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‘Is Positivity’ Always Positive?

‘Is Positivity’ Always Positive?

The need to always ‘feel right’ is being constantly fueled and promoted around us. Anything negative is instantly labelled as ‘bad’. But we often fail to realize that suppressing the ‘bad’ or neglecting the unpleasant emotions can lead to various mental health issues. This process of forced positivity is known as toxic positivity. Whereas, accepting the negative situation and validating the accompanying emotions actually help resolve the issue and hand and give the required mental space to process our emotions, which leads to better mental health outcomes. And this process of validating our emotions while having a generally positive outlook and coping strategies is known as positivity.

LGBTQ+ and the Culture of Violence in Education

LGBTQ+ and the Culture of Violence in Education

The social taboo and lack of awareness around homosexuality and other sexual orientations begin from the stage of primary socialization, i.e from school. Ironically, however, there is not enough emphasis on LGBTQ+ inclusive education policies or even a discourse around the centrality of schooling in conversations around sexualities both in WEIRD as well as non-WEIRD countries. This has led to violence in schools against sexual minorities, and oftentimes, homophobic remarks are overlooked cross-culturally. This essay highlights the levels at which education around gender and sexuality needs to be brought into schooling; right from the writing of textbooks to the training of teachers.