Judgey McJudgerson

I've talked about the Judgey McJudgerson's before. You know the type. They're the ones that look down on me for having four kids and looking like I'm twelve (one of the perks of being short). Those who whisper behind their hands because they've come to a conclusion about mewithin a milisecond. We all judge people, let's be honest, whether we mean to or not. Human beings make judgements based on religious or non-religious beliefs, gender, skin color (I've been called an Arab before and NOT in a nice 'oh, are you an Arab?' way). There are LOTS of ways to judge someone else. I'm guilty of doing it (and trying to get better about not doing it), and I'm sure all of you have done it at least once in your life. And if you haven't, you're a liar and your pants should be on fire.

But what about judging someone based on their writing? I find it somewhat hilarious that readers come to some pretty far-fetched and firm (to them) conclusions about an author based on their books. At times there is an underlying message that's pretty blatant, but that doesn't happen all that often. Let's talk Twilight for a minute (I know, I know, I can feel you guys rolling your eyes). Many people have made judgements about Stephenie Meyer because of this book. That she is severely lacking passion in her love life, why else would she write about Bella's and Edward's love like it's the end all be all? Or she thinks it's perfectly okay for a guy to be controlling, because Edward is that creepy stalker boyfriend who won't leave Bella alone.(These aren't necessarily my opinions) She's sending the wrong message to impressionable young girls about abusive relationships and abstinence (just like when an author writes about teens having sex doesn't make that author a sex addicted freak who wants young girls to get pregnant/ STD). But let's be real here for a minute, I'm pretty sure when Stephenie Meyer sat down to write her book, these thoughts were not floating around her head, she didn't have some secret agenda against women or one that was pro-abusive relationships. She wanted to entertain us. She loved her characters and wanted to tell their story. And honestly, if a mom, sister, cousin, aunt, grandmother, whoever takes issue with the content within a book then they need to sit down the girl wanting to read the material in question and tell them what's up. As a parent it is MY responsibility to explain certain things to my children, and not force those issues on other people.

What I'm getting at is we need to stop judging each other. We have every right to our opinions, freedom of speech, people. But being mean about our opinions makes the judger look like a jerk. There is a perfectly acceptable and courteous way to share our opinions without being judgmental about it. At the end of the day, as an author, all i want is to write a story I'm passionate about. I want to share my characters with other people. I want readers to love them just as much as I do. I don't have propaganda I want to shove down other people's throats (not saying there aren't people out there who do have an agenda of some kind, but for the most part authors don't). And if I don't like the content in a book, hating on the book and the author isn't going to get me anywhere. Really, it's a waste of time. Use that energy on doing something positive. Write a book that's the opposite of the one you hate. Be productive and let's stop judging on each other.