Tags
acitivist, advocacy, Advocate, artist, culture, gang banging, gang members, hope, inspiration, mental health, mental illness, mentally ill, Pope Francis, stereotypes, stereotyping, street art, tattoo, writers, writing
There are a lot of young and beautiful women who have a mental illness and keep up a blog. I have read on some of those women’s sites that people have often said to them, “You can’t have a mental illness. You don’t look like you have a mental illness.” That statement bothers all of the women I have seen write about it, and it bothers me. What does someone with a mental illness look like? We all know we come in every shape, size, gender and color.
Although having an idea in your head of what people with mental illnesses look like bothers me, I was reminded this weekend that I do a similar thing to other people.
I am afraid of men who I think look like gang bangers. If a young man has tattoos on his neck and face, a shaved head, and wears long, baggy, hanging off the butt pants, my first inclination is to not catch his eyes and to move away from him. Why? Because of the stories I have heard from the media and from movies about what gang bangers do.
Do I know any gang members? I do not. Do I know any young men with tattoos on their faces and necks and that wear that type of clothing I described? I don’t.
This weekend at the resort casino my husband took me to we were sitting by the pool having a discussion about racism, discrimination, mentalism, and psychophobia. We were talking about the words and their meanings and how writers (who I call culture changers like all other artists) can change the words we use, and change how we see and perceive certain things – one thing we were talking about was how popular Pope Francis is but I know a writer who continually writes articles about his stance on gay marriage and women. While most of my social media is lit up with images of the Pope laughing with President Obama, this writer is taking swings at him because she doesn’t want us to forget that no matter how liberal and lovable the current Pope is, he still doesn’t completely include everyone as equals.
We also talked about book banning in our public schools and how sensitive kids are today with the fact that they need trigger warnings for almost all difficult topics – topics we read about in the classics we studied in school without any protection or warning. The classics were simply a part of our education. While we were talking my husband looked at two men sitting next to us, and asked one of the men, “Hey, are you an artist?”
He said, “Yes, and I have been listening to your conversation. I agree with you about artists changing culture.”
Then he proceeded to tell us about his life as a gang member in the 90’s in Los Angeles. He was a street artist and he told us the history of tagging streets and creating real pieces of art in public spaces (he said the only spaces you could paint on without getting beat up were abandoned buildings, trains, freeway overpasses, and a few others – it was a code you lived by, or possibly died by. Private property was off limits).
He was a lovely man, and we exchanged business cards. He got out of the gang world some years ago and became a manager at Home Depot and raised his girlfriend’s kids. Now that the kids are in college, he is back to doing art. He does tattoo work, and people commission him to do portraits of their loved ones and pets. He was an interesting, smart, talented, and nice person.
He used to be a gang banger, and I never would have known that unless he told me.
I need to take my own irritation at people for the stereotypes they have about people with mental illnesses and check that irritation at the door, because I have stereotypes floating around in my world about people too – stereotypes I picked up from the media and movies just like people do about schizophrenia.
Next time I see a young man with tattoos, a bald head, and baggy pants hanging off his butt, I’ll think about Luis, the artist, who was interested in our conversation about artists changing and influencing culture.
We can change and influence culture too. Write and speak your truth, it just may change the stereotypes someone is hanging on to, and that can change the world, one mind at a time.
That’s a fantastic post, thanks for writing it.
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Thanks!!!
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Love this post. You are right, we all have our own stereotypes, but we definitely have the power to change these through being curious, reflective and changing the conversations we are having. What a gift that this gentleman was sitting near you that day, it’s like it was meant to be. Thanks for continuing to share your thoughts, experiences and learning. So powerful.
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Thank you!!!
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Reblogged this on mythoughts62.
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You are right–we all do this sometimes even though we do not think we do and it catches us off guard.
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I know! And I think it is important to think about.
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I am a big believer of not judging a books by its cover. I agree with the other reader,, at times we are all guilty of this.
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I agree, too!
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I agree! We all stereotype sometimes without meaning too. A good thing to keep in mind when seeing new people.
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I think so too!
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Great post! I also believe writers have a great impact on society and how certain things are viewed. I use my blog as a way to voice my opinions in the types os articles I write about. Thanks for taking the stand against judgement.
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Yes, blogging is a great way to educate, inform and change people’s minds.
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Yep, you’ve hit the nail on the head with this post. I used to think (for example) that only soldiers could get PTSD but our roommate was recently diagnosed and she’s never been in the military, just had a horrible, horrible childhood. I’m trying to be patient, I swear.
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Yes, I think we all do it occasionally.
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This was a nice story to read. I did an exercise once in a comedy class to see what others think of you when they see you. It was amazing and eye opening. Thank you for sharing this.
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Yes, it is surprising when we realize that we all stereotype people occasionally.
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This was a nice post with a great message. I just wish it hadn’t included the tidbit about the Pope; as a Catholic it disappoints me to hear people say that he doesn’t regard everyone as equals. Like any religion, Catholicism is very complicated, and it is next to impossible to form a fair, fully-informed judgment on the Church (and all Her members) only using the attacks the media and anti-Catholics frequently make as basis for one’s opinions. Above all, the Roman Catholic Church stands for love and forgiveness, and I think the current pope has a very clear understanding of these two virtues.
On another note, nice blog. I’ve only looked around a little, but so far I’m impressed with your message of advocacy and I like your writing style. Hopefully I’ll learn some things about schizophrenia while I’m here; I don’t know too much about it.
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I love Pope Francis. At first, I didn’t want to read anything negative about him at all. I do read it though – it is there in my social media accounts once in a while. I don’t know all the ins and outs of the Catholic Church. I do love the Pope and see him as a force for good in the world. In this article, I was just stating what I have read other writers write about. I personally, haven’t heard the Pope discuss equality.
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The whole Catholic view on female priests (I’m assuming that’s what you and the other writer are talking about) is one of those complicated things. I personally don’t care about the issue, but I know there are many who do. I don’t think it’s something that will ever change, though. The Church has an explanation for why women can’t be priests (it’s not the most satisfactory explanation, I’ll admit, but it’s still an explanation), and it’s so rooted in tradition that I don’t see a point in Pope Francis discussing it. There are more urgent and important matters to deal with right now, anyway.
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You are right, the article I read had to do with women in the church as well as marriage equality. Please don’t get me wrong, I love the work Pope Francis does, and I also love that he is so popular which I find to be refreshing at a time when people are so divided.
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