Penny Hero (dot) Net

An excerpt from my letter to Jane Ganahl (author of “When he says he’s bisexual, what does he really mean?” and her editors:

I feel that your article is a product of stereotypes and that it also serves to propagate and inflame those stereotypes. You may have written your article with a desire to shed light on a controversial subject, or to bring your own experiences out to offer your own insight, but you have only succeeded in reinforcing those damaging stereotypes.

Your friend Michael may have been gay and used the term “bisexual” to slowly ease into his homosexual lifestyle. This is not an uncommon occurrence by any means, however your failure to acknowledge bisexuality as a legitimate sexual orientation leads your readers to believe that being bisexual is nothing but a “half-way” house between one orientation or another, or worse, that it is merely a sign of a person’s indecisiveness, sexual hedonism or, in the case of female bisexuality, only for the pornographic pleasure of males.

This article has been posted in twice in the last week or so, and I only now read the entire thing. Sure, columns are supposed to be the opinions of the author, but what about when the author’s work is socially damaging? What about if it inflames stereotypes? What if some of the information is simply not true or it is unsupported and so completely vague that any thinking reader has to stop and say “what are you trying to say with this?” (example: “Studies show that a huge number of young women have experimented sexually with other women; the result, it’s speculated, of the women’s movement and the rise in appreciation for all things female.” heh heh. this is when ben suggested that she should be fired from thinking.)

*sigh* What has journalism come to these days? Negative 3,452 Respect Points are hereby awarded to the San Francisco Chronicle.

I’ve decided that the wind is my favorite thing.

When I die, I want to come back as some wind. I’ll be some wind infatuated with trees. Just like that wind outside my window. :)

*swoons*

Quote of the Day: “The problem with polyamory isn’t jealousy — it’s scheduling.” - author unknown

*lmao* :)

Last night, I had a conversation with someone about religion. (mistake number 1) We exchanged our personal “side” on things. (mistake number 2.) I let this guy get to me when he said I was going to go to Hell. (mistake number 3.) So I went to bed feeling very very hurt. And I woke up feeling like a truck had hit me. Now I am ok of course. Resilience is a skill which never leaves you. Especially for those of us with mild bi-polar disorders.

I discovered last night that in a lot of cases, religion does nothing but divide people. Throughout history, people have fought wars, excommunicated people, damned others to Hell, and flew planes into large buildings all in the “name of God”. Most of these people all claim to subscribe to the same religion too. They claim to believe in the same god. Even in cases of conversation between the most open minded people, negative feelings preside. Each person looks down on the other with sympathy, pity and prays that one day they too will come around. Religion’s purpose should not be to propagate hate for other people. Once religion starts doing that, it defeats itself. I don’t like that. This self-righteousness superiority. I don’t need anyone’s pity. But I am guilty of feeling pity for those I feel are unenlightened.

How does one reconcile these conflicting realities? Christianity has evolved so much over the eras… And even today, one priest will say homosexuality is a sin. And another priest will say it is a regular expression of love. The sick part is that both priests subscribe to the same religion… and both of them believe that the other one will burn in Hell.

As an epilogue, the ragged edges of my soul have been soothed by the comforting presence of my Japanese notes and my English Literature text book. Oh, and Atlas Shrugged. Can’t forget Ayn Rand.

I spent six hours studying in Java II today. I have three midterms tomorrow… grr. Studying was actually quite fun because Takeshi hung out with me and drilled me in my Japanese. We talked and I learned that he really isn’t a superficial flirty danger to my virginity, well you know what I mean. He’s got a girlfriend, but she’s returning to Japan in 2 months, and Takeshi apparently has the same views I have on long distance relationships (and the same apparent addiction. ha. ) So anyway. Seems we are kindred spirits and I think I’m going to go party with him and his room mate soon. And meet his girlfriend. :)

I came back from studying feeling semi-normal. I even went and played Smash Brothers with the guy who condemned me to Hell. (god he is so good at guitar. If we lived in the ’70s, I’d call him “dreamy”) I’m soooo disappointed that our views on theology are so fundamentally in conflict. He was um… very attractive. Stupid musicians. Stupid martial artists. STOP LEADING ME ASTRAY!

La la la. For the record: Adi’s bracelet likes me best. (/inside joke)

In honor of National Coming Out Day, this morning I came out to a new friend I met last night at Adi’s house. It feels really nice to have someone in the non-online world who knows me for who I am.

I walked past the Queer-Resource Center’s booths today and wanted to stop and read about joining… but I was chicken. The damn closet was just so comfortable… sometimes I still hang out in it for nostalgia’s sake.

The Barometer also wrote in honor of today. Yay!