You're weird... you deserve it

I had original planned to do a post on some of the different vampire legends from around the world, but a recent post at the Ultimate Goth Guide (a blog created by a very interesting mortal indeed) caught my attention.

The stories within that post got me thinking: I'm one of the lucky few. The 'weird one' who was never picked on, teased, bullied. Well, not completely. I've had people call me a 'freak' and an 'emo kid' (even though I never found those phrases to be all that insulting). I've had people stomp on my feet, very obviously start whispering about me when I was around, and others make comments about how I'm a witch and I sit in the corner of my bedroom contemplating suicide. While that doesn't exactly sound pleasant, those incidents are nowhere near to comparing to some of the things that happened to other little gothlings (I like to think that the reason I wasn't bullied much as a kid is because other people could somehow sense that I would one day become a ferocious blood-drinking monster, but that's probably not the case...).

It's a sad fact that many people respond to things that they don't like or don't understand with violence, whether it's to a different race, sexuality or unusual hair colour. It makes me sick. I have blue hair and multiple facial piercings; does that mean I deserve to have things thrown at me? I enjoy wearing velvet and corsets; does that mean it's my fault when people harass me? I'm nocturnal and sleep in a coffin; does that make me any less human? (Well, okay. You got me on that one. But you get my point.)

The other sad thing about all of this is that many people think it's the odd person's fault. "They should know by now that if they dress weird they're going to get unwanted attention!" And, you know what? That's true. We do know that our appearances are different and therefore not many people will understand us. And we do know that, again, many people respond in negative ways to things that they don't understand. But you know what else? We shouldn't have to worry about that. Everyone should have the freedom to dress however they want without fear of having their faces beaten in.

If a Muslim woman, who chooses to wear traditional garb, is the victim of a crime, is it her fault for choosing to "look that way"? No, not at all. If a Goth, who chooses to dress in a darker fashion, is a victim of a crime, is it his fault for choosing to "look that way"? No, not at all.

All this talk is really starting to make my blood boil. But you know what would stop it? Putting an end to this prejudice. The elation I feel when I see a 'normal person' standing up for a 'freak' is nothing short of amazing. We really need more of that in the world. We're all people; we all deserve to be treated the same.

Well, that's it for this post. Wow, ranting really makes me thirsty...