Dyke, Faggot, NoHomo and That's So Gay

A friend of mine showed me one of the most interesting websites I've ever come across. The University of Alberta launched the website http://www.nohomophobes.com/, a website that acts like a social mirror, showing how many times the words Faggot, Dyke, No Homo and So Gay are tweeted. The point of this is to show how much homophobic language is used and how little people think about it before they use it. 

As of 6:40 pm 

At 6:40 pm the word faggot at been tweeted almost 17,000 times. That number astounds me. On top of having the the number of tweets, they also post the tweets as they're coming in. This results in a never-ending stream of hate and negativity with very few tweets not using these words in a derogatory way. I believe that this is the point of mirrors, show us exactly what's there, not sugar coat things, even if we don't like what we see. I don't like what I see. 

I watched the stream for about ten minutes and saw maybe two tweets that were not using these words in a derogatory way, this shows me that we have a problem. People think that bullying is only when someone is personally attacking another person, and in some of these tweets there was a lot of blatant bullying. I view all the misuse of these words as a form of bullying and there is very little being done to stop it. 

A good friend of mine pointed out to me, what if someone who was at a very low point in their life stumbled across this website? What if someone, someone who felt so terrible about themselves, for who they were, found this website that used all these words to describe what they are as insults? We justify calling someone a faggot by saying things like, "well he's not really gay - I mean he's just an idiot or weird or stupid." We justify people calling a negative situation gay by saying things like, "well they didn't mean it."

What do people mean? When you're using homophobic language to describe negative situations you're saying exactly what you mean. Your words say that being homosexual is something negative, whether you think that's what you're saying or not. I'm by no means innocent of this, it wasn't until the last couple of years I realized how detrimental this is - for many different words. I have made it a habit to check my language before I open my mouth. 

It needs to not be okay for this language to be allowed. I know some of you will point out that you can't make believe accept something they don't believe in, and I agree. I can't force someone into thinking being gay is okay - nor should I want to. Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs. However, as much as you're allowed to be straight, people are allowed to be gay; if you don't approve then by all means stay straight. This falls into language, just because you are not gay does not give you the divine right to use homophobic language in a derogatory way. You have the right to choose but you also have the obligation to be a decent human. 

We use sexuality as this qualifier of how good you are as a person in this day and age and it's disgusting. Even Facebook wants to know what you're interested in! Why is there such a focus on sexuality when nobody wants to know about it if it's not theirs? You're pushed to be out and proud as either straight or gay and there's this middle fault line that just gets glazed eyes and nods of "mmhhmm" as a response... Up until this year I honestly knew very little about bisexuality, asexuality, transgendered or pansexuality. And now, in modern society, in GD 2012 we still operate under, "well as long as you're not gay." 

Who care who someone goes home with! Who cares who they are intimate with! I'm not in bed with you, by all means get as freaky as you want with whomever you want! I don't think a persons sexuality defines who they are - far from it. You're a person before your sexual orientation. 

I realize I went on a bit of rant here, but this is something that strikes a nerve. I've seen how the use of homophobic language can and has hurt people. I don't care if you think it's right or not, if you're not going to stand for same-sex couples then at least have the decency to stand up against bullying. People are being hurt because of something that can be so easily stopped! Do you think that at least some of those people would think twice about tweeting if someone tweeted them back telling them they're hurting people? I can guarantee it. 

In less than two hours the word faggot was tweeted 2179 times. The term NoHomo was tweeted 1034 times. So Gay was tweeted 848 times. And the word Dyke was tweeted 343 times. Collectively that's 4404 tweets using homophobic language and only a small number of those tweets will have anything remotely positive about them. 

Are you going to be part of the solution or part of the problem?

Need someone to talk to? Need support? 
Please don't hesitate to contact any of these resources. You are not alone. 

Youth Line - Support for Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans Teens
Youth Line

GLBT National Help Centre
GLBT

Adopt-A-Friend Friday!

