What I Learned from Dr. Seuss | Teen Ink

What I Learned from Dr. Seuss

March 31, 2010
By theblazingstar101 GOLD, Foley, Alabama
theblazingstar101 GOLD, Foley, Alabama
10 articles 1 photo 21 comments

Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.


Or so said Dr. Seuss. Even if you do not see Dr. Seuss as being a great genius or particularly wise man, you can understand the way he encouraged a young generation to be themselves. It is very simple to see how he encouraged self-expression in many of his works. For example, who can forget his famous star-bellied Sneetches? Or poor Daisy-Head Mayzie? Although seemingly meaningless, Dr. Seuss portrayed important lessons of tolerance and equality in his books, and most agree that everyone should try to be who he or she is, despite what others may think or believe.


If you like black, wear black! If you want to be a movie star, go for it! If you want to play basketball, try out for that team! If you are African American, you can express your culture! You can be whoever you want to be! If you are gay, you can—oh, wait…never mind. If you are gay, you should not let anyone know.


How, then, can America be a truly tolerant society if gays, lesbians, and bisexuals are not being treated equally? Not only are these people treated poorly by some and not given basic human rights, such as marriage, but they are subjected to a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in the military (although President Obama has expressed his desire to end the policy). The LGBT are treated as if they have some sort of disease.


Certainly, there are religious arguments, but was America not founded on the belief that everyone should be allowed to have happiness? Was it not founded upon the basis that everyone would be equal? So is it not a double standard that the LGBT minorities are not treated as well as the straights?


On the subject of religion, however, there are many more pressing issues that ought to be dealt with than protesting sexual orientation. The truth is that there have been gays, lesbians, and bisexuals since the beginning of human civilization. This is seen in mythology and the Bible. This supposed problem is not going to be stopped, and there are so many other concerns. There are starving children in America. There is human trafficking all over the world. There are people dying as a result of genocide everyday, and as one of the superpowers of the world, America and her people are focusing on ridding our country of the plague of being gay, as if it is some sort of contagious disease.


Of course, popular culture and the media aid the problem with stereotypes, and how often have you heard someone say, 'That's so gay!'? Has no one ever stopped to realize just how much like a racial slur that sounds? All in all, though, the truth is that the LGBT are people and Americans just the same. As a fellow American, I agree with Dr. Seuss. Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.


Gay. Lesbian. Bisexual. Straight. Or otherwise. Encourage it or not, these people should be treated as any others. That is the policy of a truly tolerant America.


The author's comments:
I have friends who are gay, lesbian, and bisexual, and I think people need to realize that's okay...

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This article has 15 comments.


eiphren said...
on Sep. 25 2011 at 9:37 pm
I really enjoyed your article. I am the youth director for a Unitarian Universalist church in Minnesota and my youth group is doing a service focusing on LGBT rights and using Dr. Seuss as our way of presenting these issues. Our primary source is "Gerald McBoing Boing," but I would really like to have your permission to share your article with our congregation. You do an excellent job of putting a words to the message we're trying to convey. Thanks!

rissa. BRONZE said...
on Jul. 22 2010 at 7:20 pm
rissa. BRONZE, Sand Lake, Michigan
2 articles 0 photos 1 comment

Wonderful!

Loved it & how you used a famous quote from a known literary genius! (:


on May. 29 2010 at 7:22 pm
Karma_Chameleon SILVER, English, Indiana
8 articles 0 photos 236 comments

Favorite Quote:
To be able to say "I love you" one must first be able to say "I" - Ayn Rand

This is most definitely a wonderful article! I love how you integrated Dr. Seuss successfully throughout the piece, and your voice had a defined presence, but not so much that it distracted from the seriousness of the issue discussed.  Very well written, and one of the few opinion pieces that I can happily give five stars! I shall expect further great writing in the future though, so get cracking. ;-)

on May. 7 2010 at 9:57 pm
theblazingstar101 GOLD, Foley, Alabama
10 articles 1 photo 21 comments
Thank you kindly. :)

on May. 7 2010 at 9:25 pm
Triscuit BRONZE, Orlando, Florida
1 article 0 photos 2 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Adversity causes some men to break and others to break records." "Violence is the first solution of small minds." "Silence perpetuates injustice."

Your article sums up almost everything thats been on my mind about this topic. Great writing

on May. 7 2010 at 6:18 am
theblazingstar101 GOLD, Foley, Alabama
10 articles 1 photo 21 comments
Thanks! :)

on Apr. 21 2010 at 2:18 pm
theblazingstar101 GOLD, Foley, Alabama
10 articles 1 photo 21 comments
Thanks a bunch! ;)

on Apr. 21 2010 at 2:16 pm
theblazingstar101 GOLD, Foley, Alabama
10 articles 1 photo 21 comments
Thank you very much; I appreciate the comment. ;)

on Apr. 17 2010 at 4:45 pm
This was a great article!! I love Dr. Seuss and I definately believe gays and lesbians and bisexuals should have the right to get married.

on Apr. 15 2010 at 9:01 pm
This was excellent and definately one of the better-written articles I've found on this site. Great job and keep on writing :)

on Apr. 15 2010 at 11:01 am
theblazingstar101 GOLD, Foley, Alabama
10 articles 1 photo 21 comments

Thank you. ;)

And Dr. Seuss is seriously my hero.


on Apr. 12 2010 at 12:58 pm
MarinaOreo GOLD, King Of Prussia, Pennsylvania
12 articles 0 photos 148 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Your soul is the whole world" -Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

Thank you so much for posting this. You can't say you support equality but then be homophobic. Great article and I love Dr. Seuss! :)

on Apr. 12 2010 at 8:31 am
spiritchild BRONZE, London, Other
2 articles 0 photos 15 comments

Favorite Quote:
As Albert Camus once said 'Beauty is unbearable, drives us to despair offering us for a minute the glipse of an eternity that we should like to strech out over the whole of time.'

Insightful and thoughtful, successfully gets the point across.


on Apr. 10 2010 at 12:01 pm
theblazingstar101 GOLD, Foley, Alabama
10 articles 1 photo 21 comments
Many thanks. ;)

on Apr. 10 2010 at 11:11 am
toxic.monkey SILVER, Tashkent, Other
6 articles 0 photos 210 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Homo homini lupus"

*applause*