Wear the purple today!

[Bondwriter]

This guy won't wear purple today...

[Rizan]

I thought it was fairly effective. Far more effective than a gay pride parade if you ask me. While a pride parade tends to show gay people as polar opposites, extremes, it doesn't help; I think it is completely counter productive. Whereas this helped people see that we're not all some obvious flamer (no offense intended) that can be picked out of a crowd; we're that normal kid that sits next to you that you never would have expected. I saw a lot of purple, far more girls than guys, but I even saw quite a few guys, and a lot of people that I wouldn't have expected (one guy even winked at me). I had four classes that day, and people talked about it in all four of them; my German teacher was even wearing purple. So I figure, that's roughly a 400-500 student that walked away knowing it; that's just my classes, not counting all the other 39,500 students. I say mission accomplished.

[TetRefine]

I thought it was fairly effective. Far more effective than a gay pride parade if you ask me. While a pride parade tends to show gay people as polar opposites, extremes, it doesn't help; I think it is completely counter productive. Whereas this helped people see that we're not all some obvious flamer (no offense intended) that can be picked out of a crowd; we're that normal kid that sits next to you that you never would have expected. I saw a lot of purple, far more girls than guys, but I even saw quite a few guys, and a lot of people that I wouldn't have expected (one guy even winked at me). I had four classes that day, and people talked about it in all four of them; my German teacher was even wearing purple. So I figure, that's roughly a 400-500 student that walked away knowing it; that's just my classes, not counting all the other 39,500 students. I say mission accomplished.

 

It raised awareness for that one day, but will it be remembered today or tomorrow or a year from now? No. All it was was a symbolic gesture to make everyone feel like they were making a difference, when it solves nothing. Direct action people, thats the only thing that works. Not wearing silly colored shirts or wavin' them good 'ole rainbow flags. This problem is going to require getting down and dirty in the trenches, not the same old same old that has failed time and time again in the past. Thats why I have such a problem with things like this. It-Does-Nothing.

[Rizan]

It raised awareness for that one day, but will it be remembered today or tomorrow or a year from now? No. All it was was a symbolic gesture to make everyone feel like they were making a difference, when it solves nothing. Direct action people, thats the only thing that works. Not wearing silly colored shirts or wavin' them good 'ole rainbow flags. This problem is going to require getting down and dirty in the trenches, not the same old same old that has failed time and time again in the past. Thats why I have such a problem with things like this. It-Does-Nothing.

 

You don't have to remember a specific event for it to have an impact. In a lot of cases, the subtle, small things have a much grander effect on our brain than the in-your-face shit. Yelling louder than someone else isn't going to change their mind. People aren't reasonable and they don't change their minds because you tell them they're wrong; it's not effective. When you're bred to believe a certain thing, being direct rarely has any impact because by the time they get to that age it's like teaching an old dog new tricks. At the end of the day, you churn out far more results by slowly chipping away at someone's stubbornness and belief than it is to just go RAWR RAWR RAWR.

 

Getting in someone's face and telling them they're wrong does nothing but piss them off.

[DragonMando]

Just because there's no in-your-face, obvious, widespread long-term results doesn't mean there weren't any.

 

For me, this will have long lasting results because people I barely knew or knew but didn't know they supported me rallied to it. Yes, the loud support was only for a day, but the boost to my confidence, the pride in my colleagues, those will last much longer. It reminded me that I'm not as alone as I sometimes feel, that my straight friends do care.

 

But like Lacey said though, one day won't do much in the long run. It's something that has to happen regularly and often. That's why tomorrow I'm getting everyone moving again to wear white for the stopping bullying thing. Yes, it's not a direct action, but what more can I do? I'm not in the school system, I don't have family in it, and I'm not a resident in this area yet so I can't register to vote and start an appeal. Honestly, what else can I do?

 

If I can't take direct action, then at least I can still help in this small way.

