Facebook & Unfriending

So in light of gay marriage (finally) being legalized, I've been seeing a lot of people posting statuses on Facebook about how if someone else disagrees with gay marriage, they're a bigot, and need to remove themselves from that person's friend's list.

I find these posts to be so ridiculously hypocritical. For starters, the term 'bigot' doesn't mean what they think it means.

If you're going to chastise someone for thinking or believing differently from you, then you're not only a bigot, but a hypocrite as well.

It's kind of like the same people that hide behind Freedom of Speech, but blast anyone who has a differing opinion. Freedom of Speech protects unpopular speech, another term people seem to misunderstand.

I can understand if people would like others to see their point of view and attempt to persuade someone, but when it's not working, you should just abandon that mission and not bring it up again. Who would have thought that people would allow friendships to be completely destroyed over political views? On another note, Facebook has also become such a ridiculous podium for uneducated political rants and views. People spout and share more misinformation than anything, and it's like the majority of people on there have this mindset of, "It's on Facebook, so it must be true." Hardly anyone questions anything anymore, and they just take everything at face value.

It's so sad; we have this vast, limitless thing call 'the internet' at our fingertips, but it seems that more and more people who thrive off of misinformation and blatant disregard for others rule it instead.

Could you be friends with an idiot? Sure. Should you unfriend someone over political differences? Well, that's entirely up to you. I personally respect the fact that I have friends I disagree with on certain topics, but it doesn't mean we need to shatter friendships. I can respect the fact that we agree to disagree, never discuss the topic again, and move on.

Of course, if someone outright refuses to respect your opinion or beliefs, then you have every right to cut the dead weight. It's one thing to disagree with gay marriage, and another to advocate 'killing all the fags.'

You can dislike something a person says or believes and not be a jerk about it. It's really not that difficult. We need to stop being so afraid of diversity and learn what tolerance really means. It starts with respect.

Just be.

I'm an atheist. I'm not 'proud.' It's not something I need to throw in everyone's face. Christians worshipping a God or going to church doesn't offend me. While I don't agree with religion or its fallacies, I will not tell you that you can't worship your God or celebrate your religious ideologies.

I'm not gay. I'm not proud to be straight, either. It doesn't mean anything to me. I was born this way, I don't know any other way. I'm not going to harp on gay people for being 'wrong' or 'immoral.'

I do believe that everyone has the right to live their life in a way that makes them happy, so long as they are not impeding on the rights or lives of others. If you have an undying love for the Confederate flag, I don't have a right to tell you that you're wrong, I don't have the right to impede your beliefs. I don't believe that it belongs on public property, though.

I do believe that gay people should be allowed to marry. Two consenting adults that love each other and want to build a life together belong together.

The Confederate flag does not violate my rights or ability to live as a human being. Gay marriage does not oppress me or violate my basic human rights. Your religious beliefs do not violate my basic human rights.

If you told me to believe in God, pledge to the Confederate flag, and be gay or else I'd be killed, then you'd be violating my human rights.

I don't care about God. I don't care about a flag. Someone being gay does nothing to hinder my life. Just let people be happy. That's the only thing I want in this life. Don't let religion, a flag, or orientation define you or someone else.

Live your life for you.

Just be you.

Just be happy.

Art

So I've been working on some drawings lately, trying to get better at it and whatnot. I had an art class this semester that kind of turned me off to it, because I was constantly drawing the same thing.

Don't get me wrong. I totally understand why the repetition was there, but it wasn't what I wanted to draw.

That sounds so selfish, doesn't it?

Anyway, I've been attempting some Devil May Cry (reboot) artwork because I'm obsessed with the game. Late, I know. But whatever, you don't know my life.

I've also learned that I really suck at drawing men.

It's terrible!

Any attractive males out there want to model for me?

I leave this for you.

Handsome Jack. Rawr.

The Return of the Mystique

Like my title? No? Doesn't matter. I didn't know what to state.

I am officially back on track. I have a computer, finally, and I've decided to center this blog around my interests, and some opinions. I mean come on, who doesn't love opinions?

Anyhow, I live for creativity, so I'm going to start featuring a ton of creative things. Might be makeup, might be fashion, who knows? I try to believe that I operate not only outside of the box, but on another plane entirely.

The Dirty Word that is 'Progress'

I've lived in the United States of America all my life. I have never hated being from here, or felt that I was embarrassed of this country. But honestly? That's starting to change.

It's 2015, and it seems that the term 'progress' has become such a dirty word. You see states proposing legislation to legalize discrimination. To legalize hate crimes.

And the majority of people are all for it.

A country that used to be a melting pot of ideas, customs, and people is now a country that welcomes hate, discrimination, and ignorance. We're OK with defunding schools and nutrition programs. It's OK if poor children starve, because they're poor.

It's OK to have uneducated doctors voting on women's health issues, because it won't affect them, since they have a penis.

If you're gay, or even think about anything remotely gay, you're disgusting and deserve a bullet to the head.

It's great that you've chosen to join the military - to be a proud patriot for your country - but fuck you when you're broken and serve us no purpose anymore.

And the list goes on.

