I found myself yelling at my mother, "I HAVE THE RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH."
And she yelled back, "I HAVE THE RIGHT TO TAKE YOUR COMPUTER AWAY!"
She won.
But it got me thinking about free speech on the internet and how far we can go with what we say as bloggers. I mean, for me, this is used as a sort of interactive diary. I tell you guys what's on my mind, and I take pride in what I write, even though I totally and completely know that I'm not world famous, and the Dalai Lama doesn't care about what I have to say. But still, I write knowing that people are going to read it. And there are times when I censor myself in what I say because I usually know when to draw the line.
Although, tonight I was going to write about the awkwardness of giving urine samples. I was THIS close. You guys should be happy I didn't.
Still, as bloggers, we have so much freedom to say ANYTHING we want without having to answer to anyone face-to-face about what we say, which makes it so much easier to say the things that you want; I mean, I wont write about something if I know that the next day I'm going to get pummeled on my way to class. It gives us access to stay raw and true.
I like that.
I'm a firm believer that there should not be a double standard when it comes to free speech. We have it, and that's that. When people talk about slander, and hateful remarks, or discriminatory remarks, yeah that really really sucks. And I know it would totally suck and hurt my feelings if someone was saying things about me somewhere, but at the same time, I can't let that take away from the integrity of free speech. If it doesn't take away from my other rights, then really, I have just as much ability to come right back and say what I feel. I think that freedom of speech can be used interchangeably with freedom of thought. We can say what we think. It's as easy as that.
We're so blessed to have the ability to say what we want without limitation or censorship. It's something that a lot of times, I think we take for granted.
So when my mom and I were fighting, I didn't know how to get it past her that this was MY blog, this is a place where I can say what I went, when I want, however I want, without having to answer or apologize for my thoughts.
After the argument I stormed off to my room, so angry, and thought, "Ugh, I should just call my mother Khamenei and get it over with..."
But then I calmed down (don't worry madar, I CALMED DOWN!) and I realized that since I have the power to choose what I write and leave out in my blogs, if I really am making my mother uncomfortable with something, then I'll take it out, but only because she's my mother. And even people who hate their mothers love their mothers*. So I transferred my anger into intrigue and began to write this paper.
Do you guys still want me to tell you about the awkwardness of giving urine samples**? I totally will, just holler.
*This is a line from the movie, "French Kiss." I am in no way, shape, or form, implying that I hate my mother. I just wanted to be funny. MIKHASTAM YE KAREH FUNNY BOKONAM!
**I had to go to the doctor today b/c we thought maybe it was more than just your average pelvic ligament strain. I'm worried I'll have to go to the doctor again tomorrow. I HATE DOCTORS AND HOSPITALS AND MEDICINE AND SICKNESS.
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