LGBT Representation on TV

Sometimes I find myself wanting that ideal life shown on tv, a husband, kinds the whole thing. And that’s so strange cuz I don’t even like guys! Then I kinda realized that it’s not about wanting a husband but more about the whole concept of it cuz that;s the “perfect life”.

I maybe want to get married someday to a woman I love but whenever I think of marriage the whole idea of a husband is what comes to me! I guess it’s partially because that’s what’s been taught and shown to us since a young age.

I mean how many shows or movies do we see where there are LGBT couples living normal lives like we see heterosexual couples living. And yes, I agree that the amount of representation has increased in the past few years but it’s hardly enough! It’s so important to have representation cuz it gives us something to relate to and makes us feel accepted.

And while LGBT representation has increased I still feel like we are shown in very stereotypical roles and not as normal people who live their lives. Somehow being LGBT becomes the only trait of the character!

A while back I read this thing on tumblr but I didn’t think much of it. I clicked a screenshot and then forgot about it but going back to it, I think it’s really important. So here goes –

“Sometimes being gay can be really lonely. Not in the sense that you don’t have friends or anything, but you just feel isolated. The movies aren’t made for you. The music on the radio isn’t made for you. Advertisements aren’t made for you. You feel like everyone is in on some joke and you’re laughing with them but you didn’t get it.”

I couldn’t agree more. I want to see more representation, more things I can relate to. And when I think about other even less represented orientations such as asexuals or pansexuals I feel so much worse for them. Almost every movie showing a relationship puts emphasis on the sex part of it. I can only imagine how that feels for asexual people to have literally no representation. (I am not asexual and hence don’t want to speak on behalf of people who are cuz I do not truly know what it feels like and hence I said I can only ‘imagine’).

But anyway, my point is making good LGBT characters will only help in reducing homophobia and help LGBT individuals who are struggling with their identities and give them something to relate to and feel accepted and good about themselves.

~Updates!

Life has been so busy, I’ve barely been able to write at all. And like the quality of my posts has gone down so much but I promise I’ll write better stuff as soon as I get time, though it’ll probably be after exams. Actually it might even be sooner if I choose to procrastinate on studying for finals by blogging instead! Anyway, moving on, here are the updates –

1. Exams start on the 2nd so just like 2/3 more days left! Feeling kinda prepared now. Well not exactly prepared but better than last week!
2. I planned a surprise party for my friend’s birthday! Her birthday is on the second but we’re celebrating on the third cuz that was the most convenient date for everyone, including her (I checked with her sister!) It’s gonna be pretty good I think. Arranged for the cake and everything. I’m so excited cuz she’s turning 18! I’m also gonna be meeting a lot of people from my previous school so let’s see how that goes.
3. My sleep/study schedule has gotten so messed up! I stay up all night to study. Then I sleep at like 8 in the morning and wake up at 2 30 in the afternoon. Then sometimes sleep again around 6 in the evening or otherwise I just waste time/relax/blog/whatever. Then after dinner I get back to studying till the morning. So yeah, it’s kinda messed up but it’s working really well for me!
4. I have been thinking of so many potentially good blog post ideas but I can’t seem to put them into words!
5. I enrolled at my college and I’m so excited!! I have been going through the college’s Instagram page and Facebook page and looking at pictures and everything and it seems great!
6. I really like the fact that I’ve been talking to fellow bloggers more since I made my blog email. I’ve had a chance to get to so many bloggers a bit better and even discussed potential guest posts etc. In case anyone wants to get in touch, it’s myoverflowingthoughts@gmail.com
7. Okay can we just take a moment to talk about how amazing of a move The Pursuit of Happyness is! I love it so much and omg the feels.
8. So as I mentioned that I’ve been staying up all night, my favourite thing to do in the middle of the night is to have tea. So around 2 0r 3 in the night, I go and make myself a cup of amazing and kinda sweet tea! I love it so much. I love tea in general but there’s something different about having it all by yourself in the middle of the night with  some nice music playing. Honestly!

Okay so that’s basically it! Not very interesting but whatever, that’s how life is at the moment! I would love to hear about things going on with you guys so please leave a comment if you like or email me! 🙂

The Sunshine Blogger Award!

So I was nominated for this award by the awesome bloggers Chloe Lauren and Selfie . Thank you so much, it means a lot to me! If you don’t already follow these amazing bloggers, you should definitely check their blogs out! 🙂

The Rules –

1. Thank the person who nominated you
2. Answer the questions from the person who nominated you
3. Nominate 11 other Bloggers and give them 11 questions.