How can people be alright with this? How can this not weight heavily on anyone's conscience at night? How can another person's lifestyle who does not affect your own in any way be the center of your attention?

We really need to start focusing on real issues here. Human rights are being trampled, the poor are getting poorer, for such a great country, proper healthcare access is a luxury, veterans are yesterday's trash, and where does it end?

It's like civil rights and true feminism have been so perverted over time by people who have ulterior motives. It seems like everything that was once a golden word in terms of progress has now been tainted so far beyond repair.


This country used to be at the top of the line in terms of equality, rights, and progress. Now we're just regressing, which seems to be the new golden word.

Slut Shaming & Pseudo Feminism: Women are at War with Themselves and Each Other.

In light of the recent celebrity shaming with their personal photographs being leaked, I had seen a lot of arguing going on throughout the internet. Some brought up valid points, others not so much, then others ... there are just no words to describe.

One of the biggest issues that I have with what I had seen was the rampant amount of slut shaming going on - especially woman to woman. It is incredibly disheartening to see so many women that are just ... anti-woman.  Why are we so concerned with the fact that these women were naked, and we are not concerned with the fact that their rights to privacy were infringed? They should be allowed to do as they please with their devices - if they want to take and share intimate pictures, they should be able to do so. They should not have to live in fear of their intimate pictures being leaked, then they have to be subjected to public scrutiny and criticism, and this case, slut shamed.

Nudity is not a new thing - at least I would hope people realize that, but why is it that we're in 2014 and slut shaming is still prevalent? In one vein, society cries about how horrible it is that women are insecure; we vilify media for airbrushing imperfections, portraying women as weak, or as PMSing bitches, but when their intimate pictures are leaked (without their permission, mind you) we suddenly resort to calling them sluts and whores for having some degree of confidence.

Is society really that afraid of women who have some sense of self worth? Is this something in which we pretend that we are progressive and moving forward, yet we're really trudging ten steps back?  So many claim that men hold down women, that it's a man's world, and yet you see women who stop at nothing to drag their counterparts down.

Women need to stop vilifying other women. We need to stop cruelly labeling women who behave in a similar manner to the 'boys will be boys' stereotype. Is it really necessary to continually come up with endearing terms such as slut, whore, ratchet, thot, etc., and whatever else we cleverly decide to come up with to demean women? These terms have been used interchangeably, but when you look up society's definitions to these words, they are typically used as degrading insults geared towards women.

There are many that claim that men attack women and their rights, but honestly? Women need to stop viciously attacking each other. Once we stop destroying ourselves, we can stop society from destroying us and hopefully take steps towards true equality between the sexes.

In another vein, and keeping somewhat in sync with the current topic, pseudo feminism is another movement that needs to be stopped in its tracks.  Apparently the new movement is so anti-male that it doesn't make any kind of sense. I have never seen so much hatred towards men as I have seen in the last few weeks - I have even seen some claim that all men are rapists, solely because of their gender.  The true definition of feminism advocates a straight line of equality between the sexes - and last I checked, equality had nothing to do with hatred.

Again, this false feminist movement does nothing but pervert the true essence of what feminism stands for. Because of this, more men tend to exhibit chauvinistic behavior, and if not this, there are men claiming that women are garnering more permissions just because they are women. They are right and they are wrong.

Many, by default, believe that the mother is always the best choice in raising the children, and the father are afforded fewer liberties - if that - in regards to their children. Sometimes the father is the better parent. Sometimes the mother is.

Men who abuse their partners are locked up, even in a he said she said argument, but when a woman abuses her partner and he looks for help, he is laughed at. No one should be beating their partner, nor should anyone be beaten by their partner.

Women can be sexual predators, too. It's 'hot' if a woman is sleeping with her students, but when it's a male, it's disgusting. No one should be preyed upon in a sexual manner.

A man can sleep around, because as mentioned earlier, boys will be boys. Yet, if a woman exhibits this behavior, she is a slut. Alternatively, lesbianism is acceptable - if the lesbians are hot. Gay men are fantastic when it comes to doing hair, making, or putting an outfit together, but two men being in love is gross. No one should be judged according to their sexual behavior or sexuality.

Now, I'm not saying that any of these behaviors are acceptable, but society has such skewed, prehistoric views on how the sexes should act. We have stereotypes that need to be shattered, because so much judgment is being tossed around, and we are allowing it to convolute important issues.

People are continually evolving. Society continues to evolve. Mindsets across the board need to evolve. If we choose to remain in an ignorant state, we are just stagnating society and stifling its ability to grow and thrive.

It's 2014, not 1814. We need to act like a society that is moving forward, and it needs to start now.  It's an insult to human dignity if we don't.

Just a Reminder.

So, apparently I seem to have fallen off the face of the planet, but I've been busy.

Yes, yes, typical excuse, right?

Well, I promise, I really have. I also have a notebook full of topics that I'd like to write about. I could technically start listing them, but that notebook is in my locker, at work.


Fat lot of good that does me.

Anyhow, I plan on getting back into the swing of this blog this week. In addition to jotting down topics, I've started ghost writing essays - as in writing down what to include in my introductions, body, and endings. Who would have thought that I'd be more organized in my writing outside of school? Apparently, I work backwards.