fickle | National Day of Silence = Today. Do we have too many 'months'?

Today's the National Day of Silence, a day of silent protest against the harassment and discrimination that GLBTs face. This year, they're mourning the death of an 8th-grader, Lawrence King, who was killed on the 12th February by a classmate.

As usual, I picked up a t-shirt and armband to wear, along with a few print-outs to hand out to people to explain why I won't be talking today. The funny thing is, the atmosphere on campus is almost identical to that when National Coming Out Day is approaching. Both of them involve the sale of t-shirts, both are centered around GLBT events, both usually have concerts or lunches attached, and both are specific to America as far as I know.

Being gay is often compared to being black, or belonging to disadvantaged racial group, and yet, shockingly enough, there's no day during which people come out as black or Latina or Asian. But at the same time, I can't think of any day that's specifically designated to combat racial discrimination.

It is Latina month here on campus but at the same time, it's Sexual Assault Awareness Month. I know that Wellesley campus isn't unaware of the latter because we have all the Take Back The Night ribbons strung up everywhere, so we're apparently hosting both months at the same time.

While I am all in favor of promoting cultural events, and definitely in favor of working against sexual assault, I think it's just a bit much to have both of them at the same time, especially when one is about pride and the other is about survival.

Does anyone else think that America might have too many 'months'? I don't remember Austria having so many specific holidays. We have our version of Halloween, we had Mother's Day, random Christian holidays, but that's about it. Sri Lankans celebrate their own culturally specific events such as New Year's in April, but again, we don't have a Buddhist Month or a Soldiers Killed In The Civil War Day.

I'm supporting National Day of Silence, obviously. Same for Sexual Assault Awareness Month. And if I knew what to do for Latina Month, I'd support that as well.

However, I am having difficulty remembering all the months and holidays. Unless I see flyers for them or are reminded online, it's too easy to have these dates slip my mind. And I know that some people on my flist feel the same, since I'm the one reminding them of National Coming Out Day and other such events.

Which holidays (apart from the obvious ones like Christmas, Easter, Halloween, your birthday, etc) do you remember? Apart from the months I've named, can you think of any? And for those of you who live outside America -- do you get special months allocated to causes, or is it just an American thing?

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Yeah, last week was also "Earth Day." I never heard about it until it was over, although I notice we still have special deals in the cafeteria where they'll make you a pbj sandwich and apparently that's gonna save the rainforest. I love the rainforest, but damnit, my hands are constantly tremebling from lack of low blood sugar because I forget to eat until I realize I can't DRAW anymore. I need my meet. D: Uh, anyway.

Yeah, I think it's a very American thing. I think it's depressing that although we officially have so many "days" and "months" for every cause under the sun, only a small handful of people ever hear or participate in them. Hell, I'm gay and didn't even know today was the Day of Silence. Oops, too late.

Incidentally, there are TONS of special times dedicated to racial discrimination. They're considered more important than gay ones so they get a whole month, whereas gays get one day. =P Also, they have events like Cinco de Mayo and MLK day, which are celebrated mainly to honor those racial groups. They're actually proper holidays marked on school calendars and stuff as days off, unlike "Day of Silence" which has never been on any calendar I've ever seen, much less made into a holiday where I can skip class. XD

As far as I know, Austria has a few "cause days" but they're not actual holidays. I don't remember much but I do recall that Austrians are a lot more environmentally conscious, and generally liberally activist that a lot of people here in the US. I'm not talking about specific people, but the nation as a whole. Our view is biased because we live on very liberal campuses, but as a whole the US is pretty conservative and doesn't give two shits about the rainforest or minorities.

By the way, are you still going to be in Boston first week of June?

Do you think that Austria is good for activism? I always find it very hard to judge these things because I was so tied up in the VIS bubble and when I think of lovely 'Austrian' things they're often VIS things...I'd like to believe Austria is as brilliant as I remember :D

I think you're right about environmentally conscious at any rate. It's easier to find local, organic food there (but that's also because our economy is big on agriculture).

Yeah, I also tended to mostly hang out either at VIS or at home, but I remember being really impressed by our Austrian neighbors.