Okay so first I’ll start with questions from Chloe –

If you could go visit any person from the past, who would it be and why? 

I’m really not sure but I would want it to be an artist, probably Van Gogh or Da Vinci. Cuz like I’ve heard so many stories about them and seen their works and I just want to know how they were as people.

If you had to give up one of your five senses, which would it be and why?

I think I would give up my sense of smell cuz I think that all the others are far too important for me to voluntarily give up. I could do without smelling things so yeah that.

What song represents your life? 

I really don’t know and I couldn’t possibly choose one. But I guess the Juno soundtrack or the Perks of being a wallflower soundtrack would fit pretty well.

Where would you like to be in five years time? 

In five years time I would have finished college and I hope to be pursuing my masters in the US and I want to be writing a lot.

What would you do if you were the President/Prime Minister for a day? 

Well I don’t know how much I can do in a day but I guess if I could even change one thing then that would be great cuz like change happens slowly over time right. So I guess I would change the law that criminalizes homosexuality.

What other languages would you want to learn? 

I’m already learning Spanish but I’m horrible at it so I want to improve. I know very little of French so I want to learn that properly. I also want to learn Russian and Arabic and Latin and Mandarin and idk. I want to learn so many languages so that I can communicate with everyone and yes, I am very over ambitious when it comes to learning languages.

Which person has had the biggest impact on your life?

It would have to be my mom. Whether good or bad, she’s definitely the one who has had the biggest impact on my life.

What do you think is your best quality?

I think it would be that I don’t judge people or at least I try not to and I am understanding. I don’t know!

What three things have you learned since you began blogging?

People are there for you, if you support them and are nice to them, they will do the same.

It’s okay to have a bad day and let it out.

Do what makes you happy and don’t give a shit about what other people think.

What is your favourite childhood memory?

Umm I don’t really have a favourite childhood memory but I guess it would be all those time when I would play with my dog or bake with my grandmother. Oh and I remember I dressed up like Santa once for a Christmas picnic which was quite fun!

If you could be part of any TV show, which would it be and why?

Would either be part of FRIENDS cuz omg that show is amazing or part of Gilmore girls cuz I love that show and also I wanna know how it feels like to live in a town like Stars Hollow and the whole scene.

And now, the questions from Selfie –

Would your friends be the first one to help you in a crisis? 

I hope so. I feel like I have made some good friends who are there for me and I am there for them so I hope they would help me out in a crisis as I would for them.

What is your biggest regret so far? 

I don’t really believe in regrets. I did what I thought was right in that moment and so I have to accept that and go with it.

What is your most proudest moment? 

Graduating high school. Getting into college. Getting into art school. Making friends. All of them I guess.

Describe the best day of your life so far. 

I don’t have a best day but I’ve had lots of nice days. All the times spent with friends and family. Weddings in the family are quite fun as the whole family gets together. Camps with friends are also great.

What would be your ideal birthday gift? 

Anything really, I’m not picky. This is going to sound so cheesy but if I get to spend the day with my friends and loved ones then that’s good enough for me. But besides that I love thoughtful personalized presents. Not generic ones.

When’s your birthday? 

23rd of August

What is your favourite song so far? 

Again, I couldn’t possibly choose. It actually changes often. Juno or perks of being a wallflower soundtrack. Anything by Kimya Dawson. So sad so sad by Varsity. Townie by Mitski. Arctic monkeys. Melanie Martinez and idek.

If you could eat one food for the rest of your life, what food would it be?

Oh my! Please don’t make me choose! If I have to choose it’d either be pasta or nutella and I refuse to choose one of those two!

Describe your childhood

It was interesting to say the least. Some turbulent moments but also some really nice ones. 🙂

How do you deal with pressure?

I just push through I guess. Sometimes it gets the better of me but I get back up. If something is stressing me then I just talk it out and it gets okay. Sorry this answer is so shit omg!

How’s your day going so far? 

Pretty weird! I slept at 7 in the morning cuz I stayed up all night studying and I woke up at 2 30 in the afternoon. Since then I’ve had lunch and I’ve just been catching up on reading posts and writing this.

That brings us to the end of this massive post!

Okay so I’m not going to be nominating anyone because almost everyone has already done it and I’ve already done this before when I nominated a few people so yeah, sorry about that!

