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Oh if only being discriminated against in one area meant you didn't discriminate yourself in other areas. Some gay men and women are in fact some of the most transphobic people out there. The trans community itself has a massive problem with racism, and you even get some trans guys who grew up being treated as women then being massive misogynists themselves (I'm using this area for examples because say-what-you-know). There's a sense of entitlement, I suspect, that suggests that just because the world gives you crap for being a woman, or being bi, or whatever, that it's exactly the same as having a disability, or being black, and so you get a free pass there. Heck, I recall some of the UK anime community in the 00s assume that being geeks meant they were society's outcasts and so they could say vile things about women or Muslims because it somehow wasn't as bad. Really annoys me - the arrogance of it all.
The thing is most of us go off the assumption that people that have faced discrimination or some kind of hardship along those lines should know better, when in reality this isn't the case. The most obvious example is how you'll find people that bully; have been the victims of bullying or abuse themselves.
Again…I've known a lot of pretty decent people that have shocked me, by coming out with a vile viewpoint that discriminates against other people. And low and behold once I've begun to know them and their past, I discover how they've come from a broken home, or had to face hardship to a degree that has warped their mentality. By the end of it all I just feel bad for them, and take into consideration that the worst parts of themselves are generated from something equally awful.
Here is one of my favorite quotes, and it covers hardship and growth perfectly: Rocky Balboa: Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place, and I don’t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward; how much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done! Now, if you know what you’re worth, then go out and get what you’re worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain’t where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain’t you. You’re better than that!
The greatest people celebrated in life, are those that have faced hardship and remain strong and unbroken.
My biggest weakness; that a lot of you might share, is that I have let the hardships I have faced chip away at me, instead of learning from them, and use them as a way to better myself. It took me years to suss out this simple truth, and even now I fail time after time at letting the bad times dictate how I will spend the possible good times. I should learn, forgive and educate. instead of allowing myself to become stubborn, unforgiving and bitter.
So yes while I don't agree with a lot of things I see and hear; I understand that they are simply broken, and warped by their past. After all nobody is born on this planet with evil inside themselves. The true criminal is the ones that came before them and made them what they are. And while we all have the ability to choose between right and wrong, some of us are just broken easier, regardless of if we have realized that or not.
I dont mean to sound sappy with this. I just want to point out that a lot of us miss the bigger picture….When life just isn't that simple.