Stress - The natural sleep cure

It is only after having been severely stressed for going on three weeks that I have been reduced to this. To being so alone and depressed, so emotional over the amount of stress I am in, that I have lost my strength. It is in this moment that I want to educate those of you who are willing to listen in an English lesson. You know not what you do, what you imply, or how you've hurt someone by something you've said. You know the rules of speaking if you're "not racist" because you've grown up around it or avoiding it. You know how not to talk about certain things and what not to talk about. If you care about anyone that's different from you, especially me, you'll read this and consider your words any time you speak with anyone about transexual or transgenderism.

This is especially aimed at those older than me. I will not name you, because I expect that you will apply this to yourself, and will react accordingly. I want you to consider the English language and how it is formed. I want you to consider how a simple letter on it's own without proper use of language can turn a sentence from a simple statement to an unacceptable prejudice.

I will start with an example. The civil rights movement made sure that "African Americans" "Niggers" "Blacks" or any other label that you could possibly put on them have the same rights that we have all enjoyed since we could remember. Racism, however, is something that most people will say they are not a part of. However when we do not embrace everything we say, think, feel, and do around that statement we are telling ourselves and everyone else a lie. Starting with a simple statement;

Ron is black.

There is nothing wrong with this statement. Ron has black skin. So Ron is Black.

Ron is a Black.

I want you to notice that I capitalized Black for a reason. Because this is how someone might say this statement. It's not right is it? Because you've suddenly turned Ron, who may well be your friend, into something other than you. Less human.

Ron is a black Man. (Substitute any pronoun for him in place of man)

Notice the A is still present. Notice that black is no longer capitalized and Man is now. In saying this you have gone back to the original statement. While you have categorized Ron into a division once again. While this division is less harsh than simply labeling him as Black, you have labeled Ron as a Man. In the construct of society this is a perfectly acceptable statement. You have categorized his gender and his sex in one sentence. For around 29,999 out of every 30,000 men this is a perfectly true statement.

Now I want you to think about these things. Say each line in your head, one after another, in your head. You'll notice, if you really take the time to, that each of these three statements is intentionally saying something completely different. You may have not meant it, saying it slightly different, but a single word in English missing or present can completely change the tone, feel, division, separation, or inhumanity of the subject.

Ron is a Black,

Joe is a Homo,

Samantha is a Dyke,

Kirie is a transgender.

I invite you to realize that every thing you say, everything you type, has meaning. After all that is why language is created, to convey meaning, and I think few people realize that meaning directs thought. Before you knew language you thought things. Try thinking in this very moment, this very second, a thought without speaking it in your own mind. I promise you that more than 99% of the human population over ten years of age can't do this. So taking that into consideration... what do you think happens when those of us without any kind of mastery or insightful thought into English can do to ourselves, our society, and our dearest friends with a simple... small slip... from English? Even in our own minds?

Your brain knows all the rules of English, or most of them, from growing up with it. Or any language for that matter. Your brain knows why an A needs to be placed in front of Black, Transgender, homo. It knows the rules and so do you, when you think about it, but if we do not condition ourselves to speak and think correctly our brains will do as it has learned to think.

Dehumanize. Categorize. Differentiate.

You don't know how Ron wants to be labeled unless he tells you. You also don't know how someone else is thinking or if they have incorrect views. Thinking or miscommunicating by adding or losing a simple word is every bit as much racist, sexist, and wrong as doing it on purpose.

A construct based around sex itself is a terrible thing. It makes us feel unwelcome, that something is wrong with us, with what we see in other people. Most of us would agree that this is a wrong thing to do. We are still human. But we are behaviorally different in a way that makes us apart from the rest of society. There are many many forms of sexuality. Segregating by sexual preference is every bit as terrifying as by color, bloodlines, or language.

When all of humanity is considered to be only male or female and we are labeled as neither, as A transgender, A tranny, A transexual... there is no place left to fall. All that is left is something other than human. Something other than Kirie. A singular definition of difference.