www.whyville.net Sep 12, 2003 Weekly Issue



scroggle2
Guest Writer

Face the Truth

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Hi everyone, this is scroggle2. I'm not sure if many of you have experienced this in Whyville, but it's quite a shocker when it happens to you. Whyville used to be about making friends and learning, but now it has become a huge beauty contest of who's better than who. Many Whyvillians have been trying their hardest to hurt others and make them feel bad about themselves.

A few days ago, I was by the Pool, just sitting around. There were two other girls there when I arrived, and right when I came in, they said, "Eeew, you have a long face, you look Chinese!" I was really surprised, as all I had was just black hair that was covering most of my eyes. They then started saying "OHH CHING CHONG MAA!!" and many other stereotypes of the Chinese language. I'm not even me because I looked that way and that being Chinese was funny or bad was appauling.

Now I want you to understand that I'm not writing this because someone didn't like my face parts, it's just the fact that when you yell racist comments at someone on a children's website, the younger kids may start to think that making these comments is okay. Plus, it's just plain wrong. Is being Chinese in Whyville not "in" or something? Why is it wrong to look Chinese, purposely or not?

The one thing I don't understand is the point of their mocking. Why would they want to make fun of an avatar that has nothing to do with who you are? It's better to judge someone by who they are, not what face parts they choose or what they wear. This isn't the first time I have experienced this kind of event, though. I remember a few weeks ago I was wearing light blond hair but with black streaks and other colors, as it was supposed to be dirty hair. I liked it, so I wore it. When I went to the Beach, I noticed a girl started to throw "Yuck" projectiles at my face repeatedly. I thought she was just having fun, but she then started to say I was ugly and that I needed to look in the mirror and change how I look. Now, this isn't what bothered me, but when I asked why she said those things, she told me to leave and she then called me trailer trash.

The mere fact that someone is called trailer trash because their digital image has dirty hair is kind of illogical, don't you think? Of course, I'm not naming this person, but I think you know who you are. Let me ask you: What was the point of what you said? Did you hate my face so much that you had to tell me you wanted me to change myself and look like you? Did you think calling me trailer trash could lower my self-esteem to a point where I thought I should look like you to gain you acceptance?

Now I'd like to address all the others who like to hurt people for reasons unknown. But the second shocker I found was that near the end of the argument, she told me if I was prettier and had a better attitude, she'd be my friend. I now think that this could be the reason. Some need to surround themselves with "pretty" people and have "pretty" friends so they look better. Not all people, and I'm not accusing any of you, but I'm just trying to analyze why a friend is made when they are pretty or likes to be criticized for how they look. We're not all puppets, you know.

This brings me to the end of my article, but it hurts to know that many people in this world are so reliant on others opinions of themselves that they can be taken advantage of so fast. Comments such as "Eeew, you're so-and-so" and "You're ugly, go away" or even the shunning of newbies can be very hurtful to some people. Maybe you don't even mean to hurt their feelings, maybe you just want them to look nicer so others don't make fun of them, but you shouldn't say it like that. If you want to help someone, such as a newbie and they only have Grandma's face parts, don't tell them they're ugly, simply ask them if they need help. If they can't speak, ask them to maybe bob up and down as in yes, or side to side as in no. But if your intentions are to hurt, please try to keep it to yourself. It's not the kindest thing to do.

 

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