Toronto Cat Rescue is a 100% volunteer run, no kill organization. What does that mean? Well nobody is employed at TCR, it's all volunteer based and no cat that comes into our care is put down, unless they have extremely serious medical conditions that will allow for no quality of life.
What does this mean? In order for us to take in more cats from high-kill shelters or stray cats  we need to find forever homes for the cats we have! 

Everyone loves kittens and a lot of the times it's easier to bring a kitten in to your life. Cats live between 10-20 years with good food and proper care - bringing an adult cat into your life gives you many years of love with a cat that already knows the ropes! They've been to vets for numerous years, are litter trained and loooove love! They're often just as playful as kittens and just have a ton of love to give. 

So without further ado, please meet Phoebe! 

This sweet long-haired tuxedo cat is a lover, of people and especially of other cats. She loves to cuddle and kiss and shnuz all the cats she's staying with - even the ones that don't usually like cats. 

Phoebe was rescued from a high-kill shelter where her time was up. This six-year old lady would love a forever home with plenty of windows for her to spend her days lying in and watching the birds and squirrels. 

Does your home sound like it could be Phoebe's one? If so, please contact Toronto Cat Rescue to arrange a meeting! For more information on Phoebe please check out her page!

No child left behind: an educational recipe for apathy

Let me begin by saying that this topic is incredibly controversial and different people have vastly different opinions on this subject. 

I'm talking about the no-zero policy and the no-child-left-behind policy in regards to education. Please be aware that these are my opinions on this topic, and I welcome any kind of healthy discussion. 

 

To start, a bit of background. The no-zero/no child left behind policy involves the grading of elementary and middle school children. In essence, no child in elementary school can fail - an F now just means that a teacher will do their best to make that child pass. This policy was brought to light with a recent article by the National Post regarding Lynden Dorval (a teacher fired for giving his students zeros) being hired by a seperate school to teach.

Now for the past two years I've worked for the Catholic School Board in northern Ontario, I worked in an elementary school that was listed as having the worst EQAO test scores in all of Ontario. My job was a tutor for the grade three's and six's that required more one-on-one attention to do well in the testing. This is where I first came upon a huge issue - grade six students who did literally no work all year, who graduated into the 7th grade. These students sat at their desk and blatantly refused to do a shred of work because they didn't feel like it -without parental consent (which was never given) these students were given a D and made their way up to the next step in the education ladder.

It makes me sick that that happens. I know that the blame falls divided - some people blaming the education system, specifically the teachers - others the parents. I'm going to come at this from my perspective - from working alongside the teachers in the classroom.

I think it's BS that teachers are being blamed for kids not doing well. Sometimes, the teacher/ student relationship for learning just isn't there - and I realize that. In my experience, it's not a teachers job to sit with one student for the entire day who refuses to do any work. In a class with twenty other students, spending countless hours with one student who just "doesn't feel like it" comes at the price of those 19 other students. This younger generation (for the most part- I realize that's a generalization) is so apathetic when it comes to learning. I remember being excited for school and if I didn't like an assignment I did it anyway - because that's what you did - or you failed. You didn't want to be the kid that gets held back a grade because it made you look like an idiot - especially if it was because you just chose not to do any work all year.

Now there's this ability for students to just choose not to do their work because they feel like it and they never have the consequence of failing. They go through the education system right up till high school with the assumption they can control what they do and don't want to do and they'll be rewarded with the next level of education. How is that alright? How is that ok? This is not equipping the future generation with the tools to know what's right and wrong. You don't get rewarded without first putting the work in and this is somethign that they'll never learn.

You can't hand a child and education when they've done nothing. That's not how the real world works. There's this assumption that it's detrimental for a child to be held back socially but the solution isn't throwing them into high school without ever having done anything! What is that child with the grade one reading level going to do in high school? All of a sudden find his/her inspiration to do well or drop out when he/she hits 18?

This education system doesn't build better kids - it gives children an out from putting any effort into school and it allows everyone to just blame the teacher for not doing enough. We're going to end up with a generation that expects to be rewarded without ever doing any work and that's terrifying.


