We celebrate the bully

There are a lot of cool gay characters on TV these days (I haven't met them because I don't watch TV). A Newsweek article by Joshua Alston notes that these gay characters are quite diverse and are portrayed with depth. We're getting beyond the stereotypes, and that's a good thing. However, that alone won't help us get beyond the continuing bullying, gay bashing, and suicides by gay teens. The reason says Alston is that the bullies on those TV shows are shown as stereotypes. We would do better to show the bullies with just as much complexity and depth as the gays. Bullies are rarely evil, which is usually how they are portrayed. They're more likely callous people who operate on stereotypes of gays and don't consider the ramifications of their actions.

On the subject of bullying, the Fundies are tap dancing molto vivace (look it up in your music dictionary) to explain exactly how they have nothing to do with gay teen suicides, no siree. The latest nonsense is the line, "The person who commits suicide is the only one responsible for it." We've known for a while now that brains don't mature until about age 23-25 and that the area which controls impulses (among other things) is the last to mature (which is why we don't let those under 21 consume alcohol). Recent research shows that adults essentially think with their intellects while teens think with their emotions.

So consider a gay teen who hears denunciations from the pulpit, from TV talking heads, and perhaps even from their parents. What is a teen, who thinks with his emotions, going to do with all that venom thrown his way?

And a bit more on the topic. I hadn't, until I read this posting, considered how much our society praises the bully. A bully is one who can dish out hurt and humiliation without feeling guilt. These people become sports heroes, military generals, and corporate CEOs. They certainly aren't punished for it. The bullied is told it is to make one tough, that it's their own fault for annoying the bully. If you manage to survive the bully you may be asked to join their ranks, and there are many advantages to that. And one is having a sense of power over oneself and others.