Annas Post

Mr. Salsich
9th Grade English
Anna Holt
November 20th, 2008


Love and A Hero
A Reflection on Heterosexism


Once upon a time, there was 36 year old woman with short brown hair, a genuine smile, a blue oxford shirt, and a friendly tone that emanated across the room like a ray of sunlight. In truth, the fact that she was a lesbian needn't have been noted at all. As Stump Olsen stood before us, this scrap of knowledge was an insignificant piece of information, simply stating that like all humans, she felt love. Love is whatever we make it, endless and forgiving, beautiful and perfect in any form. Love is love, and who are we to try and change that?

(TS)Today, a woman, a hero really, came to speak. (SD)As Stump began to talk, her words were strong, natural. (CM)She smiled as she told us of the hardships she'd faced in her lifetime, as if they were beautiful memories, building blocks of her past that had done nothing more than mold her into the human being she'd become. (CM)Her eyes looked to have the kind of peace one only gathers from a true self-respect, a beautiful acceptance of oneself. (SD)I stared into those eyes and considered all of the hate that had been thrown at Stump Olsen. (CM)Who are we to find an insignificant "abnormality" about a person, and throw it back at them as if it were dirt? (CM)When is there an excuse for such a ludicrous display of prejudice? (SD)The raw fact that a woman who had endured so much in her lifetime was standing before me, laughing as if she had not a care in the world, as if all of her days had been as wonderful as this, is incredible (PARTICIPLE). (CM)Where did that sense of peace come from? (CM)After years of wishing she was something else and being told there was something wrong with her, Stump stood in the LTC Board Room with a smile, her words pure, her mind at ease (ABSOLUTE). (CS)It is said that a warrior is found on the battleground, but perhaps if we look a little closer to home, a soldier is right before our eyes.

(TS)As we listened to the words of a victimized lesbian, the immorality of her stories began to sink in. (SD)We are each entitled to our own opinion, our own thought, our own voice. (CM)However to express the hate that you feel toward another is, as a whole, unacceptable. (CM)To tell another human being that they are somehow polluted because of who they are is to defy even the most basic of human morals. (SD)Only an unrealistic sense of power among weak people will come from heterosexism. (CM)To hate, to kill, to loathe another human being because of their sexuality will do nothing but satisfy a judgemental person with the belief that they are somehow more powerful because of their "better" orientation. (CM)No matter how hard we try, putting a person down will not raise us up. (SD)In a country that is to be led by a black man, where women and Asians and Indians have made their mark on society, how is it that homosexuals are still considered tainted by many? (CM)“I knew I shouldn't talk about it,” said Stump, reflecting upon her childhood and the moments that she came to terms with her sexuality. (CM)It is an atrocity that in this day and age, a person does not feel safe telling the world about the attraction he or she was born with. (CS)It is not the sexuality of Stump Olsen that creates bad things on this earth, it is the immoral weakness and infinite cruelty of those who can not understand equality.

As we left the board room, we muttered words of thanks and issued smiles of appreciation for her time with us. However, we were thanking Stump for so much more than the 45 minutes she spent talking to us. We were thanking her for her bravery, her individuality, her positive outlook when her world crashed around her, when hatred tried to swallow her. We were thanking her for finding the strength to look us in the eye say with a smile "My name is Stump Olsen", as if no one in the world was any more beautiful, more "normal", more perfect than she.
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I think that my points in this essay are very strong. I do a good job of bringing them forward and stating solid opinions. One writing issue I'm still working on is defining my chunks. At times, I feel that they run together. This essay in particular has some disorganization in the first body paragraph. I feel that some of the sentences are disjointed from one another. I would give myself an a- on this essay.