This blogpost comes from the National Post article by Jen Gerson: http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/09/19/lynden-dorval-captain-zero/ 
 

Shoals Technologies: Making solar technology and nearly-naked women make sense

                Nothing says solar power like have naked cowgirls in bikinis!

This PR disaster made me laugh over my lunch break because of just the sheer absurdity of it. Shoals Technologies, one of the largest solar manufacturing companies in the world hit the 2012 Solar Power International convention with a new line of products called the the “Nice Rack”.

            Sticking with the traditional, women are objects stereotype, Shoals dove head first into the insensitive pool by taking the cheap laugh way out in terms of advertising. Their “Nice Rack” product line of solar products featured ads with thin and busty young women in skimpy bathing suits. This was accented by Shoal’s “Nice Rack” party, with tickets featuring a busty blonde cowgirl who is obviously getting ready to explain the inner workings of solar products…

We get it, it’s easy for companies to slap an image of a sexually appealing woman or man on their product and sell it. They don’t think people will question what a busty brunette has to do with solar power (obviously she’s working on her tan – duh), but instead will desire the product. It worked for body wash, right? Wrong! Shoals was not anticipating such a negative backlash as was evident in their response to anyone who hinted they should rethink their marketing strategy.

 Mary, a woman who was incredibly offended by the adverts, sent them a detailed message of why their company was deplorable for its campaign; she was replied to by an employee of Shoals with, “Thank you for the compliment. Sent from my Iphone.”

The public then started to take to Twitter, where it was met with more snark than an offended sixteen year-old. The #NotBuyingIt hastag began to be used in an attempt to get the point across to Shoals about how bad their marketing campaign was being received, and what did they do? Retweeted the people who were using that hashtag in an effort to poke fun at the situation. *Face palm*

It only went downhill from there. Now deleted, the Shoals twitter account began auto-snarking anyone who made a negative comment about them? Couldn’t believe your friends were being insulted by a company over Twitter? They were happy to oblige! The worst moment consisted of the Shoals account tweeting at #NotBuyingIt user promoting the applications for next year’s “booth babe” position. I couldn’t help but laugh; it seemed obvious that the Shoals Twitter account was single-handedly attempt to commit brand suicide.

Even the President of Shoals Technologies Group, Dean Solon, was embracing this babe-centered way of advertising, changing his LinkedIn profile photo to one of him and two “booth babes”. This just shows how grossly unprofessional a company can be when it comes to mixing its online presence with its real-world one. As the president of a company you’re an embodiment of the brand, in this case, Mr. Solon is representing the largest solar energy manufacturer in the world. This profile photo looks like some creepy old man was attending Comic-Con and found two pretty girls who would take a picture with him. Brands and companies require trust, taking a photo three-some with “booth babes” only inspires people to shake their heads in shame.

It wasn’t until a good time later that Shoals actually issued an apology…sort of. Through their Twitter @ShoalsTech they tweeted, “If anyone was truly offended, our apologies. It was all in the most light hearted fun possible. Enjoy your weekends.”

Oh! Well as long as snarking and being incredibly rude to your potential customers was in light hearted fun then! They also released a more detailed statement on Facebook:

As you can see, people obviously didn’t accept it right off the bat and I have to give props to them for actually apologizing, even though it just makes them look two-faced and ignorant. By explaining their actions through their “leaving stuffy corporate attitudes behind”, they’re opening themselves up to more negative feedback. I have some right here; you want to leave stuffy corporate attitudes behind, don’t go with a cookie-cutter sex sells ad campaign. There is nothing innovative or new about throwing a picture of a woman barely wearing any clothes in a campaign; do not use this to define yourself as a cutting edge brand. By having respect for the women in your field, why don’t you showcase them wearing clothes? Even your final sendoff, “Our mama’s raised us right,” lends itself to think there is not a single woman employed with your company!

