Ugh. This Is What My Dad Sounds Like. And Mom.

Ugh. This is what my dad sounds like. And mom.

If someone says that they don’t support BLM or Pride, because “everyone should be treated equally” and “it’s not equal if they get special privileges”, are they racist/homophobic?  I just got into a big fight with my parents about this. My dad voted for Trump, is white & straight, and works in business. But he gets mad when I call him racist/transphobic/misogynistic, etc because he “doesn’t care what other people do” so long as it doesn’t affect him.  My mom is an independent, hated Trump, and is more liberal than my dad, but she has a lot of the same views as my dad. She doesn’t support feminists because she believes they’re all “men-haters” that would make fun of her for choosing to be a stay at home mom, she says “all lives matter”, and when I told her my friend was bi, she said she had to discuss if I was allowed to sleep over at her house anymore! Even though she came out like 5 years ago to me and nothing weird has happened. Wtf, Mom. She also told me that she’d be fine if I was a lesbian but she’d “prefer” if I wasn’t because it would be “easier” for her. And one time she mentioned that her aunt was never married or even dated, so I said, “maybe she’s ace or aro” and she said, “what’s that mean” and as I told her, she interrupted me and said, “I don’t have room in my brain to learn any of theses new words.” Huh, Mom. I don’t remember you saying that when I told you about a cool new animal or invention I told you about. 

Is this a Gen X thing? Like, they just want to ignore anything that doesn’t affect them and they cannot deal with change? Because I’m pretty sure this is the mindset of a lot of adults I know.

Stepped in a giant puddle of maggots on the side of the road yesterday. 0 stars. Do not recommend.

I stayed up late last night writing an entire essay and was dead tired at work this morning. But apparently not as dead as the barista next to me who washed down three Motrins with her Redbull.

My Top 3 Favorite Books on My Bookshelf:

1. Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles) by Marissa Meyer

*Cyborgs. Fairytales. Royalty. Spaceships. Mind control/illusion magic. A race that lives on the moon. A revolution. Romance. Robots. + more!*

2. Gallagher Girls Series by Ally Carter

*An all girls boarding school for spies. Plus drama, mystery, and butt-kickery. Need I say more?*

3. Magnus Chase Trilogy by Rick Riordan

*Percy Jackson but opposite. Hates blue, from Boston, Mom’s dead, Norse Gods. He is also dead from chapter 8 on. (And there’s a ton of diverse characters! Genderfluid, Muslim, Latinx, Athiest, Deaf)*

Heh heh he… 😭

Remember how we thought 2016 was the shittiest year of our lives, with Harambe, The election, people dying from Pokemon go, and all those fucking clowns? Ah yes, simpler times.

What else did they expect?

My generation, generation Z, is going to be the one that changes things for good. In America, after yet another school shooting, instead of just accepting the “our thoughts and prayers to the families” that is normally said, the students actually did something. They began to stand up and speak for harsher gun control laws. These same STUDENTS organised one of the largest protests in AMERICAN HISTORY, with an estimated 1.2 - 2 million people taking part in over 800 cities world wide. 

We are a generation raised in a society of “girls rule boys drool”, of girls being given toy kitchens and hoovers whilst boys played with cars, Lego and army men, of girls being told to wear skirts and be careful to sit so you don’t accidentally flash your underwear whilst boys were told to run free and do whatever they want.

But, we are also the generation that grew up on a diet of tales about heroes and villains where the heroes stand up and win. We grew up on Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Divergent and Marvel movies. All things where the heroes fight back and WIN. But then the adults stripped away our hope, our futures and then backed an unqualified business man for president over a woman with political experience and they’re shocked children are fighting back. They’re surprise that we’re all like the heroes we grew up with. What else did they expect when we are the generation raised in the aftermath of 911, the recession, the Iraq war, the 7/7 bombings and increasing numbers of terror attacks? We grew up with Disney movies that taught us to speak our minds, to let ourselves to be heard and now this generation has begun to speak out.

In the word of Thomas Jefferson, the 3rd President of the United States, 

“Every generation needs a new revolution.” 

This is ours. In America, they fight for stricter gun control laws. Everywhere, we fight for equality for EVERYBODY.

The generations that came before us may have began the battle for equality, but we’re the generation that will fix it.

It was always going to be us.

Why wouldn’t it be us?