A Whole Lotta Thoughts

About A Whole Lotta Subjects:

The Credo of Ashley Breanne Reynolds

Table of Contents:
 I. I believe that every human has a right to be

whomever theyd like to be.

II. I believe that women should be equal to men in every

single way.
III. I believe that people should have the right to love and

marry whoever they want.

IV. I believe that animals have souls and should be

treated as such.
V. I believe that the arts are one of the most important

things in the world.

VI. I believe that spirituality is important.
VII. I believe in the power of positivity and optimism.
VIII. I believe that we have to take care of our planet.
 I. I believe that every human has a right to be

whomever theyd like to be.

II. I believe that women should be equal to men in every

single way.
a. Womens rights is a subject that I hold so closely to my

heart. This makes sense, seeing as I am a woman. Youd

think that most women would feel this way as well. I

think most do, but unfortunately, some women dont

agree with my sentiments. Some women spit on

feminism, and those women confuse the hell out of me.

There is so much internalized sexism ingrained within

womens brains, and some grow to realize that and

fight back against it, while others dont. Women

deserve equal treatment as men. They deserve to

choose what happens to their body, and not be forced

to carry a child that was forced upon them by a rapist,

which is now a possibility in Arkansas. They deserve to

be paid the same amount as a man is for the same job.

They deserve to not be victim-blamed.

III. I believe that people should have the right to love and

marry whoever they want.

 a. This has always been an issue that has confused me.

What does it matter to others who marries who?

Especially in a country which engages in separation of

church and state. The only reason that I can feasibly

even try to understand why people dont want gay and

lesbian couples to get married is because their religion

is against it. This makes no sense to me, because our

country does not have an organized religion. Also,

because what does it matter what others do? It doesnt.

As long as two consenting adults of age want to get

married to one another, it shouldnt matter what

gender they are.

IV. I believe that animals have souls and should be

treated as such.
a. I have a very strong connection to animals, and

especially dogs. I look to animals and all I can see is the

fact that they have a soul that is worth treasuring and

worth paying attention to. I have no idea how someone

could hurt an animal. I have a hard time eating meat

when I think about it for too long, and have long

considered becoming a vegetarian. In general, though,

 Id love to work with dogs throughout my life. I think

that they can teach us a lot about ourselves and the

world around us. Some people take them for granted,

and think that they dont really notice the world around

them, but they do. Theyre very smart. Animals in

general are smart and should be looked at as their own

beings for sure.

V. I believe that the arts are one of the most important

things in the world.

a. Of course, being in theatre, I believe that the arts are

important. Theyre important to the development of

humans as humans and theyre important to the world

in full. Everyone can get something out of the arts.

Whether or not that is through theatre, through writing,

through physical art, through film, etc. you can learn

something through doing/making art. The first exposure

to the arts is something that usually happens during a

childs education. Apparently, although this is

extremely obvious through all sorts of research and test

studies, our newly elected president doesnt believe

 this. I believe that it is our duty as theatre artists to

instill this belief into others.

VI. I believe that spirituality is important.
a. Ive grown in my beliefs about religion and spirituality

so much over the past four years of my life. I have

learned so much about other religions and what I

myself have come to believe, and I still have so much

to learn. However, what I do know, is that it is important

for me to have some sort of semblance of spirituality to

hold onto. While I used to have an attachment to

Christianity, and I always will because of how much it

means to my grandmother, I have grown beyond that. I

have learned to hold onto the things that are important

to me; the earth, my family, my friends, love,

happiness, positivity, animals, etc. Having something to

believe in and sink your grip into like this has been very

beneficial for me and I hope to continue to use my art

to grow into my spirituality.

VII. I believe in the power of positivity and optimism.
a. These kinds of beliefs play into my spirituality, as well,

but I believe in them separately also. Being positive and

optimistic is hard, and thats the truth. However,

 throughout the past 5 years of my life, I have tried to

adopt an attitude that is centered about keeping

positive no matter what is happening in my life. In

general, it has definitely helped me. Its helped me

develop my own spirituality, its helped me grow to love

myself for whoever I am, and its helped me get

through the roughest of times. I believe that positivity

and optimism can really help others as much as it has

helped me. I think that this hope shines through my

theatrical work and I would love to continue to do that.

