Let's Be Kind

I’m sure as we’ve all seen from the forum posts that “Let’s Go Crazy” was my favorite piece from this week. I just felt like it was really relatable. When I was younger up until this past summer, when my parents got divorced, I saw them wear a smile to convince other people were okay. This reminds me of the story he told about his mom smiling, so that people didn’t think his father was yelling at her (29). However, the parts I found most relatable lie within the rest of the chapter.

            Like I said in my forum post about this chapter he says, “”Gay” was the preferred put-down among boys at the time…” (30). I truly do believe this is still an insult, however it’s no longer just used towards people, it is also used for things that people aren’t happy with. I can’t tell you the amount of times I have heard people say “that is so gay” just because something upset them. I mean what is it with people using gay as an insult? It's 2020 shouldn’t we be done using things like that as an insult towards anything. Maybe I’m biased because it’s a group I identify with, but I don’t think anyone should be using any kind of word from another group as an insult. 

            “You work and you never stop working and you never tell anyone, even yourself that you’re working” (31-32). I felt this all the way down deep into my soul. If you read my post a few weeks back it was all about my coming out story. In it I talked about how my mom reacted the first time I tried, she was disgusted, and I told her I was joking. From then on out I worked, I worked every day, to make myself someone I wasn’t to make my mother happy or proud. This also reminds me of Barnum’s chapter “This Monstrosity.” In this chapter he does everything he can to please his parents. The last thing any of us want to be is a disappointment. 

            I think there’s one particular sentence I relate to the most. “You feel love and then your feel shame for feeling love” (32). I think I relate to this because Just like Hannah Gadsby in Nanette I grew up around people who were against me being gay, by people I mostly mean my mother. There have definitely been times in my life where I was ashamed to love someone else because of the things my mother said to me. In high school I was in love with a girl, but I never told her, because I didn’t want to disappoint my family. 

            One of my favorite parts of this reding was when Derek slipped up and called boys cute (35). I loved that Holmes finally had someone he could relate to in his life.

            All I have to say is, that as we get older, we should remember to treat everyone respect. No matter their sexuality, race, gender, etc. Always remember to be kind. If we spread kindness throughout the world the world would be a better place. Thank you for coming to my ted talk.