teleen_fiction (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
teleen_fiction) wrote2010-12-04 05:42 pm
teleen_fiction) wrote2010-12-04 05:42 pm
Entry tags:
Profile Pictures Don't Change The World
So I finally changed my default userpic. It came about because of a meme on facebook to change one's profile picture to a cartoon from childhood in the name of 'abuse survivors'.
Yeah, an abuse survivor blogged about it today and said she found the whole thing MASSIVELY TRIGGERING because she has PTSD and all those cartoon pictures take her right back to her childhood.
The profile picture I had up before had the same potential to trigger others, I feel. I'm still going to use it in certain situations, but for now it's retired as my default.
If I truly want to fight against teen suicide, it will take more than blogging and profile pictures. I need to actually get off my ass and volunteer at Stonewall. Or find a way to mentor a GLBTQP teenager. I've been wary of doing both for a variety of reasons, none of them very good.
I don't like being around other people, for one.
I also don't feel comfortable talking to underage kids unless I know their parents. This one's a REAL Catch-22 because a lot of GLBTPQ kids have no one they can turn to and it's a real risk for adults to try and help them for fear of being called 'recruiters' or 'child molesters'. I haven't wanted to risk sticking my neck out and having it stomped on by some conservative asshats who want to send their kid to ex-gay therapy.
Plus, as fucked up as I am, what sort of help can I really be? But that's just an excuse. If I want to help, I need to actually help, not just blog about what should be going on. And yeah, I sign petitions and make phone calls to police stations, but when it comes to actual quantifiable human interaction and connection, I don't feel that I've done nearly enough.
Memes don't change the world. People do.
Yeah, an abuse survivor blogged about it today and said she found the whole thing MASSIVELY TRIGGERING because she has PTSD and all those cartoon pictures take her right back to her childhood.
The profile picture I had up before had the same potential to trigger others, I feel. I'm still going to use it in certain situations, but for now it's retired as my default.
If I truly want to fight against teen suicide, it will take more than blogging and profile pictures. I need to actually get off my ass and volunteer at Stonewall. Or find a way to mentor a GLBTQP teenager. I've been wary of doing both for a variety of reasons, none of them very good.
I don't like being around other people, for one.
I also don't feel comfortable talking to underage kids unless I know their parents. This one's a REAL Catch-22 because a lot of GLBTPQ kids have no one they can turn to and it's a real risk for adults to try and help them for fear of being called 'recruiters' or 'child molesters'. I haven't wanted to risk sticking my neck out and having it stomped on by some conservative asshats who want to send their kid to ex-gay therapy.
Plus, as fucked up as I am, what sort of help can I really be? But that's just an excuse. If I want to help, I need to actually help, not just blog about what should be going on. And yeah, I sign petitions and make phone calls to police stations, but when it comes to actual quantifiable human interaction and connection, I don't feel that I've done nearly enough.
Memes don't change the world. People do.