Wearing colors to "fight" things

[Invincible Summer]

So I'm not sure if some of you have heard of Oct 20th being the day to "wear purple to fight homophobia" and there is/was also "wear black to combat bullying."


Obviously I'm not a fan of homophobia or bullying. But fucking seriously... how is wearing a color going to "fight" anything? I wear black on a regular basis, does that mean I'm a crusader for anti-bullying? Fuck no.

So what, if someone is caught bullying or being homophobia, are all the black-shirts or purple-shirts going to suddenly have this simultaneous psychic mind-surge and join together to form a giant robot to fight the bigot?


Also, the whole "it Gets Better" campaign. It's a laudable cause, but basically tells ppl to suck it up and grow some balls, in a more compassionate way. But again, just like the Colored Shirt things, it doesn't address the root of the problem. Instead of creating a huge campaign to target the root issue of homophobia, these ppl take the spineless liberal stance of dancing around it and preaching to the choir.

I sometimes think that for issues like this, it's almost better to have groups like Bash back! (except in larger numbers) because then any homophobe who thinks of gay-bashing someone will have to think twice if they want to get the shit beat out of them, as opposed to being very slowly prodded by "anti-hate" laws.


/rant

[Q]

What? But my shiny bracelets change the world, save the climate and stop the war, really!

[Magón]

I wear a green shirt to support Earth, and an Orange one to support Agricultural Growth.

[Uppercut]

I wear pink to support Breast Cancer awareness. No, I'm not joking.

[Aloysius]

I have a hot pink bracelet for Breast Cancer Awareness Month...and that's about it...

[Pretty Flaco]

It's about expressing solidarity for a cause.

[Leonid Brozhnev]

I'm wearing grey to combat nudity

[Invincible Summer]

It's about expressing solidarity for a cause.

But I mean other than idiotic fucknuts, who ISN'T against bullying and homophobia?! It's like "Oh I better organize a campaign against murderers!!!"

[Q]

I suggest wearing bracelets in order to express solidarity and raise awareness around the cause of fighting capitalism.

Revolution is finally within our grasp comrades!

[revolution inaction]

i remember something about kids beating up other kids in order to steal there anti bullying bracelets

[Widerstand]

I wear all colors because I love PROLETARIANZ OF ALL THE WORLD.

Fuck you seperatistly colored asses!

[Queercommie Girl]

But I mean other than idiotic fucknuts, who ISN'T against bullying and homophobia?! It's like "Oh I better organize a campaign against murderers!!!"

That's a stupid thing to say actually, because frankly many people in today's world are not against homophobia at all.

You sound like a campaign against homophobia is not important because "homophobia supposedly don't exist anymore". That's BS.

I don't agree with the commercialisation of campaigns such as this, but the campaigns themselves are still very serious and very important.

You are talking shit.

[Quail]

I usually make a point of posting an orange ribbon on facebook for self-injury awareness day. In itself, it doesn't stop people from hurting themselves, but it shows solidarity. Campaigns like this aren't totally useless in that they stop people from feeling alone or whatever.

[NecroCommie]

I wear black to mourn the idiocy of man. \m/

+ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N64pN0CjzgA" title="View this video at YouTube in a new window or tab" target="_blank">YouTube Video

[Invincible Summer]

That's a stupid thing to say actually, because frankly many people in today's world are not against homophobia at all.

You sound like a campaign against homophobia is not important because "homophobia supposedly don't exist anymore". That's BS.

I don't agree with the commercialisation of campaigns such as this, but the campaigns themselves are still very serious and very important.

You are talking shit.

Don't get so sensitive.

I'm not saying that homophobia doesn't exist anymore. I'm saying that (at least in the West where these campaigns are based and where the target market is) there's a general sense that homophobia is wrong, bullying is wrong, etc. Acting as if these campaigns are something necessary now - and not before, or in the future - is just buying into the sensationalism of the media. Yes, it's terrible that those people killed themselves, but it's not the first time it's happened.
By riding the wave of sensationalism, this surge of anti-homophobia activism will most likely wane in a short period of time.

The hetero-normative community (I don't mention the LGBT community bc it seems like a given that they constantly fight homophobia) should be constantly trying to combat (even militarily if necessary) reaction like homophobia, not just when it's big in the news. And wearing a color to show "solidarity" doesn't prove anything as anyone can wear any color they want any day. I don't know how many people will - after this wear purple/black/whatever day - will just forget about gender/sexuality inequality and continue to use the words "faggot" and "gay" as pejoratives.

And I wonder if these campaigns even target other members of the LGBT community besides lesbians and gays?

[Queercommie Girl]

Don't get so sensitive.

Oppressed peoples have the right to be sensitive about issues relating to their oppression. You may consider queer rights to be not such a serious issue, it doesn't mean I don't consider them seriously either.