This entire fiasco is just indicative of companies need to think before they go ahead and blast information at people. Half-hearted apologies over Facebook and Twitter is about as meaningful as a bully having to apologize via a Facebook wall post. If your “mama’s raised you right”, then you should know that when you do something wrong, you go face to face and own up to it. Not hide behind a computer screen.  

All information taken from the article by Imran Siddiquee on misrepresentation.org. Link can be found here: http://www.missrepresentation.org/notbuyingit/notbuyingit-solar-company-advertises-nice-rack-party/

Adopt-A-Friend Friday

I realize that I missed last week's adopt-a-friend day, not the greatest way to start this off! Today I will be featuring two feline friends who are looking for a home!

First up is Indie!

Indie is a 5 year old, female, domestic short hair. She'll melt your heart with her sweet little chirps and cute baby face. Indie loves back scratches but isn't the biggest fan of being picked up, she makes up for it with her love of scratches and being brushed. This girl is a percher and loves to take in her surroundings.

What makes Indie special? She's bonded with another cat, Saba. 

These two girls are a bonded pair, which are often times harder to place into homes. If you're able to open your home and heart to these two lovely ladies please contact Toronto Cat Rescue. 

Up next is a gorgeous two year old, male, domestic longhair named Dodger.

Don't let his serious face fool you, this boy is a giant teddy bear. This big boy would love nothing more than a forever home where he can get all the lap time he craves. Dodger needs a forever home where he is the only cat as he doesn't get along well with other male cats. 

This boy had a rough start, he was found abandoned outdoors and picked up by a nice person before being brought to Toronto Cat Rescue to find his forever home. 

What makes Dodger special? Dodger is FIV positive. Cats that are FIV positive do live normal healthy lives, but to make sure of that Dodger needs a life with a healthy diet and little stress.

If you have room in your home for this giant cuddle bug please contact Toronto Cat Resue

Dad wants option of pulling kids out of class based on lesson topics - Headline

This story literally just popped up and it really makes me upset to read. I realize that that's my opinion and where I do respect the fact that he the right to his own opinion, I truly believe this is where ignorance is born.

This Ontario dad wants to recieve advanced notice on all lesson plans in order to be able to pick and choose what his children will be taught. The topics of marriage, family and sexuality are what he wants notice on as he doesn't want his kids to be taught things that contradict his religious beliefs. Now I'm all for freedom of religion and freedom to practice any religion you choose, but not allowing your children to be exposed or to hear or learn about anything that opposes your belief is where ignorance stems from. Ignorance isn't just created one day, it's taught.

The father stated that because he pays his taxes and Canada is a free country that this should be allowed. What's more disturbing was his quote, "My children are my own. I own them. They don't belong to the school board." Ack. You don't own your children, they're not objects; it's alright to pass your beliefs down to them, but don't make them suffer for it.

No they don't belong to the schoolboard but teaching them strictly Christian values and never letting them hear about anything else isn't going to help them be better Christians. The father is saying that if he's denied that the school board is discriminating against his religion.

His kids are both in public school and when asked if he would move his kids over to seperate school he stated, "Why should I send my kids to another school? I pay my taxes...I don't see why somebody else's discrimination should cause me, should influence where I send my children. Not in a free country."

This is where I'll come across a little snippy. Yes, you do pay taxed, as does every parent in that school - what he fails to realize is that micromanaging his children's education for the sake of religion is given his kids special treatment. Not because they're Christians, but that teacher is going to have to curb the lesson plan for those two kids, taking time and energy that could have gone to teaching the rest of the class. I do not agree with declaring discrimination when you're the one making the choice to keep your kids in public school and demanding an education that's different from everyone else. The general public is not Christian, the general public is non-denominatonal as I believe public school should be. I believe that education should exist outside the scope of religion. I reliaze that's unpopular opinion, but it's true. You should learn everything the same as the other person, so if those kids do truly adopt the Christian belief system, they know where non-Christians are coming from. Plugging your ears and saying "lalalalalalalala" when someone says something you don't agree with is ridiculous and to demand the education system allow you to do that, even more so.