VIII. I believe that we have to take care of our planet.
a. Yeah, were ruining our planet. This is clear. Well, it

should be and it is to most sane people, but others are

definitely in denial. Global warming is real and

happening. The effects of it are so clear to so many

people, and yet to others, theyre not. This is a topic

that I am very passionate about, simply because I do

not want our world to be thrown away because were

either lazy, or care more about making money than

saving the planet.

 I believe that every human has a right to be whomever

theyd like to be.

When it comes down to it, my thoughts about everything,

my thoughts about sexual orientation, gender, relationships,

abortion, positivity, the arts, etc., can all be contained within this

one idea: the idea that every human being has the right to be

whomever theyd like to be, as long as they are not infringing on

the rights of others. I stand firm in this belief and hold it as one of

my strongest ones, simply because it does encompass so many of

my other beliefs.

Human beings are so complex. I think thats why weve

socially evolved so much. Weve gone from having a few labels in

regards to gender and sexual orientation, to having so, so many

labels, to now moving as a generation towards moving away from

labels in general. We change. We move on. And, hopefully, this

means that we move on in other areas as well. I hope that we

continue to move on in regards to allowing people to choose their

own identities instead of forcing things upon them. The clearest

idea that this applies to is to the transgendered culture. We as a

society in general are so focused on making people choose a

gender. Why? Why does it matter? The answer is simple: it

doesnt. It doesnt matter. A person should be able to identify

however theyd like, whether that be male, female, or somewhere

in between. It doesnt hurt anyone to identify as a different

gender than what a person was born as. It literally affects the

person who identifies as a different gender. Thats all. Sure, it

might be an adjustment for family members. But, I am of the very

strong opinion that if you love someone, you wouldnt let

something like that change how you feel about them. We have to

stop policing gender. Let people be who they want to be.

This also applies to sexuality. Although we as a society have

come pretty far in regards to the accepting of sexual orientations

other than straight heterosexuality, we still are so intrinsically

homophobic. There are so many members of society who still just

do not like gay people. And that is so insanely crazy to me! It

doesnt make any sense. This is another instance of Why does it

matter? It infuriates me. I dont understand why someone else

cares about a different persons sexual orientation. I guess I do;

because it scares them? Because it grosses them out? I cant

exactly pinpoint it, but I hate it. I wish that everyone could

understand that it simply does not matter. A man can get married

to a man. A woman can get married to a woman. A man can want

to date men. A woman can want to date women. A man can date

both men and women. A woman can date both women and men.

Its not gross. Its not wrong. Its not unnatural. Its normal. Its

love. Let people be who they want to be.

This also applies to womens rights. Women should be able

to do whatever they want. We should not only be able to do

whatever they want, but they should be respected for doing

whatever they want. And, we should not only be respected for

doing whatever we want, we should be treated fairly in that

regard. We should be paid the same amount that a man is paid for

the same job. We should be given the same professional

opportunities as men are. Women as a gender are not lesser than

men. We are strong, stronger than we are given credit for, and I

think that is definitely taken advantage of by men and other

women who have fallen prey to their own internalized sexism

against their own gender. I could go on and on and on about

women who are against feminism. It makes me fear for my own

gender. It makes me sick thinking about how many women truly

believe that feminism is a waste of time and effort. It hurts me to

think that there are women so overpowered by this internalized

systematic sexism that our culture has perpetuated forever so

much so that they are fighting against their own gender. They say

that women arent oppressed. They say that, since they dont feel

oppression and that it doesnt exist for any women. They say this

and it makes me think that they are incredibly oblivious to any

sort of sexism ever. Every woman is affected by the sexist ideals

ingrained within our culture. Every single one. Whether or not

they realize it and accept that that is what is happening is another

story. Even women whom I know are strong and are self-

proclaimed feminists subscribe to some of these beliefs that anti-

feminists hold. Why do some women feel the need to dismiss

feminism because men have mental and some social issues

associated with their gender as well? Its like theyre apologizing

to men for the women who want to stand up for their gender,

which has been pressed down and down, time again and again.

