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[vivien]

I will not stand for this

Everyone Feels This Pain
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You know, I was lucky. Despite all the craziness and setbacks that I have faced, I am very lucky. I grew up as a daughter of a single mom in a place where that just wasn't done. I wore a back brace for scoliosis - something that really sticks out in a preteen. I grew into a teenager with a penchant for wacky clothes and odd friends.

And yet, I am unscathed by bullying.

Oh, there was some. Mostly stares and whispers that annoyed the hell out of me, but did me no lasting harm. A kid called me "Brace Face" once. Just once. I told him to cut it out and he listened. There were probably other things said that I don't remember, but my mom was excellent at pumping up my self-esteem. That's probably the main reason I made it through.

As a teen and a best friend of a very flaming gay friend in a small OK city that didn't condone that sort of thing, my little circle of friends faced a lot of hostility. But we usually turned it around onto the bullies. If someone said something, we either had well thought out, witty retorts that sent them into a befuddled silence. Or, my favorite strategy, I'd start crying and tell the (most always male) bully how he looked just like my brother who died when he was 12. That always provided us lots of yucks, cos the bullies would back away with horror at my over the top acting. Either that, or I'd start hysterical raving about what perfect teeth they had. Again with the backing away. Bully taunting was a fun activity, and because of the way we dealt with it (and how we tended to flock together for protection), there was no physical acting out directed at us.


So I was lucky. Very, very lucky. The banner is for those who aren't or weren't.

Comments

[cincodemaygirl.livejournal.com]

Those are *extremely* good bully responses! I don't think I had the presence of mind to react that way. I wish I had!