again, through no fault of your own. As humans, we are all born the same, we have the same two eyes, 4 limbs, a body, our insides and a brain. So why is it that as soon as your personality and life develops, you are categorised?

 Some people like to be defined as a person. There are even sub categories for gay men types, so you are not just a gay man. You can be a scally, a bear, a camp, a she-male, a drag queen, a cub and a twink. I'm sure there are more but you get the gist. So the boxing off continues, being gay and then being boxed into another sub category depending on how you look and act.

Surely as a gay community we shouldn't box each other off?? I mean, as we are already placed in a box from society, we shouldn't be judging each other for how we look and act! I get that humans always are judging character but, after being judged and boxed off, shouldn't the community open their arms and say we accept you for just being you, end of.

The gay community should be somewhere where you are allowed to flourish and be yourself no matter what age, weight, height, sex, personality or look you have. Instead, we judge, and allow ourselves to define each other even further, leading you into a further minority than the one you are already placed in. I understand that each individual has their sexual type, but friend wise shouldn't we be embracing each other?? Especially when some of the world still despises the way we live our lives!! So what if that man over in the corner has nail polish and eyeliner on? Does that make them too camp? So what if the girl over their has short hair? Does that make her a bull dyke? No it doesn't. It's who they are.

The gay scene is supposed to be a safe haven for gay people to be themselves without fear of being judged, attacked and looked down upon and in some sense it is. But when you walk into a club or bar, and see people looking at how you have dressed, what make-up you have on or the type of body you have, you can't help but feel judged, sometimes attacked and glared at. Society does it anyway, so why should a gay community do so to.

I know that this goes on, not just in Gay Culture, but in general life. If the world didn't box people off and allowed everyone to be who they wanted to be, then surely it would be a far better place to live. The media have a big part to play in this, they constantly box people off. Take for example all the press the Muslim religion is getting. Articles upon articles of hate filled speech, scaremongering and boxing off a religion because of the actions of a select few people. Now, quite a lot of people associate Muslims with terrorism, and it is all down to the media. Not all Muslims are terrorists, it is a MINORITY that have carried out the horrible acts and yet, we define the whole religion as one large terrorist organisation.
 
I wanted to write this in the hope of maybe broadening your horizons. Think before boxing people off because one day, you may have an accident that puts you into a category. One day, you might have a gay family member that will be put into a category. One day, you may have a friend who converts to a certain religion. So, just because society boxes people off, don't allow your mind to be boxed off too!

A.R Wilson x




2 comments:

  1. Love this, excellent points!!

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    1. Thank you!! I watched the video and it just made me think about it, we've all been guilty of doing it but in the future I think I'll be more wary :)

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