Thursday 1 March 2012

GSA and my Experiences


Dear fellow BlogSpot users and online anonymouses,
Hello!  Sorry for not posting anything in the last few days I haven’t had a chance nor a topic to write about (which is why I repeat please post opinions and ideas about what I should write! <3) but I have finally come up with a topic to write about. In my High School we have quite a few clubs and teams, and I mean quite a few, improv team (which Klaus is on) ECO Tribe, Me-to-We, Christian fellowship, and the GSA which I am a part of. The first time I ever heard the word “Gay” was probably in grade 2 or 3 and at that time it was the boys using it as a slang word to call something stupid i.e. “that’s so gay!” Being the age that I was it really didn’t mean anything to me I had no idea what it really meant. So I went about my business and ignored what the boys were saying. When I was in Gr 4 I finally found out what to be gay meant that you liked someone of the same gender. And I thought “well if you can like girls and be a boy why can’t you like boys and be a boy? What’s the difference?” and again I went about my business accepting it as a fact of life. In grade five was when it really started being used in a derogatory sense where people who were un-cool or have done something stupid were being called “Gay” as an insult. But I still being only in Gr 5 didn’t really think anything of it, nor did I know of the struggle that older kids and adults were going through at the time with being gay (lesbian bisexual transgender etc.) and the hardships and turmoil being thrown at them because of their gender orientation.  It didn’t finally click until I was in grade 7 what was going on in our world and it was because I met a friend. My nick-name for him is Mo-mo and he came to my school in Gr 7. He ended up following me and my other friend around the playground until we finally talked to him and became friends.  He is now one of my closest friends and I don’t know what I would do without him. The thing is though he’s not gay. See what I did there? No he was not and as of what I know right now, is not gay.  But he did get his chops busted A LOT because a bunch of jockey guys thought that due to his unusually high voice flamboyant nature and good taste in attire that he was (which is gay stereotyping, and here are some videos created by some people I know about gay stereotypes, they also do different videos every week!). And that they were going to make life hell because of it. They constantly tortured him and caused him to have many mental break downs. Finally things started to die down and he wasn’t bothered anymore and he actually made friends with a few of the boys that had previously made fun of him.  Seeing one of my close friends go through that and not be gay made something click for me. What is happening out there to people that ARE L, G, B, T? I was horrified and shocked and still am about how we treat people who are slightly different, whether its skin color, religion or sexual orientation.  Was I not taught as a Christian to love everyone? I knew that I had to do something to make a difference. I had heard about (through MTV) how some High Schools were starting up GSA’s (Gay-Straight alliance) and you can find the website here. Once I got to high school I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was starting up a GSA that year and I was one of the first to join. Over the year we have had a lot of people coming in and out of it but were are still trying to make a difference even though our numbers have been in constant flux. We tried applying for a grant called the Speak up! grant which is supposed to go toward making the school a more positive place and we were going to use the money to try and have a conference with all the other GSA’s in the area but we didn’t end up getting it sadly, but other schools in our board did so they are going to have one. I just hope that in the end we are able to make a difference to gay youths everywhere. Do you have a GSA in your school? Do you have any ideas I can suggest or any story’s you would like to tell? Feel free!!!
~Lady Danika

Friday 24 February 2012

Social Networking/Media and Relationships in the REAL World

  Good evening! Well seeing as I have no real defined topic to talk about, I will talk about my day, which was spent mostly huddling in my puffy purple winter coat as the thickest wettest snow blew everywhere around me and turned my hair to a wet slop. Disgusting. Don't get me wrong I like snow... when it’s under my downhill skis but this type... no just no. The reason I was outside in such weather was because my High School is VERY into sports like x-country skiing and such, and since that day there was a huge ski race going on in town, school was mashed into a half day so that students and teachers could watch it. I just ended up hanging out with some of my public school friends I hadn't had a chance to talk to in a while, so it was fun catching up.
Not mine, a Tumbler find
This is how most of my day was spent and the other half spent trying to track down my partner. But on the topic of relationships (see what I did there?) What are your preferred qualities’s in a person? The reason for me bringing this up is that I just had a long, sad, but still purposeful conversation about my relationship with my Klaus. It made me feel horrid but it was worth it because we both got to work out how we feel. But the thing is we did it over the Internet, in our relationship it wouldn't alter much but I do feel it would have been better in real life or even over the phone. But it made me think; I know friends who have had their relationships ruined because of the Internet and social media sites, along with all the shizz we see about celebs relationships over the Internet. In my opinion if someone has a relationship that is solely biased on Internet interaction it is more than probably (I say probably because sometimes Internet relationships do work out, I have heard the odd story about it) not really worth it and is probably lacking real content.
 It’s the constant need for reassurance of emotion over the Internet and broadcasting the status of the relationship. That's what ruins things and who wants to see the 50 comment long fight and/or love-fest just because they liked the status? A lot of research papers are being done on the subject of what social networking is doing to our society as a whole. How addicted to Facebook or twitter or some other form of messaging service are you? Have you ever seen someone’s relationship or even your own turn to dust because of it? Or have you had yourself bad mouthed because of a stereotype or your opinions? Tell here! I would love to hear about your experiences and how you dealt with it! 
-Lady Danika 

Wednesday 22 February 2012

Welcome mortals...

Me and my Klaus
(not my pic btw)
Greetings all! And welcome! To the newly created 'The likes and dislikes of a Gothic Princess'. To begin with an overall statement, this blogs soul purpose is to keep me amused. I plan on posting mostly about things I enjoy (i.e video games, girly things, goth/steam-punk style things, and opinions on world/society issues there also may be the odd relationship or personal post) but this could change with time, also as a side note the name of this blog is open to change atm, I'm not sure I like it yet. I will not reply to ANY hate mail, so don't waste your time. **in a monotone female voice**I do not claim to be an expert on any subjects I post so please consult a doctor/professional before attempting anything on this blog. I also do not claim to be a goth, (I'm making this clear before hand so that there is no confusion) but I do find pleasure in goth culture, the dark side is incredibly intriguing to me. I am a newbie to the whole dark culture but I would be pleased with any sort of help support or teaching that anyone could provide me with. If I was to by pegged as a label I would most likely be nestled somewhere between goth, nerd, girly-girl, and mental patient. And on the note of talking about me ;) Hello! I'm Lady Danika Ravencroft! (or so is the name of my Runescape Rp character) And I am at your service! I am dating the most wonderful gothy nerd boy ever, Klaus Ravencroft (also his Rp name). My favorite colors are light pink, lace and black (although the last two are not colors but oh well) I'm in love with all things fantasy and I mean all things. I would LOVE any feed back about my posts or any ideas about what I could post about but I will not accept hate mail. Although I apologize in advance for I am kinda a fail at checking my email. >^.^< But oh well! Anyways I'm looking forward to this! And once again Welcome...
   ~Lady Danika