Monkey on my back...

So I’m having a bit of a conundrum. I got a forwarded email from someone this morning that sort of disturbed me. The person who sent it is not a close friend, although they are a friend, and they don’t read this blog although people who are closer friends with him than I do have the address. Basically, I want to talk about this email, but I don’t want to person who sent it to feel like I’m accusing them of some heinous bigotry just because they didn’t think very hard before hitting that “forward button.”

But I can’t stop thinking about it, so I’m going to go ahead and write about what’s on my mind. Damn the torpedoes, etc.

Okay.

So the subject line of this email was “Kill before they multiply.” And I suspect that that was the subject put on by whoever forwarded it to the acquaintance who forwarded it along to me, since it had "fwd:" in front of it, so hopefully that was not the sentiment of my friend.

The body of the email read: And some people consider this attractive.

(Okay...here's where I would post the pictures, but blogger is being a COMPLETE BASTARD! Suffice to say that they were pictures of extreme body modification. Pretty much eveyone had facial tattoos, one person had a coke can in his earlobe, bones through the nose, branding etc. If you're really interested I can email them to you.)

So anyway. Yes. Those are pretty extreme. But really? None of your fucking business. If people want to have klingon ridges installed in their foreheads, or have their ears stretched out so that they always know where their cellphone is, then what business is it of yours? If you find it disturbing, then guess what? You don’t have to look at them. And “kill them before they multiply?” I know you’re joking, but it’s not remotely funny. The fact is that there are groups of people who think it’s okay to persecute people because of how they look: there’s a neo-nazi group that’s coming to rally at the Michigan Capital on the 22nd…13 days from now, which is perhaps why this is on my mind.

And you know what? I’m one of those people who find it attractive. I think that tattoos can really enhance a body’s appeal, and they can be deeply spiritual if done for the right reasons. I have a one on my back, a stylized depiction of my womb and ovaries approximately life sized and tattooed over the “real” ones. Designing it and having it applied was one of the ways that I came to terms with myself as “woman.” I’m terribly fond of it. Also, piercings. I had to take mine out because they never healed properly and they hurt like hell when they got caught on things, but for the 2 years that I had them, I got a lot of joy out of them.

I’m sure that the person who sent this to me has a list of people who he forwards things to, and thought “wow, those are some pretty crazy pictures,” hitting “send” without considering the full implication of what it was he was sending, but come on! I mean, I don’t have purple hair anymore, and yes, I don’t have any visible tattoos or piercings, but why would you think I would sympathize with this? Perhaps I’m just cranky because I’ve become enough of a “normal” person that people who know me slightly think I would be entertained by something like this.

In case you are wondering I did reply. "It amazes me that we are friends. FYI, I'm one of the people that find it attractive." And I left it at that...if he brings it up to me in person he will get an earful, but hopefully that's enough that he'll think a little more deeply before hitting the "send" button next time.

Sorry, the normal entry was hijacked. I was planning on posting about the knit-in, and the multi-skein project, the pirate themed yarn tasting that the LYS is planning, and the cult of bar knitting and how it spreads. I even have the roadtrip photos in my knitting bag…but I needed to get that off my chest. Thanks for hanging in there with me, and blog will return to normal tomorrow. Actually, why don’t y’all vote on which of the above topics you want me to write about.

Ragnar….not a fucking "normal" damn it, in spite of home-ownership, office job, and import car.