Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Homophobia? Why? What? Where? When? Who Cares?

Hello old friends. I'm back in the saddle again. Taking a break from the darkness and demons to address something that plagues much of society today. Homophobia.

No homo,
That's gay,
You're a fag.

The extreme disconnect on societies social commentary is summed up in those 3 words. Even if a person is not homophobic they have/have in the past addressed something as homosexual.

Along the same lines as "That's stupid". However, I don't understand the necessity.

In the media you will notice a distinct clash. Sitcoms, newspapers and newscast that will use homophobic language for eyegrabbing headlines, easy jokes or to get you upset about something to create more traffic. On the other side of it are modest human beings who write blogs, essays and sometimes a thesis paper about the blatant and unfriendly use of homophobic language in the media.

Of most note, and what I have noticed more than anything else. The scene on Community where Ken Jeong's Character "Senor Chang" shouts out: "Hah, Gay". This has taken on many forms, many memes and is used and abused over and over again. When an athlete comes out, Twitter lights aflame with homophobic and the image of Ken Jeong.

Sadly, Ken Jeong is known for being a naked Korean guy who beats Bradley Cooper with a tire iron... And that image of him yelling "Gay"

To truly understand the rampant homophobia in the world, you need to grow up. I don't mean in some metaphorical sense. But, through middle school, Homophobic slurs are used as nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs. My time in Jr. High was marred with a bunch of nerds who used these terms. Many of them become trolls. I was told at an early age. Act your age. If  I used something stupidly immature. All it took was someone to say "How Old Are You?" Honestly, This is the best way to approach those people who take sincere offense with a man and a man, woman and woman, trans and trans or any variation where two members of the same sex are coupled.

Saying, "how old are you" is probably one of the hardest hitting phrases you can say to someone acting stupid. That's not to say it will correct homophobia. I'm not saying it will eliminate the slurs. The terms have become so dated that it is actually jarring for me to hear them at this point in my life.

When I was about 15, I made a conscious thought of "Who cares".

The first time you hear of same sex coupling is kind of shocking. That's how we are programmed as children. From the time we are born we learn to distinguish ourselves through colours, toys and clothes. So, as we get older we accept that we like the opposite sex. It becomes more difficult for those who were raised with those gender roles to accept anything other than that.

It is a multi-leveled system failure. Education is one of my biggest gripes with it. There is no punishment for spewing hate. There is no punishment for death threats. We've become so numb to the catastrophe that our education system presents that we do not bat an eye. You are never taught in any classes that "Same Sex Marriage" is normal. In fact, through health, CALM and other biology courses you are taught there is one way. That's it.

It becomes more engrained and more reinforced through media. Books, Movies and TV Shows where a person comes out as a homosexual and is either avoided or is made fun of. They are made to feel as if they are different because of sexual orientation.

The wrap up my thoughts. Homophobia will most likely always exist at an educational level. Because stubborn, arrogant and naive parents will not let their kids learn that same sex marriage is okay. Because of this, the language will be used into adolescence and adulthood. Furthering the abilities of TV Shows and Movies to use homophobic language.

So, to those who may be a closeted homophobic who will read this post. I ask "How old are you"


Regards,

Devon

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