Taylor+W’s+Final+AmEx+Speech+2017

Alright, let's get down to business. And we're not trying to defeat the Huns, we’re trying to defeat this BS idea of social acceptance. We’ve all felt unaccepted at one point, some of us more than others. Key points in my childhood, where i was kicked out of soccer in elementary school because i was a girl, then I went to go play tetherball with the other girls only to get kicked out again because i was too much like a boy.

Let’s just say, i ate my peanut butter and jelly sandwich alone that day. Acceptance and unacceptance. Whether it’s being rejected by the girl or guy you asked to prom, or getting beat up behind a CVS because of your skin colour. Sometimes it’s coming home crying because someone told you to screw off because you will never be like them, or crying when you open your college acceptance letter and reading that you got in. People struggle to be accepted in the world, changing every aspect of them; their body, their clothes, their personalities. How many times do i have to change myself to be accepted by everyone, because the amount of makeup and the mess of clothes that litter my floor, the tears that threaten to drown me and the hatred i have for myself are only the remnants of how many times i’ve tried. Do i even remember how i used to be before all the teasing and before i wrote in my journal at age eleven that i wanted to run away because the kids on the playground wouldn't let me play with them. Why should i, or anyone have to put up with this? Now, girls, raise your hand if you've had someone, usually a guy but I don't want to stereotype, tell tell you that your bra strap is showing, or that your nipples are poking through your shirt or something stupidly obvious. Yes, I have breasts, so yes I need to wear a bra, at least to be accepted. And yes when it's cold and my bra doesn't have a lot of padding, you can see my nipples through my shirt. At least they don't shrivel up into the body like other things when they’re cold. So who's really the loser here? But it's ridiculous that it's taboo for my bra strap to show, even in the slightest. Why does it matter that someone can see my nipples or that I'm complaining about my period? Every month I bleed from my vagina, every month I go through cramps, and pms and cravings for dark chocolate so i can help the human race reproduce but it's still weird for me to talk about it? And don't even get me started about the “oh she's mad so she must be on her period”. Unless I show you my bloody tampon, you're not allowed to make that assumption. Rather than putting someone down or making an assumption about someone, judge in your head first, accept second, then speak. Everyone can be judgemental. I suffer pretty bad from it myself. But I'm not one to tell people that their hair looks bad, or that their outfit it's way out of style. My judgement stays in my head, I accept the fact that I don't particularly like someone or something, then I move on and don't say anything about it. I can't say that I do this all time, I can make some pretty snarky comments about people I don't like, but I don't announce it to the world. Or in our case, social media. I can't tell you how many time people's lives have been ruined by judgmental people on social media, it's ridiculous. Don't go on Twitter and post a video or whatever about someone you don't like and include their name. Everyone knows who you're talking about in your rant, and if they don't they'll ask. Accept the fact that someone screwed you over, or dumped you, or pissed you off, but you don't have to announce that you hate them, we all know. So rather than causing more drama by ruining someone's reputation and further worsening a life, be mad and get over it. Someone's past mistakes do define them, but only in the slight. The time I got a parking ticket doesn't mean that I'm a bad driver. It just means that I didn't notice the sign that said 1 hour parking. The time I hit a ball over my fence and hit the neighbour’s roof doesn't mean that I'm a reckless teen or irresponsible. It means that I need to keep my hands up when I swing. Just because I'm a recovering self harmer doesn't mean that I'm suicidal. It means that I have been going through some rough times. Accept the facts and don't make someone's life worse. Don't call me an attention seeker. Don't call me a bad driver. If you're going to say something, say it to yourself in the mirror and see if you like it. Acceptance by our peers is the subconscious goal in life. To go to our 20 year high school reunion and show off that fabulous job or that hot spouse and 2 kids. To finally one up that one person who always had it better than you. To show that a break up didn't keep you from achieving your goals. But there will always be a group of people who don't want to come to that 20 year reunion because they haven't gotten that job yet, or are still single. And they don't feel accepted. Honestly, what does it matter? So what your goals haven't been achieved in the 20 years after high school? As long as you're happy and still breathing I think you're doing pretty well. Everyone knows about the rhyme of sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me. What did we learn that in? Elementary school maybe? I think my school even put it to a song and someone performed it at the talent show. Telling 4th and 5th graders that you can throw the dodge ball at my face, or kick the soccer ball into my stomach will break my bones but the words of get out of the way, go home, and move stupid will never hurt me? I think they then felt justified when they pushed me into the muddy planter in 6th grade and called me dumb because they thought i wouldn't feel hurt from it. Everyone needs to be smart, but pretty, innocent but sexy, double DD’s but also a small waist and a flat stomach. Honey have you ever see a woman who has natural DD’s and an unaltered size zero waist? Because i haven’t. So rejecting someone because they don't meet the highly unnatural social standards is, in my book at least, stupid. Rejection and not being accepted can be felt as physical pain. Actual physical pain like breaking your arm. We all know that rejection can cause major psychological effects on people; depression, anxiety, even violence. In a study of 15 cases of school shooters, 13 of them suffered from social rejection. Now that may be a little drastic, and I’m not trying to be heartless but some people can take rejection to an extreme. Rejection and criticism is beneficial to developing character and becoming stronger as a person as we face adversity, but having someone reject you in front of the whole school? Making fun of you in the auditorium during lunch or at a party? That can cause some major implications to someone’s confidence. Has anyone seen the sixth sense with Bruce Willis? Most probably haven’t so ill explain. This 9 year old kid named Cole can see dead people. Okay so, like most kids, he will draw about it, like Paula in El Internado. Cole told his child therapist that instead of drawing morbid things, he now draws rainbows and happy faces because he doesn't have to go to any more meetings where they ask him what’s wrong. At 9 years old this kid will already understand what not being accepted feels like and he will most likely hide his feelings and emotions from that point forward. Now at 9 years old or even now, I hope none of us are seeing dead people, but y’know, shit happens. But the fact is that kids are realising earlier and earlier that it's easier to be closed off and not feel so they can get through a day of teasing. So for a world I want to grow old in and for my children go grow old in, I want a world where everyone is accepted and that my daughter doesn't have to shy away from tank tops that show her bra strap and my son doesn't have to be worried that the kids on the playground will make fun of him because he does drama. And this world should come quick, because I wanna show off my new bra. Thank you.