Gisele Shaw On Why It's Important For Her To See Online Negativity
One year ago, Impact Wrestling's Gisele Shaw came out as transgender and has received a great deal of support from her peers and her employer, Impact Wrestling. Unfortunately, Shaw has also seen her fair share of negativity since then. In a recent interview with Denise Salcedo, Shaw discussed why she thinks it's important to face some of this negativity online.
"It's something that I actually had to learn how to deal with," she said. "Because no matter if it's a positive or negative comment, I see it all online. And Impact did say, 'Hey you know we can block those so you don't have to see it.' I think for me it's so important that I see those because those are – it's a part of me to grow and be like, 'You know what, those comments, they shouldn't affect me. At the end of the day, no matter who you are, no matter what you are, people are going to say something no matter what. Because somewhere, someone out there is very unhappy, or they just want to stay relevant, or they want to be in the conversation to feel like they're included. Whatever they do doesn't reflect what I do, and that's something that I had to learn and be like, 'You know what? It's not me, it's them.'"
Later on in the interview, Shaw spoke more about the strong support she's received from Impact. The promotion issued a news release in support of Shaw the day after her public announcement on a Canadian morning show.
Uncomfortable Conversations
When it comes to the negativity from social media, Shaw said she attributes people's negativity to a few reasons.
"I think it's because either people are misinformed, uneducated, or they just listen to people that have this opinion or mentality and then they go, 'Okay, well they're right,' without really understanding or knowing what the topic is."
Through negativity, Shaw pointed out that there is a place for having some conversations. Though she has faced unimaginable negativity online, she spoke on the importance of having uncomfortable conversations, especially with those willing to listen.
"What we need to do as people is – you just have to talk about situations. Have uncomfortable conversations, because those are the most important conversations that we should have. That's what makes us grow as people and move forward, and to really understand certain situations no matter what that is. Sometimes if we don't talk, we're never gonna get anywhere. I think that's the most important thing, is to listen and comprehend, rather than listening to respond."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit the Denise Salcedo YouTube channel with an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.