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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?
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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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).
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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.
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<3 Austria
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It will be interesting to discover a new city, I'm sure :)
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The irony kills me.
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Yeah, I know - I scan the news pages often for mentions of Austria, and when it is mentioned it's for kidnappings. Bah!