Stereotypes in TV shows, such as Modern Family and Glee, perpetuate the “ideal gay lifestyle”, and do not represent the impoverished LGBT people who struggle with more than just sexuality-based discrimination. All minority groups are fighting for visibility, but some successes overshadow the struggles over others, thus creating further divides between marginalized…
In football, rules are followed to ensure safety. Relationships are created between players and coaches to make them a better athlete. Outside of football players have relationships with their parents, wife, and children to make them a better person. Their job aside from football are there kids. As soon as they are born it is there duty to develop rules to ensure there kids safety such as dating rules.…
With drama-series like The Fosters, Orange Is The New Black, Game of Thrones, Glee, True Blood, The Modern Family, and Sense8, among others, queer characters have begun to slowly gain prominence outside the borders of the stereotypical white gay male. Slowly, representation is being found, and the blanket hiding difficult subjects from sight is carefully being pulled back. In True Blood, gay cook and man of color Lafayette Reynolds confronts a white man when the man declines to eat his burger, claiming it might have aids. In Sense8, Amanita, a queer woman of color, defends her trans girlfriend from the rude remarks made by transphobic friends. Shows like these are providing characters that queer people can relate to on some level, and they are knocking on the ice wall of the heterosexual, cisgender binary. Documentaries like I Am Jazz, I Am Cait, and The T Word showcase lives of transgender individuals and what it is like to be trans, providing both a source of information and a real-life look at what goes on in the world around a transgender…
What do you see when you look in the mirror? Are you pleased, or do you immediately come up with an endless list of insecurities? As a child one of my favorite memories was laying around the house with my older sister on rainy days. We would leave the windows open so we could hear the rain coming down on the tin roof over our patio, while watching reruns of our favorite tv show “America's Next Top Model”. I always thought that these women were gorgeous and I would catch myself constantly comparing their looks to my own. I wanted to be just like them until I realized the unrealistic expectations that they had to live up to. A sizeable butt and breasts, but not too large; they have got to be proportional. A skinny waist, impeccable hair, blemish free face although even with clear skin you are expected to cake on makeup because no one is actually pretty without mile long eyelashes, the perfect smoky eye, and exemplary contouring. Society has idolized these things as “beautiful” and shamed the girls that do not meet these standards; however, society should be making everyone feel confident in their bodies. Girls need to know that it is okay not to have an “hourglass figure” so they don’t…
I dance classical ballet since I was 3 years old and ever since then I have been doing it. My favorite dancer is Sylvie Guillem as Manon, especially her Final Pas de Deux with Jonathan Cope.…
I was an emotional wreck for no reason. They knew and continued to love me. I was so relieved and excited at the same time. People cannot help who they fall in-love with, and that is just life. Like Ellen Page said, I am here because I am gay. I like the opposite sex and although it is not right to some people, I am me. I am happy in my own skin and I think everyone else should be too. I am me, my own person, and I cannot change that. Instead of being embarrassed of who I am and what gender I prefer, I will embrace it. Never belittle yourself because of another persons opinion.…
Role playing for me is very anxiety inducing. I am not a good public speaker and I hate it when all the attention is on me. I am an introvert to the core. Going into the role play I was nervous and uncomfortable and was anticipating a challenging experience. After seeing the other role plays I knew that the topic I would cover would not be an easy one, but honestly in life when in life are topics ever easy?…
Two years ago, on a cold Saturday morning, I prepared for my first ever track tryout. I took a shower, put on my clothes, and got into the car. On my way to practice, I felt strong physically, but I also had an undefined, jittery feeling about how the day was going to go.…
Moving on is easy but what you leave behind is what makes it hard. Once you get to a certain age in your life you know you have to move on sometime. I know times are hard but you have to push yourself toward what you really want in life even if it means moving away from what you love.…
You can try to repress it. You can try and hide from it, but it is only a matter of time until it catches up with you. You can never escape who you truly are. I am gay. I accept this now. I know there is nothing wrong with me. This is just who I am. I have told several of my friends and their reactions have been accepting as I predicted, but my parents are a different story.…
Her eyes glistened with a repulsive gleam of a smile on her face. I walked slowly hearing the whispering of my socks against the floor. It was that time again, piano lesson. Mrs. Zhang looked at me and smirked eerily. I sighed and took my place on the on the bench, close enough to smell my teacher. I put my shaking hands on the keys and began.…
Samantha was my savior and protector till the struggle of social life took over our compact minds. I remember when Samantha and I first met in Kindergarten; I had just back to Fort Hood from Germany and hardly spoke English. I was the middle of the school year, kids had just come back from winter break and everybody knew each other by then but me. My new teacher had seated me next to Samantha and Sam welcomed me warmly. Sam would help me with assignments and talking to other kids and stood up for me against cruel kids when no one else would from kindergarten to third grade. I saw her as not only my best friend, but also my hero. However, Sam became more distant throughout the years and started talking to me less, but I didn't think anything…
I always keep this poem and picture in my wallet. I take it everywhere with me because it means quite a lot to me in two very different ways. One of those ways is because it holds sentimental value. When I was younger I learned to read very late in life and I was always so embarrassed of that. My father knew that I was struggling and bought me the book, Where the Sidewalk Ends. It is a book full of poems and little pictures written by Shel Silverstein. I remember opening the book to ta random page, and it was the page with this poem. I then remember my dad asking me to read it to him. I was so uncomfortable, even thought I was just going to be reading to my dad. He gave me some words of encouragement, and even thought I was not able to read…
Tired, with a headache, and not in capacity to maintain my eyes open, I remembered next day was Halloween, which was the last thing I remembered before falling sleep. I woke up and saw the watch, it was three o’clock a.m. I listened to a weird sound that came from my closet; it was soft, but I could hear it like a rat scratching the walls. Intrigued about what was happening, I woke up and walked towards the closet. The sound gave me the chills.…
Traveling into the Indian Territory, we were being angrily chased down by three Indians furiously shouting at us. Dashing through the thick forest, the savage Indians were throwing spears and shooting arrows that narrowly missed us. Although neither Gideon nor I was mortally injured, I did suffer from a nick from an arrow piercing near my ear. Thankfully, a group of burly fur traders approached from the side, which frightened the Indians to run away. Acknowledging that Gideon and I were inexperienced travelers in the west, they offered us protection in exchange for some valuable possessions. As a consequence, knowing that they were our best alternative for survival, we gave them our antique gold pocket watches and assumed the identities of novice fur traders. From that point on, we followed them through the west and adopted their skills for efficiently hunting animals and keeping warm in the harsh, cold weather. During one of our rest points, we approached a large Cherokee settlement located in Park Hill in which our group leader was friends with the Cherokee leader John Ross.…