a few days ago, i posted about the six word story contest at middlezonemusings. the only stipulation was that the submissions were to be g-rated. i thought it was a great meme/game and tagged a few blogger friends, among others jay sennett. jay, a transgendered person, crafted this insightful phrase:
no breasts. complete hysterectomy. gender: male?
unfortunately, robert, middlezonemusings’s owner, found this was not g-rated.
i hope that at some point he will offer an explanation why.
in the meantime, i find that my creative juices, which flowed quite nicely into robert’s blog (in addition to the 15 i posted here, i submitted another 15 on robert’s blog), feel somewhat constricted in a non-inclusive environment.
so – since i enjoy writing these 6-word sentences, i think i’m going to post the next few ones at jay’s blog, if that’s ok with you, jay?
i gotta be honest – i did wince when jay called robert a bigot (namecalling just doesn’t work for me). and i truly hope that at one point there can be a conversation with robert about diversity and inclusivity. i don’t know whether robert has ever been exposed to exclusion and discrimination. if he hasn’t, then maybe he is among the many who just don’t know what it’s like to be on the receiving end of that, and therefore has a bit of a difficulty understanding that what he did was hurtful.
be that as it may, as a therapist, i have a pretty clear stance here.
people’s stories need to be heard.
THAT WAS JAY’S STORY. it was just as much a story as hemingway’s “for sale: baby shoes, never worn.” i fail to see anything in jay’s story that could hurt or sully a young mind (which, i presume, is what g-rating is all about).
it is when people’s stories are not heard, when who they are is something that is not to be spoken about, that they are wounded most deeply. these wounds fester, and if they ever heal, they leave bitter scars. it is these scars and these wounds that hurt not only the people themselves but their families for generations.
of course it is robert’s prerogative to post what he deems right to post on his blog. it’s his virtual castle, and of that he is king. it’s just that inviting people to post their stories and then disallowing one of them the way he did is like calling out “come one, come all!” and then not letting in anyone with blue eyes. or who’s carrying the wrong prayer book. or has dark skin.
i can’t help but remember this:
back of the bus, rosa! — NO!
let’s hope that in the end this goes somewhere peace-full.
isabella mori
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