Anyway, if anyone wants to go ahead and attempt these questions then go ahead, they are quite interesting! 🙂

 

 

The Blogger Recognition Award

Okay so I was nominated for this award way back in January and I’ve been so preoccupied that I completely forgot until now when I was going through the notes on my phone and I found a note I had made with all the pending awards! But conveniently enough, I had only written down the name of the blogger who nominated me and not which award I was nominated for so I’ve spent a fair amount of time reading though a lot of people’s old award posts! On a side not – I found a few really cool blog by clicking on the links of the some of the blogs that were nominated by people. Okay so now moving on to the actual award –

I was nominated by the lovely Em and Iridescence  for The Blogger Recognition Award! Thank you so much for this, I really appreciate it!

The Rules

-Thank whoever nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
-Write a post to show your award. Attach the logo to your post.
-Give a brief story of how your blog started.
-Give a piece of advice to new bloggers.
-Select 10 other blogs to give the award to.

How My Blog Started 

Um, I’m not entirely sure why I started tbh. I had been reading a few blogs and I started talking to a couple of bloggers and I just decided that blogging would be a good outlet for my thoughts and ideas and the crazy stuff going on in my head! So I just googled what were some good blogging platforms, found WordPress and here we are.

My Advice To New Bloggers

Umm so my advice to new bloggers would be that talk to fellow bloggers! Connect with them and make friends, that’s one of the best parts of blogging! Comment and like and find new blogs and it’ll be awesome!

Also, write about whatever you like and whatever comes to your mind! It’s your blog so don’t make it all about other people. You’ll find your own writing style and just have fun with your blog.

Nominations 

Pretty much everyone I know has already done this award so I can’t possibly nominate 10 people but here are a few!

Bella 

Misstery Blog

The Finicky Cynic 

Chloe Lauren 

If you’ve already done this award or don’t want to do it then it’s totally cool, but you guys definitely deserve the nomination! 🙂

Okay so that’s all for this post, I have a couple of more award posts to write so let’s see! Thanks for reading!

 

 

College!

A few days back I wrote a post about how I don’t like the college I’m going to and am not happy with my decision and all that but not anymore. I’ve decided to accept it and be happy with it. And anyway, I’ll get another shot at leaving the country and going abroad to study later. I’ll get a chance to go after that dream but meanwhile I’ve decided to make the best of my current situation.

So this school is basically two hours away from home so that means that I’ll probably come home at least once a month. Mom will probably want me to come home more often though. Initially she wanted me to come home every weekend but then she said she’s okay with every alternate weekend so that’s okay I guess.

School starts on 19th August. So basically 19th and 20th are the move in days. Then we have orientation week during which my birthday falls! The school campus is quite nice. The dorm rooms are a little small but nice and they have windows so that’s cool. Corridor style dorms and centrally air conditioned. Will be sharing the room with one other person and washrooms with the rest of the floor. As far as I’ve heard, it’s pretty hygienic and clean so that’s good. They look nice too.

The teaching is supposed to be great! The teachers are all super qualified (degrees from yale, Harvard, UPenn, columbia etc.) and the classes are supposed to be quite interesting. The courses are pretty interesting too. We have to do a foundation course and then our major. The foundation course has some interesting courses so I’me excited for that.

The food is supposed to be good too! When I went for a visit, I had pasta which was really good. And there is a lot of variety too so that’s good cuz I love food!

The library seems amazing and the infrastructure is quite good. Their swimming pool also just got functional. It’s a relatively new school, juts started a few years ago but it’s well reputed. It’s one of the most international schools here and has ties with many school overseas. And they have the options of doing a semester or a summer abroad so maybe, let’s see.

Basically, I’ve made myself quite excited about it and I’ve started looking forward to it even. This is starting to get exciting. Or at least I’m trying to feel excited about it!

ONE WEEK

OMG MY FINAL EXAMS START IN A WEEK!!!!

Okay, sorry for screaming but omg I have one week left and so much revision left. SO here is a stupid update on my revision plan.

English – I’m kinda prepared for this one.

Math – 5 chapters left

History – HELP ME!!!

Environmental studies – FML

Psychology – I’m doing okay here

Spanish – Umm, is anyone willing to give me a crash course and teach me stuff in less than a week and help me pass!?

