This month's Snarl is by Nicole:
They taunt her. A girl walks by and whispers to her friend that
the girl over there with the freak/geek clothes is a lesbian-- of course she
knows for sure. She knows the girl in the freak/geek clothes intimately-- so
intimately that she doesn't even know her name, just refers to her as the girl
with the freak/geek clothes.
The freak/geek girl continues her journey to her honors class. She's a
junior, but she's taking all college AP courses. She helps people whenever she can.
She's a kind-hearted girl. A group of four boys walk by and tell the girl in
a twisted tone that she has a nice outfit on. They laugh at her. The assistant principal
walks by. He sees the girl and the four mocking boys. The assistant principal turns to
the girl and addresses her by a name that's not hers. He takes away her Walkman and tells her
she'll be able to get it back at the end of the day. He talks sternly. The boys laugh.
They walk away laughing. The assistant pricipal tells the girl
that she will know better next time. He professes that he's sorry he had to do this,
and he hopes that she won't be lonely without her Walkman. how could she possibly be lonely with
all her friendly peers around? After all, when she came back
to school after the weekend, the word "dyke" greeted her on her locker. How
thoughtful. At least they spelled it correctly.
What's wrong with this senario? Could it be that this girl is being subjected
to a gross injustice? Not only is she insulted merely because of her
appearance and intelligence, but she is insulted by the "authority"
who is more concerned with confiscating Walkmans than he is at
abolishing the emotional manipulation that students are put through every day.
The girl goes to class visibly disturbed, on the verge
of tears.
Even when you don't care what they think, it hurts. You want to know why they try to hurt you. It's
frustrating you. They hurt you. They question you and are always testing who
you are, hoping one day they can make you fall. So they can laugh. They hurt
and then they laugh. hurtlaughhurtlaugh. To the people who strive to make me
cry, I wish you peace of mind.
There's a girl. Punk/freak/geek/whatever decor. She's minding her own business,
just walking down the hall, smiling at her friends and even people she
doesn't know, just to be nice. A passing boy student leers at her, making a
comment on her fishnets. His friend joins in on the mockery. The
girl just looks bored. Why? Because something like this happens to her
every day. She's used to the verbal abuse (not just about her clothes but her
academic achievements) that narrow-minded people spit out at her.
Let Nicole know what you think.