Same Love

The song Same Love by Macklemore and Mary Lambert, produced by Ryan Lewis, advertises their support of gay marriage. The message of this song is that no religion or belief justifies the mistreatment of the certain group of gay people. They should have human rights just as any other, because they love like any other.

"The right-wing conservatives think it's a decision, and you can be cured with some treatment and religion" Many religious people believe that one chooses to like another of the same sex, and fails to understand that that is the person they are. Many religions teach that being gay is a wrong doing, and it is a characteristic that can simply be taken away through treatment.

But being gay is not an illness.

"Live on and be your self, when I was at church they taught me something else. When the preach hate at service those words aren't anointed, and the holy water you soak in has been poisoned." Churches are strongly against gays as it, "goes against the bible," but by practicing this intolerance in church it preaches hate. It forces a predijuce on people who practice that faith. But when religions cannot accept all who wish to practice, then their services and holy water that bring one another together becomes of a lesser meaning.

"'Man that's gay' gets dropped on the daily, we've become so numb to what we are sayin'." Over the years the word gay has become a word of hate instead of what it truly is. It's a rude term yet society has turned it into an every day saying and thats why people who use it don't take into consideration its meaning.

When I first listened to this song a while ago, I was touched by the sincerity of his words. But at the same time I was hit with his powerful message. Our nation has achieved a lot of things, yet the one that is most important has not been fully accomplished. Human rights. While we are working on it, creating new laws and bills, I feel their will always be a hidden hate untill true acceptance is found.
This hatred is : "the same hatred that caused wars on religion... the same fight that led people to walk outs and sit ins." So why isn't it as important?

I Like Blue

Luna by Julie Anne Peters

Blue is my mother's favorite color, in fact. Through research I actually found that most girls prefer blues and greens and purples. Is this supposed to mean something significant? No, it's not. We can like any color really, no matter what any stereotype is. The reality is that humans find color pretty or interesting, and our interests cannot be confined within basic categories based on gender. I am a girl and I like blue. A boy can like pink, or purple, or turquoise, and it shouldn't matter. Whoever made the stereotype that boys like blue and girls like pink, has made our society forever corrupt in that girls and boys will always be judged on whether they hold the characteristics that each gender should have.

In the book Luna by Julie Anne Peters, the father is noticeably sexist-- which is hard to deal with when your son is a transgender. He is really into the idea of the females doing the housework and the males doing the handiwork. When asked why the sky is blue, he said: "because God is a boy. If God was a girl, the sky would be pink. As a' little boy the son wanted a barbie, so to the father there was "something wrong with him."

Maybe the father really isn't selfish, and he was just looking forward to having those father and son moments. Does that make it OK to force Liam (the son) to do sports, or work out in the gym? Not at all. Unfortunately, parents have their flaws. But failing to accept your child for who they are has some of the worst effects.

My little cousin Max likes the color pink. He has a pink hat, and a pink night shirt. His sister likes to play around in the dirt, and do sports, and rock climb. To me and to their parents, it doesn't make a difference. They can like any color and it won't make a difference, because they are both happy children who will succeed whether or not they like pink or blue. I don't see why that isn't the priority, but forcing your child into being the standard boy or girl is.

For Who I am

The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

Ever since his best friend Emma rejected him, he was unsure how to act around girls. He's in high school, yet he only recently wore his first pair of boxers. He wasn't sure of what would become of him. So when he and Emma discover a leak into the future--Facebook (which hadn't been invented in 1996) he is extremely happy to find out he has the perfect life. But then he realizes, that his future was basically bought by his wife, and since he couldn't get his own job, his father-in-law employed him.

Initially I thought that Josh should still be excited. He'll live in a beautiful house, have a beautiful wife, three kids, and a lot of spending money for vacations and the sort. But even so, Josh is unsatisfied.

I think that Josh's self esteem was lowered even more, when he read into his future. I think he feels like he can't accomplish anything now, and he won't when he grows up. Josh doesn't want to be dependent on his wife, and feel useless. I think that he isn't reading the situation correctly, though. How does he know whether or not he wanted to work for his father-in-law's company? He doesn't. He is making that assumption because of lack of confidence, and a poor view of himself.

The thoughts that have been going through Josh's brain throughout all this mess, is will anyone ever take me for who I am?

This is a reasonable question, of course. Who wouldn't want people to except them for who they are? But in my opinion, Josh is taking this too seriously. It was Josh in the beginning telling Anna that she shouldn't stress or mess with the future, but now he is jumping to conclusions that he is unhappy in his soon-to-be perfect life.

We just recently learned a little about social justice. Josh doesn't think he is good enough for Sydney Mills, or Emma, or anyone. But if he had taken the time to repair his relationship with Emma, I don't think he would've ever felt so low. Confidence benefits you because you live with a little less weight on your shoulders when you aren't so worried and unsure. I think that Josh should just let the future come, and trust himself to make the right decisions.