 

I see it like this: yesterday was a single raindrop in the lake. No real difference overall. But that one drop of water, if we (as the thundercloud) look at that and go "hey let's get in on that", then each person, each day that stands up for something is another drop of water in that lake. Get enough water over enough time and the dam holding that lake will break down.

 

Sure, it'd be more effective to just bulldoze the dam down, but when you don't have a bulldozer, grab a bucket, grab up the rain, and start filling it up until it breaks down that way.

[Arpeggio]

A little bit of support goes a long way. Direct actions do guarantee results, it's not wrong, but there's more to it than getting it done and saying it's done. I'll use addicts as an example because it's something I know. A family throwing an addict away in jail is a direct action. It will force them to sober up, it will have them off the street as a potential criminal, and as a burden to a family not willing to take the extra time and effort to help their child.

 

It's a guaranteed result, but how long does it stay effective? They come out of jail, sober, but not with any more knowledge than they had before jail. They don't know how to deal with their addiction, or how to stay sober, and most end up doing the junk again.

 

Now, I'm not saying direct actions do nothing, I think that there NEED to be some things done directly and soon. However, I believe (and I may not be right) that every direct action needs backing, things to keep it staying effective.

 

For example, with the addict, your direct action would be to put your son/daughter in rehab. Rehab is designed to work with addicts, with programs to support a healthy drug-free lifestyle, and help addicts find what makes them addicted to drugs so they can fix the problems. It's going to achieve results, but after rehab, there's still more to do. You have to support them, be there for them, find out why they go to drugs, etc.

 

There's no correct method. It won't always be a direct action + support = result. Sometimes it's backwards, again with addicts: some aren't ready for help, and you support them (not their addiction, there's a difference) as much as you can until they are ready, which means it would be support + direct action = result.

 

What I'm trying to say (or what I think I'm saying, I got carried away) is you need BOTH. One way or the other is probably not going to work.

 

Also remember that result does not equal solved. Result is a change. A lot of addicts slip up on their way to sobriety. You just keep working to get it better and better.

 

(sorry if it doesn't make sense. Also, sorry I made it sound like the thread is about addicts. It's not, just an example I used to explain something. I didn't know any other way to say it.)

Edited October 21, 2010 by Arpeggio

[TetRefine]

You don't have to remember a specific event for it to have an impact. In a lot of cases, the subtle, small things have a much grander effect on our brain than the in-your-face shit. Yelling louder than someone else isn't going to change their mind. People aren't reasonable and they don't change their minds because you tell them they're wrong; it's not effective. When you're bred to believe a certain thing, being direct rarely has any impact because by the time they get to that age it's like teaching an old dog new tricks. At the end of the day, you churn out far more results by slowly chipping away at someone's stubbornness and belief than it is to just go RAWR RAWR RAWR.

 

Getting in someone's face and telling them they're wrong does nothing but piss them off.

 

Direct action is not getting always getting into someone's face and out-screaming them. That is not what I'm advocating at all. My form of direct action is to get the issue raised with people who matter, in other words, the ones who are in charge. You can wear purple and do this and that all you want, but if it's not brought to the direct attention of the people in charge of making school policy, it won't matter. Direct action means taking the most effective and direct means possible. Wearing purple for a day is indirect action. It doesn't last. Writing letters constantly and bringing it up at school board meetings will last if we persist. If done respectfully and cordially, that is much more effective and does not involve pissing people off or out-shouting the other side as you claim.

[DragonMando]

I disagree, to an extent, but also agree in a way. Yes, it needs to be brought up to the people in high places, but if it's just one or two flamers making noise, how much is really going to get done? By wearing the purple and being out loud with WHY, more people get drawn in. Most of them will go back to their daily lives after, but a few will continue to support the cause--a few will also start making noise and writing lettings and petitioning. So instead of one or two diehards, you might end up with ten. Still a small number, but that's still five times how many you had to start with.

 

I definitely agree with Lacey. For a true, long-lasting outcome both need to be strongly in play.