This story really hit home, with me being a girl and what not. I honestly don't think I could have lived back then, especially not having very much freedom like women do today. But I mean, even the fact that the girl in this story is referred to as "just a girl". Ouch, that hurts. If someone called me "just a girl" I'd show them just how wrong they are. I mean, I played sports all my life and I kept up with the boys. I scored just as many goals as they did in soccer, I could run just as fast, and yet there are still these terrible stereotypes about women that exist out there. People assume that just because you're a woman you should spend all your time cooking and cleaning, and I for one can't cook very well. Not saying that I can't make toast or Kraft Dinner, but when it comes to anything else I'd probably have to unhook the smoke detector for fear of setting it off every five minutes. As for cleaning, I'm not very good at that either. My room is terribly messy and I'm just really not good at being organized. This is not to say that every girl is like me, I'm just saying that the stereotypes that exist aren't to be taken seriously because in most cases they're very wrong.
Take a very popular stereotype for example: Some people think that just because a girl is a lesbian she has short hair, and she behaves and dresses like a man. This is very untrue. Being openly gay, I can speak from self experience about this. I have long hair (that I spend a great deal of time on), I still act like a girl, and I don't dress in manly clothes. When I go out somewhere on the weekend I wear girly shirts, I do my makeup and sometimes I curl my hair. People assume that because a girl is a lesbian, she must want to be a man. Absolutely not, I love being a girl and I love the way I am. Just because I like other girls doesn't mean that I want to be a guy in any sense.
I can't imagine living back in the day when this story takes place, because I would be independent and I would want my freedom. I am so grateful for the women who have fought for our rights and the freedoms that we have today, I don't even want to know what the world would be like otherwise. Even though these terrible stereotypes still exist today, most people know better than to listen to them.
"There is homophobia in every corner and pocket of this world, but at the core... you just love someone and want to make mixtapes for them." - Sara Quin, from Tegan and Sara
"Me being in love with a girl and wanting her to be with me... it affects no-one - yet it's terrifying to people and they think you're a monster." - Sara Quin, from Tegan and Sara
"It's very dear to me, the issue of gay marriage. Or as I like to call it: "marriage". You know, because I had lunch this afternoon, not gay lunch. I parked my car, I didn't gay park it." - Liz Feldman
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