By TAYLOR BENNETT
Staff Writer
Mutant. Mutation. Those are such interesting words, aren’t they? To most people, the answer is no. Those aren’t interesting words, those are scary words. Why would you ever think differently? Well, I have a mutation, so why would I want to think of myself as scary? That seems to be the question of the day for people like me. No, I’m not part of the X-Men; I don’t have adamantium claws and an indestructible skeletal structure, I can’t talk to people inside their minds and read their thoughts, I can’t even do a push-up without falling on the ground and I walk into walls (no, not through them) almost every time I stand up.
So, with all of that being said, wouldn’t saying that I have a mutation make me sound cooler? Sure, in my mind it might, but not to others. Words that have negative connotations are seen as things that you tell your kids not to stare at in public, or that you yourself avoid as if the Black Plague has grown limbs. But guess what? I’m not contagious! The bright side of having a mutation that only about 5% of the population has is that I can’t spread it. Isn’t that wonderful? Now you can stop worrying about me giving you my mutation when you make me upset, and start pitying me. That’s right, I said it. I know exactly how this works. People are afraid of me giving them some kind of life-altering disease (again, I called it a mutation, so stop telling me I have a disease!), and once they realize I’m not contagious, they start feeling bad for me. Yes, me. I am a poor thing, I know. No, this doesn’t shorten my lifespan. No, this doesn’t mean I can’t have kids – it just makes it more difficult to have them, and I don’t want to. Yes, it means I probably shouldn’t sit for more than about ten hours at a time. No, that doesn’t mean I’ll suddenly have a blood clot, I’d rather not tempt fate unless you’re paying for all of my medical bills to satisfy your sudden interest. Yes! I’d love to let you see my medical bracelet, even though it says everything you already know – yet you are still so fascinated by it with your innate curiosity towards shiny objects. Adorable.
Personally, I’ve never had shame in the mutation that I have. Some prefer to call it their “gene alteration” or “variant,” but I think that it’s because societal pressure tells people to soften the truth to make themselves look pretty, even when the truth is an incredibly ugly thing. Actually, I take that back; the truth isn’t an ugly thing, it’s the secrecy. The world is incredibly paradoxical: the media tells us to never hide who we really are, and embrace our flaws – until one of those flaws doesn’t fit the status quo, then you need to shove it into the deepest, darkest corner of your mind and pretend that it doesn’t exist. Would this still be the case if I was lying in a hospital bed, and nobody knew I had a clotting disorder? Oh, sorry – mutation. Would I still hide it, because I was ashamed of the word? See, the most terrifying thing is that most people would answer “yes” to that question, with no hesitation. I may not be an all-powerful carrier of the “X-Gene,” but I’m certain that I wouldn’t like my life to be cut short because of a minor inconvenience: the truth.