Quite frankly this has become an inception of reflection. Mixed with a dash of recollection which conceives re-reflection? Is that even a word? I'm going for it, as I am sure that I will have a chance to reflect once more in journal five, but I would hate to peek ahead and ruin the surprise so we will just have to wait and see.
The age of the internet has been the epitome of misunderstood messages. I've got too many stories to sit here and recall where punch lines just didn't land or social media beef started over the wrong Facebook reaction. The worst one would probably have to be when I accidently stumbled into a fight about whether tampons should have the feminine symbol on them. This particular incident happened in the past few years where there were some petitions going around to have the female symbol removed off of menstrual hygiene products. Without thinking much about it I shared the post with something to the effect of, "I'm not really getting what the big deal is, I've never even noticed the symbol on packaging before." Within minutes, no joke, I started receiving comments asking me how I could be so insensitive and in the worst cases people mad at me calling me transphobe. I had no idea what a problem this was going to cause me as my initial thought when sharing was genuinely wondering what was going on and why this was happening when I was never aware of it in the first place. I had been very ignorant to the fact that there were people I held close to me who had their own personal opinions and views on that particular issue and that they viewed what I had said as being insensitive.
After being able to have open conversations with people who could educate me on the other side of things I was able to apologize for offending anybody who felt that way. I looked through a new perspective and was able to own that something that meant nothing to me could mean something to someone else and I needed to be more conscious of those around me. The post was deleted to avoid any further conflict because that is not what my page is about and if I could change it I most likely would have never posted the article in the first place. It is disheartening when you hurt your audience whether that be strangers or loved ones, and I aim to stay true to my own core values and beliefs while maintaining a space where every single person feels heard and accepted.
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