What gets me even more is that fact that they dont even

understand whats happening. You can tell them that theyre

expressing internalized oppression and sexism, but they would

never believe that. Its the same thing with the pro-life and pro-

choice issue. Some women believe that a woman is inherently

sinful and whore-ish if they get pregnant with a child that they

dont wish to have, when in all reality, this is a truth that has

spanned all of the history of mankind. If a woman does not want

to have a child, she should not be forced to. If having a child

didnt include expelling its body from your own body which

includes incredible amounts of pain, both emotional and physical

recovery, as well as thousands of dollars, it might be a different

story. But, it includes that as well as so much more. How can we

as a society force women to go through that if they dont want to?

When we have the very capable and commonly used science to

prevent that from having to happen? It just doesnt make any

sense. We should want to help our members of society, not force

them to do something that will impact them for the rest of their

lives. If a woman gets pregnant and doesnt want to have a baby,

she shouldnt have to. If a woman doesnt want to be a mother,

she shouldnt be forced to do that. Let people be who they want

to be.
 In addition to all of this, people should be allowed to think

whatever they want in regards to religion. The foundation of the

formation of our country was literally based on pilgrims coming to

North America in search of a place where they could practice any

religion they wanted to freely. We have a freedom of religion in

this country. We also have the separation of church and state

within our country. These two things work perfectly hand in hand.

People are free to practice whatever religion theyd like to and

none of those religions will be forced upon those who dont want

to participate in them. However, some people dont understand

this idea. Some people including very important people high up in

our government. They also seem to have a very vocal preference

about which religions are better than the others. And, apparently,

were in a place and a leadership where we can just ban those

who might be of a certain religion from coming into our country,

which is exactly what our country is not about. This is just another

area in which this idea comes into play: let people be who they

want to be. Let them be Christian, let them be Jewish, let them be

Buddhist, let them be Muslim. As long as they dont hurt others,

infringe upon the rights of others, or hold beliefs such as wanting

to kill everyone of a specific race, people should be able to

explore whatever spiritual path they want to. Its all simple really:

LET PEOPLE BE WHAT THEY WANT TO BE.

The world is filled with so many different kinds of people.

Like I mentioned before, human beings are so, so complex. Thats

what makes us interesting. And, thats what makes our stories so

interesting to tell. If we were all the same, if human beings all had

the same qualities, we wouldnt have so many stories to tell. We

wouldnt have new things to explore, new dynamics, new

relationships. Our differences are important. This is why we need

to let people be who they want to be. We need to allow people to

be themselves and so that we can tell their stories and relate to

others. This is what theatre is all about; telling stories to

audiences who can relate to them. So that they can learn

something about themselves through the stories of those around

them; the stories of people different than them, but who have

similar issues, relationships, lives, etc. If we strip people of their

individualities and what makes them themselves, we will run out

of stories to tell. Theatre will not stay impactful and we are in a

time in our world where it needs to.

 Scenario

I would really like to write a play with a character that is truly

flawed and that I honestly have a difficult time understanding, like

a racist character, or something like that. I have a difficult time

imagining how to write a character that I fundamentally

completely disagree with honestly. I dont want to cheapen these

characters lives and stories just because I dont agree with them.

I dont want to necessarily sympathize with their wrong beliefs but

I want to be able to portray their thoughts and their lives

honestly, and not just portray them as stereotypes. I think that

the idea that I can understand more than many others is being

pro-life. So perhaps Id have a character whos looking to get an

abortion after mistakenly getting pregnant. Her mother, however,

is extremely pro-life and does not want this to happen. The

daughter tries to convince her mother that she needs to do this,

but the mother speaks to her about why she shouldnt, and one of
those main reasons is because she almost had an abortion with

her. This provides a huge conflict for the daughter and renders her

unable to make a decision as easily.