Tuesday, February 18, 2014

CANDID JODI ARIAS IN JAIL!!!

Yup.  That's right folks.  The Bipolar Hot Mess got her hands on a contraband pic taken of Jodi while in jail.  A much different Jodi than the one you saw sitting in the courtroom on the tv, that's for sure.

Stay tuned for Jodi coverage.  While the retrial of the sentencing has been postponed, Hot Mess is still on Jodi watch!

The Bipolar Hot Mess also sends her condolences to Jodi about the death of her grandfather.  Yes, we all know the crime Jodi has been accused of, but that doesn't mean that she isn't a human being just like all of us and doesn't have feelings too.

Actually, if you think about it, as a mental health blogger, I talk about breaking stigma all the time and how those of us with mental illnesses are stigmatized, and I think the same holds true for prisoners.  We stigmatize them into being heartless, emotionless, cold, whatever other adjective you can think of, people because of a crime they have been accused of committing.  By stigmatizing Jodi, we are doing the exact same thing that we ask the public NOT to do of us.  A crime was committed, but just like the thousands and thousands of us with mental illness that are not violent and do not commit crimes and wish to be looked at and treated as equals, not all criminals are the completely emotionless, heartless, cold, callous, unconscionable people that we tend to stigmatize them as.

Think about it.  Can you honestly put Jodi into the same category as Jeffrey Dahmer or John Wayne Gacy? They were both murderers, serial killers at that, but does the fact that Travis was murdered mean that Jodi is the same as a serial killer?  That's like comparing me, an individual with bipolar disorder, to one of the individuals that took part in one of those school shootings.  Some were found to have mental illnesses, but that doesn't mean that all who have mental illnesses will engage in that behavior or feel the same way that others do.

It all comes back down to stigma.  We stigmatize so many people for so many things.  Instead of spreading stigmas, wouldn't it be nice if we would all just judge each person for who they are as an individual?  Yes, I may be a dreamer and a wishful thinker in thinking that something like that could ever happen.  But, I know that I do my part to try and quash as much stigma as possible.  I can't do it alone, no one can, but there are many of us that fight against various stigmas.  Each person who fights against stigmas makes our stigma fighting army stronger and can help reach more people and help reduce the many stigmas that are so rampant in our society.  Stigmas that cause things like bullying and suicide.  Criminals are stigmatized too.  What would all of you think if I said that I was a felon?  That I had a felony conviction on my record?  Would you look at me differently?  Would you treat me differently?  Would you view my opinions and thoughts about things in a different light?

Just something to think about.  This is a candid photo of Jodi.  Yes, she looks much different here than when she was in her button down sweaters and glasses sitting behind the defense table plastered across our tv screens.  Yes, she has a bit of a smile.  Does the fact that someone is incarcerated mean that they are never allowed to smile again?  That they are never allowed to have feelings?  That they are not allowed to live their life?  Yes, we can make sure that their lives are much more closely monitored by keeping them imprisoned because they have displayed actions that have proven that they need to be closely monitored, but that does not make them any less human than any of us.

That said, here's my insider pic:
~THE BIPOLAR HOT MESS~

No comments:

Post a Comment

Spill it! What do you think?!