Stand up!

Recently I was browsing through Facebook and came across a video. It was a girl, maybe in her twenties, and she's part rapping and part singing. Her voice is good but her lyrics are so heartfelt and real. I fell in love with this song. If you are very interested the video can be found on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-mScJ9izqg.
The lyrics really make me think about my life and about others. As my boyfriend had pointed out before, I have the bad habit of talking badly of people behind their backs. It takes me some time to sit down and think: what if they had a bad childhood? What if their family effected them? Are their parents divorced? Have they been abused? Alone? It's better to think "What if" in situations where you want to strangle someone or mock them. It's obvious that I'm a hypocrite saying that I am fully against bullying and yet I talk this way without confronting them. Sometimes I have to talk it out and then contemplate that maybe something screwed with their minds.
I know this girl, let's call her Desiree, and she is my age, but our freshman year she was very popular for the wrong reason. Rumors spread of her sleeping with the entire football team, or leading them on. At first I felt bad, but after witnessing how many guys she was going through in such a short period of time I turned into the person playing along with bets of "how long this one will last." Despite myself, I loathed her. At a point, I wanted to be her, to have all that attention. Never would it happen, and luckily it didn't. Instead I met my current boyfriend and stopped being the huge flirt I was.
Right now I have a group of friends that I love to hang out with and one in particular is a girl, her name here will be Molly. Molly is the only girl I'm really close friends with since my last incident with a girl. Molly and I are so alike and it caught me off guard that we were perfect people to be friends with each other. What I learned presently is that Molly is close friends with Desiree; "homies." I took the opportunity to ask Molly why Desiree even did all she did freshman year. Molly didn't really have an answer but what she did tell me is that Desiree, "really regrets her freshman year. She doesn't really know why she did all that."
I sat silently for a while. Molly continued to talk to our other friend as I thought to myself. To think I wanted to be her at some point. She's not even liked anymore. She's known as the slut of the school, having a new "victim" almost every week. That could have been me.
I don't entirely know if Desiree stopped being the way she was, but by the sounds of it, she hasn't entirely stopped. The only difference is that it's more subtle. My boyfriend was the one who would update me on who she was flirting with now. It was interesting but deep down inside I prayed that she'd stop and think before she repeated her freshman year. Already I've made more than a hand full of friends (most of which are guys) and most of them have told me that they've either kissed or dated Desiree at least once in their lives. Most of them also tell me it was the stupidest thing they've ever done especially because she was the one to have played them; making them think that they had a chance when suddenly, it would all end.
Desiree's story, I have yet to figure out, but now I'm beginning to see a picture form that this isn't the person she wanted to be, it just happened, and now she "doesn't give a fuck" about what other people think and continues on with her life. At times, I am very proud of her for standing up for herself. For not caring. It's good sometimes, and it sometimes makes you stronger. Gays do it very often. I haven't had the pleasure of being friends with homosexuals, but I have been friends with bisexuals and they still have a hard time from other people. One of my friends even became suicidal thinking that it was all her that no one wanted to date or stay in a relationship with her. She got mocked a lot and nearly broke. Now, she's proud of her sexuality and I am proud of her because it's hard to be the odd ball. Standing out may be better than blending in, but sometimes it comes with a price.
Homosexuals, transgenders, and bisexuals are being mocked everyday. Whether it'd be cyber bullying or physical torment. A lot of these individuals struggle to stand up strong. I wish I could help but I can only say and hope that people listen. I bring no judgment to any relationship, friendship, or any other kind of "ship" there is, who am I to judge them? What if I was lesbian, or bisexual, or transgender? I definitely would not tolerate the constant torture and would need friends and family to support me, which is why I am the kind of friend I am. Once upon I time I was friends with people that were suicidal and I thought maybe I could help them change; I did all I could and still they did not change. I no longer have contact with them and I do not regret it. It took one day and a phone call to destroy my life.
Anyway, I like finding people that are fearless. People who stand up for a cause or something they are proud of and stand by it. Like last night's post, silent protesters standing up for an issue that should be considered are the people I appreciate the most. Me, I stand up for anything and everything, or anyone. You can count on me to be by your side, unless it's something dumb like a gang fight, then you're on your own! But here's my challenge to you: Be proud of who you are or who you're friends with. Be the the person who just doesn't care about those rumors. Stand tall and never forget who you are and what you stand for.