Digital Diary: 10 of my favorite pieces of media

"The Black Girl Always Loses: Racism, Fandoms, and the Disposable Black Girlfriend Trope"

I’m a chronically online black girl, who enjoys all forms of media as escapism but I have been faced with sub-textually racism in the media and overt racism from fans in fan-spaces all my life. I could honestly rant for YEARS about colorism, lack of fleshed out black characters, fandoms inability to include black people/characters etc. But today I want to focus on the one that has been haunting me and plaguing fan spaces for the past couple of years which is the “ disposable black girlfriend trope .” What is the Disposable Black Girlfriend Trope? Well Wikipedia defines it as: “a common trope in which a Black female characters disproportionately often serve as temporary love interests, only to be passed over in favor of the one true love: a white love interest, or sometimes a love interest who is a non-Black person of color. The trope is commonly found in canon media as well as fan-made transformative works.” It’s found in everything, however where it is most apparent is in ...

Romanticizing Struggle: The Language of Mental Illness in The Perks of Being a Wallflower

A Journey Through Language, Trauma, and Self-Discovery Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower follows Charlie, a quiet and observant fifteen-year-old, as he navigates high school, mental illness, and personal trauma through letters to an anonymous “dear friend.” The novel explores themes of loneliness, identity, and healing, all while capturing the rawness of adolescence. However, what makes Perks particularly intriguing is the way Charlie’s experiences are framed—especially through his language. Many have debated whether Perks and similar YA novels glorify mental illness, substance use, and trauma, or whether they provide much-needed representation of these struggles. However, less often discussed is the novel’s linguistic approach—how Charlie’s narration contributes to the “romanticization” of mental illness. Does Charlie’s voice portray pain authentically, or does it turn suffering into something poetic and idealized? The Language of Inaction and Loneliness From the first...

Digital Diary: “Why is everything so embarrassing?”

I have anxiety about being perceived. I have a constant anxiety of being watched and judged, which is quite embarrassing because what makes me so special? But it still nags at me always, it’s gotten to the point I struggle doing everyday things in public because I have this notion that everything I’m doing is off/strange. I know I’m not alone in this. In part I think social media plays an incredibly large role in this. Everyday we see viral videos of strangers living their lives,(e.g., someone eating alone, walking a certain way, or just looking "awkward"), being posted online for everyone to point and laugh at. It seems only natural that the next course of action is for people to judge other strangers actions loudly but also for some of us to dim ourselves and act in a particular way to avoid scrutiny. The Internet & External Judgment Through the internet any- and everybody can post their unsolicited opinions on everything and we are able to view and internalize them. ...

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