Yes, I know that’s pretty pathetic but oh well. I’ll manage! I might not post too much for a while though idk. Let’s see. Sorry for the shit post. Really wanted to write but I can’t concentrate enough on writing without feeling guilty about not studying!

College Decision

I made my final college decision and I am staying in my own country. Actually I didn’t make the decision, my mom did. And honestly, I hate it.

I have wanted to leave and go away from home for so so long and I thought that finally this was my chance. I worked hard at school and I did everything right. I worked hard enough to get scholarships at almost every school I applied to and yet I’m unable to go. There are two reasons for this –

1. Costs – Even after scholarships, the schools cost a lot! Especially cuz I would have o pay in USD. And I have negotiated costs so much, it’s almost humiliating to discuss costs like that but I still cant go. And honestly, when it comes to things like this, I don’t like asking for financial aid and stuff cuz idk it hurts my ego or whatever but I swallowed my pride and I did it cuz I was so desperate. But despite that my mom says I can’t go. I said I would take out a student loan but she refused to let me do that either. So basically even after everything I did, I can’t go.
2. Family – I have a lot of family responsibility and I can’t leave them and go. I had convinced myself that I could. I had decided that I would be selfish for once and do what I want to do but my mom just said that I can’t leave cuz I have to help her take care of things at home.

So yeah basically I’m staying here and I am not leaving. And I hate it. I did everything right. For once, I didn’t everything I could. I shouldn’t have applied in the first place, it wouldn’t have been so disappointing then. And it sucks cuz people who didn’t even work as hard as me are getting to go and I am not.

And honestly, I am not surprised. I knew that there was a huge chance that this would happen. That mom would finally not let me go but I was really hoping she would. It has been my dream forever. I have spoken to my friends about it so many times and dreamed and fantasized about it and even written about it here on my blog. I just really wish I could go.

Honestly, I know that the school in my country isn’t bad. It’s actually pretty good and the education and stuff is going to be good but I really don’t want to stay here, so close to home.

Now I feel like maybe I shouldn’t have worked so hard, what was the point anyway. Mom says I can go abroad for my masters but at that time my sister would be about to start her bachelors so that would be a huge financial strain as well so I think it’s quite unlikely. When will I get to live my dream!? And like the truth is, even if I went abroad, I might be disappointed, it might not turn out the way I expected or whatever but at least I tried. It wouldn’t be one of those ‘what if’ things. For once, I just want to be selfish and do what I want and go but at the same time, I can’t abandon people at home and go. Actually I can but I would probably feel guilty cuz who will take care of things if I go? I really want to go.

Feminist Art

Feeling quite uninspired to write today (exam/college stress) but I came across these amazing artworks and thought that they were worth sharing! The artist is Carol Rossetti and she’s made many more such works and they are definitely worth checking out.

           

Realization//Self Care

These past few months have been strange. I’ve been feeling slightly better but also not. As I mentioned before, I didn’t cut for a month but then I did a couple of nights ago. It was terrible. And usually helps in a weird way for like a tiny moment but this time I hated it. I hated everything. I looked at my scars today and I hated it all and then I realized that I’m so done. I don’t want to do this anymore. I want to genuinely get better now. For real this time.

So a few simple things that I’ve started doing already make me feel better. I stand up for myself more. I am slightly more confident. I don’t let people bother me any more. I’ve started letting things go and moving on. When things go wrong, I vent about them and then I move on and that’s good for me!

Taking care of myself is so important. Self care doesn’t have to be huge things. It can be little tiny things such as not being too hard on yourself and forgive yourself for you mistakes. It’s so important for me right now to start feeling better about myself especially because I’m about to go to college soon and I want to go in a good frame of mind.

And one more thing is, I’m being more positive. I’m looking at things with a fresh perspective. And I’ve realized that I have opinion and I have my own things and I shouldn’t let other people and society’s opinion change that. I am good at what I do, I should be happy with myself and I’m going to be. I might not be there yet. I might still be cutting and have terrible nights but I’m getting better. This is good for me.

Thank you

Last night I wrote a really short but terrible post about how I felt awful and wanted to cut. Now I don’t really want to go into the details of the events of last night but I do want to say Thank you for all the amazing and supportive comments I received.

My post was literally 5 lines long and I explained nothing properly in it but people were so supported and offered to talk and said that they were there for me and said really kind things and I am so grateful. You guys are amazing and so nice to me despite not knowing me outside of the blogging world. Your comments always help me and so thank you so much!