The lady is actually a Dude? or Is she?

I recently discovered to my shock and disbelief that our dear Lady of pop (in all her eccentricity) is in actually fact a Gentleman of pop. It is rumoured that Lady Gaga not only has female genitals but also a peener. I really don't understand why I made a big deal out of it. She's an hermaphrodite pure and simple. It made me reflective on how we are so afraid of different.

I couldn't care less what gender Lady Gaga is. She is an entertainer, a trend setter with a growing fan base and she's gutsy in her self portrayal. She has brought out the weird in everyone and they love her for it. So why be shocked? Why are so many people repulsed. I was more surprised than repulsed because I certainly didn't see that coming.

I realise that even now, after all the melange and vibrance of the human race, in colour, religion, culture and sexual orientation, we are still afraid of different. It conflicts with what our brain is accustomed to and it makes us question everything. Human being love stability. They want to know what something is and where it fits in. In a way this is easily explained by how the brain processes information. You have mere seconds to analyze the world around you and sort out what is a threat and what is not. In this short space of time, we put information into boxes; more adequately called stereotypes. This is a man, this is a woman. This is a police officer and his job is to protect; Thus safe. 

It is not necessarily the wisest form of information processing but if we had to process every iota of evidence we encounter daily it would cause information overload. 

As a society, we have slowly learnt to ensure those stereotypes are ephemeral and eventually subject to scrutiny, once we have time to process further information on the situation. Perhaps this has aided in changed attitudes on race, religion and sexual orientation; which has come a long way from the dark ages where it was banished to the realms of sin and condemnation. Now, we are more open to different and we are more welcoming of the strange.

Unfortunately the fear still remains, though we try to fight it. Hence why we show shock and exclaim in unbelief. I am as guilty of this as anyone. We have a long way to go as a society before we can turn away from those critical and hurtful comments. At the end of the day we are God's children, created in his own image.

So to lady Gaga, who is unashamed and unconcerned by public opinion, I am in awe. You are teaching us a lesson in acceptance. Most of you have shown us that every one of God's creatures is beautiful. Who are we to judge.

Brutus.

In the last six months, I have learnt a lot about myself. It is almost as if i've been in isolation for so long, cut off from human civilization; locked in my own consciousness and oblivious to how volatile relationships can be.

I have found myself enraged by certain behaviors and shocked by how little people care about how they affect the world around them. I don't write this to judge. God knows i am not perfect, I have my vices, I lose control of my awareness and I hurt the ones i care about. 

Those i speak of, are the ones who wish to interject into every aspect of your life and tell YOU what they think. They wish to inform you of their opinion, whether you agree or not. They believe they are justified. After all we are merely an intellectual exchange. However, it gets irritating when they attempt to refute everyone else's opinion and believes just because they've been on the planet longer or jumped continent they have a better perspective of YOUR world than you do.

I'll put up with it for now...

Then there are the moments when they whisper. The moments when they pretend a simply trip to the kitchen for a cup of tea is perfectly innocent rather than a stage set for witches round a caldron. They spit cruel words and spun spells of spite and slyness. Then walk back with painted smiles. 

I would have liked to think that those behaviors belonged in school with the bitchiness and sharp tongues but clearly being a 40 year old woman with two kids and a partner does nothing for your maturity. touché! my dear!

I still seem to be putting up with it....

There are then days, when you find you no longer know who that person is. The transformation is instantaneous and without warning. My first instinct is to walk away. I would like to run cause i can't face it. I can't face the words made of knives and sly comments. To turn around and feel what Caesar felt when he said "et tu, Brutus?". It is such a crushing feeling.

I have not understood the last six month and it will continue to plague me. I will continue to question my role in those tragedies. What I had said, what I had done. I will ever question my motives and the contents of my heart and my mind. I do not wish to wash my hands of responsibility but I will not be painted as the instigator either.

At the end of the day, when I look up to the heavens, I make sure that I played my part and made my judgements in good faith and with a good heart.