Thinking Before One Speaks
I try to advocate the title of this journal when I can, but I often fall prey to blurting out things I feel are dumb and tend to backtrack to make the damage of my words as little as possible. But now, a website is oblingingly asking high schoolers to do the same for the sake of homosexuals and others of their like. Penny Arcade actually made me aware of this, and like the authors behind that comic, I have to agree that I don't think this is aggressive enough a campaign. The poster ads I've seen mock other school stereotypes, but those same types of people are popular enough or don't care enough to see this as an attack on their own lifestyles.
And that's just the thing, you're focusing this on the high school levels and attacking high school stereotypes that won't last once they've graduated. When I was back in school as an underclassman, there were upperclassmen who were rumored to be gay, and things were whispered about them, but frankly, the whole 'that's so gay' saying hadn't hit popular culture yet. Truth be told, I've said that exact thing, or a variation thereof, on rare occasion. I do frown at people when they use it in my presence, but unless I come out and tell them it insults me as a bisexual, they'll never even realize it. And furthermore, it takes actual effort by a person to change the manner in which they say things. It took me most of high school to effectively eliminate words like 'Goddammit' and 'Hell' from my vocabulary because, as an atheist, I felt I shouldn't use them any longer. So unless people really try and care, a campaign like this isn't going to work...and frankly, the people this is aimed at are probably never going to notice it anyway.
And that's just the thing, you're focusing this on the high school levels and attacking high school stereotypes that won't last once they've graduated. When I was back in school as an underclassman, there were upperclassmen who were rumored to be gay, and things were whispered about them, but frankly, the whole 'that's so gay' saying hadn't hit popular culture yet. Truth be told, I've said that exact thing, or a variation thereof, on rare occasion. I do frown at people when they use it in my presence, but unless I come out and tell them it insults me as a bisexual, they'll never even realize it. And furthermore, it takes actual effort by a person to change the manner in which they say things. It took me most of high school to effectively eliminate words like 'Goddammit' and 'Hell' from my vocabulary because, as an atheist, I felt I shouldn't use them any longer. So unless people really try and care, a campaign like this isn't going to work...and frankly, the people this is aimed at are probably never going to notice it anyway.