By all means please, be proud of your religion - but don't make everyone have to work a little harder because you don't want your children to know about anything outside what you agree on.

Story from the CP24 Article http://www.cp24.com/dad-wants-option-of-pulling-kids-out-of-class-based-on-lesson-topics-1.950047#ixzz265xFk4a9 

Steven Moffat death threatened off Twitter

 

Steven Moffat is one of my favorite television writers. He's one of the main writers for the amazing BBC television series Dr. Who and in my opinion, is fantastic. That being said, this article is going to be biased towards my like of him.

So the meat and potatoes of this post come from the fact that Moffat was chased off of Twitter after receiving death threats and a massive amount of hate for the Dr. Who episode Dinosaurs on a Ship – which featured dinosaurs…in space…It was awesome. There was a grand upheaval as one of the characters (a rather sexist African safari hunter) seemed to objectify women the entire time. There was also some hate coming from the fact that one of the female characters was going to be sold as she was a very valuable piece of history and worth a lot. This started the massive Twitter Moffat-ia, claiming that the man was a blatant sexist and after interview quotes were pulled, he was called out for thinking homosexuality was a joke and asexuality wasn’t important.
 
Now to address the sexism, yes, this episode had it in spades. A lot of people are not aware that Moffat didn’t in fact even write this episode and those that are said he approved it, which makes him guilty anyway. I personally don’t think that Moffat is sexist, I mean look at his characters. Yes, the Doctor has always been a man and I can understand that for continuity’s sake – but all of the companions have been women. They haven’t all been the boring, classically gorgeous, damsels in distress; these have all been powerful, kick-ass women. Almost all of Moffat’s female leads take no crap and by the very definition are leaders – often times saving the Doctor himself.  I’ve always admired the fact that the female characters have been a range of “normal” women that I felt I could look up to in the fiction world. Nobody pointed out the fact that when this male character made his sexist comments they were always commented on and addressed in the show.

For the homosexuality bit, Moffat was quoted in an interview stating that the gay characters really spice the show up. I’m sorry but they really do. That’s not objectifying them as the token “gay” character because of that, god knows the Doctor does it as well, but the same-sex oriented characters really only add. Yes, they add some spice, diversity is spice. It’s not being rude and disrespectful because they are GREAT characters that are vibrant and funny and just add to this show. Moffat also ended up hated because of last week’s show with the character Oswin Oswald’s comment about dating a girl being just a phase for her. People erupted saying that it was disrespectful and glorified bisexuality as just a phase and not real. At that moment I was starting to get a little upset with the Moffat-haters because, good lord, they just seem to hate everything. My view on this is, this character has an individual life, and you can’t tell them that they’re wrong for being a certain way – for some people being curious about the same-sex is just a phase. It’s human experience! You can’t qualify it because it doesn’t suite your way of thinking! You’re bisexual?  Great! You’re gay? Fantastic! You’re just experimenting? EXPERIMENT AWAY!

Finally, the asexuality comment. Moffat answered in an interview that there are no asexual characters on his show because that’s not interesting enough for television. People are up in arms upset because of this and my question is, where in sam hell would an asexual character go?! People in this show show their sexuality through the relationships with other characters – you have 45 minutes roughly to express an entire storyline with the main and new characters. Asexuality – the lack of sexual attraction to any person- is one of those things that you can read for any character really. Who is to say that the Doctor isn’t asexual? I’m not saying that anyone who doesn’t express a set sexuality in the show is asexual, I’m expressing the fact that you just don’t know. That’s what sexuality is though for some people, it’s personal and private. Not every character has to be loud and proud about their orientation. The show’s not about sexual orientation!

I think that it’s really disgusting how people took to threatening this man over the internet over a television show. It’s a fact of life; people lose interest and love for shows – instead of death threatening the writer, demanding to make the show you want, just move on. Fictional television is fun and entertaining; if it’s not for you anymore than maybe you’ve lost a reason to watch the show.
 
A friend of mine posted a very good comment that really embodies this. Just because you’re offended, doesn’t mean you’re right.