I don't really know how to describe it, but they just seemed to have a much greater appreciation for life, particularly nature, and handmade things. They took a lot of joy in cooking for themselves and buying things from the local market, like you were saying.

And unlike in the US where most of our vacations involve lots of shopping or something very consumerist like that, their ideal vacation was camping or cross-country skiing, or going to a ropes course (which I did last time I was there, it was so cool.) And of course, they were big on recycling in both neighborhoods I lived in. Whereas Savannah doesn't have a single recycling bin... it's quite a huge cultural difference.

Also, I just remember seeing and participating in many protests and parades when I was there. They had their huge gay parade, and people protesting about that Mexican King's headdress or whatever, and the Turks protesting about racism, and all that good stuff. Then again, I'm comparing a big busy city like Vienna to the much more rural Bible-belt town I live now, so that's not really an even comparison.

All of your points are good :)

<3 Austria

I'm gonna miss it so much. Did I mention my family is moving to Belgium before the summer? As soon as David graduates (fingers crossed...).

I think you did mention it, yes. I remember liking Brussels, but aside from that Belgium has struck me as being quite run-down and dirty - but that's only the impression I get looking out of the window of the bus as I pass through to Vienna!

It will be interesting to discover a new city, I'm sure :)

Police say Austrian man raped daughter, fathered 6 children (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080428/ap_on_re_eu/austria_captive_daughter).

The irony kills me.

7 children, 1 died.

Yeah, I know - I scan the news pages often for mentions of Austria, and when it is mentioned it's for kidnappings. Bah!

We celebrated Earth Week too in our cafeteria! Though in our case, it was by having no trays for the food EXCEPT at the conveyor belt, which is when you put your plates and glasses onto the tray and then sent it down. Not quite sure how that worked.

And you have a good point about MLK Day. I don't know what Cinco de Mayo is (sounds Spanish?), but you're right, gay holidays aren't on calenders and we don't get a break from classes for them. And if it makes you feel any better, I only knew about Day of Silence because we had posters and stuff up for it on campus.

I think you're right with the environmentally conscious thing for Austria. There were recycling bins EVERYWHERE and everyone recycled as a matter of course. It wasn't seen as a big deal. Also, the public transport system was a lot better so less people drove, which also helps.

Though I SERIOUSLY doubt that Austria cares more about minorities than Americans do. They both seem a little lackluster there overall.

And yeah, think so about Boston. XD Might be taking a course at Boston Uni, actually.

Though I SERIOUSLY doubt that Austria cares more about minorities than Americans do.
Hmm, that might have been my VIS bias, then. The only racism I ever encountered was against Turks, and admittedly that did leak into the school too.

Living in Savannah pretty much forces everyone to be racist. There's a HUGE rift between the rich and the extremely poor, and us art students are just toeing the line between the neighborhoods. There's a lot of drugs and crime going on in the less well off areas, so much that I would never consider walking alone at night.

I checked out a map on that site, forgot what it's called... familywatchdog or something... and I looked up all the registed offenders in my neighborhood.

...I'm surrounded by pedophiles and rapists. I'm not even exaggerating. One of them lives just down the street. Little red and yellow blips all over my map...

Anyway, doesn't help that pretty much the entire population of the poor districts is black. I'm not scared of black people. But I am terrified of desperate, poor people. And I hate myself for having to judge people that way, but that's the way things are here.

......ANYWAY.
And yeah, think so about Boston. XD
Good, I'm gonna be in town then! Staying with my great aunt who I last met when I hadn't yet learned to talk. Should be...interesting. Oh well, she seems nice enough. She wants to know if you've heard of Rachel Lewis"? Apparently a sophomore at your college. o-o

Austria's not big on minorities. Perhaps it doesn't have the class problems that the US does, but part of that I guess is that we're fairly homogenous, and so there aren't really significant minorities. I'm speaking from observation, though, not actual statistics, so take that with a pinch of salt!

I do know that there is strong objection to the Turks, as you say, and also the Romanians, who come over the border a lot to beg and thieve and probably eat children in their nasty Gypsy way *rolls eyes*.

PS:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinco_de_Mayo

National Day of Silence = Today. Do we have too many 'months'?

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