If I was complaining about sexism or racism, I bet you would not have accused me for being "sensitive". So much for your double standards.

I'm not saying that homophobia doesn't exist anymore. I'm saying that (at least in the West where these campaigns are based and where the target market is) there's a general sense that homophobia is wrong, bullying is wrong, etc.

The "general sense" that homophobia is wrong isn't as widespread as you think. Otherwise how would you explain the frequent suicides committed by queer youths? Or are you just going to join in with the right-wing press and accuse these people for being "weak-willed" or something, like how the right-wing press in China blamed the workers who committed suicide at Foxconn due to immense exploitation and oppression for being "weak-willed"?

Acting as if these campaigns are something necessary now - and not before, or in the future - is just buying into the sensationalism of the media.

I never said I agree with the specific format and style in which such campaigns are waged. But unless you can offer an alternative approach, it seems you are just writing off anti-homophobia campaigns altogether. We don't just need such campaigns now, we need it constantly, and although sensationalist campaigns in this format aren't at all ideal, they are still better than nothing, unless you can suggest an even better alternative.

What you are proposing here is like a queer politics version of impossibilism: since worker's strikes within the capitalist framework are always going to be limited and reformist, revolutionary socialists should never support them. BS.

What we need are transitional strategies that work with reformist people in an entryist manner, this is true for both socialist work in general and LGBT work in particular.

Yes, it's terrible that those people killed themselves, but it's not the first time it's happened.

You sound like people killing themselves due to homophobia isn't a big deal.

By riding the wave of sensationalism, this surge of anti-homophobia activism will most likely wane in a short period of time.

The hetero-normative community (I don't mention the LGBT community bc it seems like a given that they constantly fight homophobia) should be constantly trying to combat (even militarily if necessary) reaction like homophobia, not just when it's big in the news. And wearing a color to show "solidarity" doesn't prove anything as anyone can wear any color they want any day. I don't know how many people will - after this wear purple/black/whatever day - will just forget about gender/sexuality inequality and continue to use the words "faggot" and "gay" as pejoratives.

No-one is saying these campaigns are good ones by any means, but like I said before, unless you can offer a better genuine alternative (and not doing any campaigning at all is not one), it's still objectively better than nothing. Just like even a strike in the most limited keynesian (not even social democratic) style is still better than no strikes at all.

And I wonder if these campaigns even target other members of the LGBT community besides lesbians and gays?

Your attempt to divide the LGBT community will not work. Our fate is objectively linked together.

[Queercommie Girl]

What? But my shiny bracelets change the world, save the climate and stop the war, really!

It's just for kids.

Objectively the effects are mixed. On the one hand it raises some progressive awareness among kids who otherwise probably wouldn't care about this kind of thing at all, but on the other hand it can also divert their attentions away from the real issues.

The correct way to analyse this kind of thing is basically exactly the same as with any working class or socialist struggle in general: transitional strategies and entryism. In the absence of a better alternative, any progressive movement is better than none at all, no matter how "liberalised", "tame" or "sensationalist", just like any worker's action is better than none at all, no matter how limited in their scope. But it would be wrong to participate in any kind of progressive movement in an uncritical manner, but rather socialists should stir the events in a more radical and serious direction.

So in this kind of thing specifically socialists should certainly not completely write them off, but socialist teachers can perhaps utilise them as a kind of "platform" to spread socialist-oriented ideas among the kids.

[Crux]

I don't think campaigns like these are necessarily any effective. But not because homophobia has suddenly ceased to exist in the West. That's a blatant myth. Eeven in supposedly "liberal" sweden LGBT people gets murdered, suicide rates are high, 8 out of 10 say they experience direct discrimination because of their orientation. And this is even worse for transgendered people. A very recent example would be a group of transgendered women, from turkey, who came hre to malmö for teh Rainbow Festival, a festival and series of seminars on LGBT rights and issues. When they went out to a bar they were thrown out, attacked and abused by the bouncers. when they went to the police, the police didn't want to discuss their case but more about why they were wearing what they were wearing, their orientation, what they were doing there etc. So they went from abuse to abuse. As a result when one person from that group got beat up the following day they did not go to the police because the knew what to expect. Many many many cases of such discrimination even violence never show up in the statstics because of these. Discrimination, even violence and direct hatred is still very common in the west against LGBT-people and far too many are ignorant of this. We need to stand united and fight it, comrades. Not just through bashing back, although I am in favour of self-defence but also education and changing attitudes, even within the ranks of the left it seems.

[NoOneIsIllegal]

By some of this logic, I should be wearing Red and Black everyday.

[gorillafuck]

But I mean other than idiotic fucknuts, who ISN'T against bullying and homophobia?!

Are you aware that this "event" is due to the prominent stories about teens who commit suicide due to harassment about their sexuality?

(I don't even own a purple shirt)